Abstract:
Research interest on the topic of female coaches as role models has
recently emerged in the coaching literature. Social learning theory (Bandura,
1963; 1977; 1986) has also emerged as an essential framework in explaining
learning through modeling. Previous research has examined the coach as a role
model, as well as gender differences between coaches. Several authors, with
several different conclusions, have studied the significance of gender as an
influencer in role modeling. Whitaker and Molstad in 1988 conducted a study
focusing on the coach as a role model. What they found was when they
combined the results of high school and college aged athletes; the female coach
was considered to be a superior role model. The current research used a social
learning theory framework to examine the benefits and intricacies of the modeling
relationship between female adolescent athletes and influential female coaches.
To accomplish this task, the formative experiences of thirteen adolescent female
athletes were examined. Each athlete was interviewed, with each semi-structured
interview focusing on extracting the salient features of a coach that the athlete
identified as being the most influential in her personal development. The data
from these interviews were quaHtatively analyzed using case studies. From case
studies, a template emerges in which the coach/athlete relationship can be seen
as an essential construct in which caring and strong role models can have lasting
effects on the lives, values, and successes of adolescent female athletes.
