The developmental experiences of basketball mentor coaches

Abstract

Numerous studies have examined the developmental activities of expert coaches. However, empirical studies on the development of mentor coaches in sport are scarce, despite literature reporting benefits of coach mentoring. The purpose of the present study was to examine the developmental experiences of mentor coaches who were involved in a structured mentoring program embedded in a level-one basketball coach education program. Four mentor coaches (one female) who met the selection criteria participated in structured retrospective interviews. Quantitative data such as mentor coaches’ demographic, athletics and coaching experiences were analyzed to calculate the means, standard deviation, and frequency of mentor coaches’ profile. Results were partially consistent with literature on expert coaches where mentor coaches (1) were competitive athletes, (2) held leadership positions as athletes, and (3) had accumulated at least 10 years of coaching experience and were successful coaches at the developmental level and beyond. Qualitative data were content analyzed using the narrative method to examine how mentor coaches learned their craft. Results show that (1) past coaches greatly influenced the development of mentor coaches’ mentoring knowledge, especially in the early stage of their coaching career, (2) exposure to different levels of mentoring appears to be useful in preparing them for eventual mentoring roles, and (3) self-directed learning helped mentor coaches to enhance their mentoring knowledge. The results are discussed in relation to literature on coach learning and development. Practical applications of the findings are also proposed.