Coaching strategies while teaching life skills : multiple case study of Estonian youth coaches

Positive youth development and learning life skills through sports have lately gained attention in Europe and Northern America, now the phenomenon needs to be studied in Estonia, having special focus on youth coaches. The purpose of the study was to explore the coaching strategies Estonian coaches use while teaching life skills. The four sub-topics investigated were coaching strategies, coach education, the development of coaching philosophies and intentionality in teaching life skills. A multiple case study analysis was conducted and it consisted of three parts. A screening questionnaire traced the usage of teaching life skills; observations of the practices found supportive and additional data and finally, the interviews aimed to discover more about the coaching philosophy and intentions. Participants were four Estonian youth coaches in team sports with the mean age of 34,7. Current results revealed the range of knowledge Estonian coaches have about life skills, the intentionality of teaching life skills and the varied list of coaching strategies. Each coach stood out with their personal way of teaching life skills. When comparing the cases, two strategies were noticeable in the behaviour of all coaches studied. First, the coaches have intentionally created spaces for discussions to get better contacts with the athletes. Another common coaching strategy is supporting autonomy by giving choices to athletes. Furthermore, the study gave insight into the coaching philosophies and the influence of the coach education. All the coaches had a good educational background, felt themselves quite confident in their competences and had well-thought coaching philosophies when supporting positive youth development. When delivering practices, all coaches consider it important to make athletes think for themselves. Another aspect all coaches stress was to create a positive and playful atmosphere. In a nutshell, three core notions could be stressed. First, teaching life skills can be integral part of the whole coaching behaviour. Secondly, coach education should gain more attention, especially ways of self-reflection as part of the development opportunities for coaches. And finally, the present study has given more insight to the importance of the coaching philosophies. Implications are presented for youth coaches and coach educators. Besides expanding the knowledge about Estonian coaches teaching life skills, the results of the study can be beneficial to the youth sports field as general to promote and value the role of the coach in youth sports.