Clinical Psychiatry Open Access

Transformational Coaching, parent-child Relationship, and the psychosocial and team outcomes of young talented athletes.

Nikos Lambridis^* Department of Psychology, ICN Business School, Greece
^*Correspondence: Nikos Lambridis, Department of Psychology, ICN Business School, Greece, Email:

Received: 29-Oct-2024, Manuscript No. IPCP-24-21898; Editor assigned: 31-Oct-2024, Pre QC No. IPCP-24-21898 (PQ); Reviewed: 14-Nov-2024, QC No. IPCP-24-21898; Revised: 19-Nov-2024, Manuscript No. IPCP-24-21898 (R); Published: 26-Nov-2024, DOI: 10.35248/2471-9854-10.6.51

Introduction

Introduction-problem Statement

What is the definition of transformational coaching vs transformational leadership? Transformational Talent Coaching focuses on identifying, developing, and retaining top talent within an organization to drive overall business success. It involves strategic relationships between players and parents, players and coaches, and motivational issues with a focus on maximizing individual potential and aligning talent with organizational goals. On the other hand, Transformational Leadership is a leadership style that inspires positive changes in individuals and groups by creating a vision of the future and motivating followers to achieve it. Transformational leaders lead by example, foster innovation, build strong relationships, and empower others to reach their full potential. While both focus on driving organizational change and maximizing potential, Transformational Talent Coaching specifically deals with managing and developing talent within the organization, while Transformational Leadership is more concerned with the leadership approach and style used to motivate and inspire individuals.

What is talent management and how has it changed? Talent management first emerged as a core pillar of HR in the early 1990s. The past parameters of talent management were designed for a brick-and-mortar, jobs-for-life workforce. This was a time when the war for talent was won through recruiting. Talent management’s functionality was to acquire, hire and retain skilled employees who were expected to commute to work every day, operate under very different standards of connectivity and, in many cases, accept a diminished level of autonomy within their role. The basic purpose of talent management remains the same to implement a robust strategy to acquire, hire and retain key players for their workforce. But today’s HR landscape requires processes that look very different than even a few years ago.

The importance of talent management in today’s world: The global labor shortage is leaving companies in every industry scrambling to meet their basic organizational needs. Not only are skilled employees a challenge to find in the current market, but retention is posing an unprecedented problem with 47 million people quitting their jobs in 2021-a record high.

Combine this with an endless tide of digital change, increased employee expectations, hybrid/remote work challenges and the pressure to take action on DEI-people leaders are in a critical position to swiftly address these talent challenges. When considering a company, employees today look at “emotional salary”-things about their job and their employer that make them want to stay such as:

• An employer that is committed to making a social impact

• An employer that takes actions to further workplace DEI

• Flexible/remote working options

• Tangible career advancement opportunities

• Accessible Land opportunities

The companies gaining traction are listening to the needs of their workforce, analyzing the shifting needs of their organization and employee base, and creating a new, more effective and contemporary method. Without fundamental changes to HR processes, organizations run the risk of losing out on skilled workers and falling behind (Figure 1). Talent development also serves a dual purpose of driving recruitment and acquisition, with 70% of U.S. employees at least somewhat likely to leave their current company and accept an offer with a new company that’s known for investing in employee learning and development. An effective talent management strategy combines both talent acquisition and development to funnel external and internal employees into the talent ecosystem and fill needs within the business.

Figure 1: These numbers paint a bleak, but realistic picture and the only way to get ahead of the labor crisis is by rethinking talent management

Research Question

How can Coaching Talents in Football will help institutions form new strategies to recruit, develop and retain their talent. What is the analogy between football organizations and corporate institutions in terms of talent management? Football, one of the most popular sports in the world, has benefits for both players and society. Football has a societal impact of nearly € 6.3 billion, according to a recent study of seven European countries with a total of 10.6 million registered players [1]. Football is played by 12 million people in England each year and is estimated to be worth £ 8.7 billion in terms of social wellbeing (such as quality of life and self-efficacy) [2]. By understanding football players’ motivation to play the game and the influences on their motivation, it may be possible to improve and maintain involvement, resulting in positive effects linked to physically active lifestyles. This Elite Talent Management study is a crucial document that will serve as the foundation for the creation of the project’s final result. The project “Elite Talent Management for Sport Workers, an Innovative Program for Building Personal and Social Skills” (ET4SPORT) will contribute to the goals of promoting professional education and training of sport workers through an innovative ET4SPORT approach, allowing sport workers to gain empowerment, inclusion, and respect for diversity through sports.

The purpose is to accomplish this goal by establishing courses for all sports workers (trainers, coaches, recruiters). The curriculum will be appropriate for education and training done via sports; these curricula will be implemented directly on sport employees in football (soccer) and widely disseminated to sports workers in the partner nations and beyond. Partners from N. Macedonia, Greece, Italy, and Austria are involved in the project. The specific curricula will be defined during the project, based on assessment of needs and discussion between the partners. The next professional areas are being addressed in the project: (1) HR skills, and (2) Social Values, and the curricula will be developed based on the assessment of needs. The independent influence of coaches, parents, or peers, such as the influence of perceived coach autonomy support, parental feedback and peer-influenced motivational climates, has been the focus of much of the research into the roles of significant others in relation to athlete motivation [3-6]. According to certain studies, athlete motivation is influenced by a complex interaction of effects from many social actors, such as parents and coaches, coaches and peers, and parents and peers [7-9]. Yet, few research and ideas have examined how these three social forces interact to affect one athlete at the same time in different cultural settings and mindsets. This study aimed to address this issue by considering the perceived motivational influence of coaches, parents and peers simultaneously and their influence in recognizing, developing and promoting highly talented players still in adolescence. Much of the research into coach, parent and peer influence in sport has focused on youth sport, with studies showing that this influence can change over time [10]. Models of athlete development such as the Developmental Model of Sport Participation and the Lifespan Model suggest that relationships with others influence athlete participation, development and performance [11-13].

Others Contributions to Motivating Theories

Understanding motivation’s processes, antecedents, and effects is essential [14]. To comprehend human motivation better, numerous theories have been created and put to use [15,16]. Two of the most influential ideas influencing practice and research in the field of sport and exercise psychology are AGT and SDT [17,18]. It may be possible to gain insight into the prevalent views of social agent influence on motivation within the field of sport and exercise psychology by understanding how research linked to SDT and AGT has conceptualized social influences that may provide insight into the dominant perceptions of social agent influence on motivation within the sport and exercise psychology discipline [16]. SDT posits that motivation is influenced by satisfaction of the basic psychological needs: Autonomy, relatedness and competence which have been associated with more self-determined forms of motivation [19]. Interactions between athletes and social agents have been found to influence athlete basic need satisfaction. Social agent influenced environments which create opportunities for athletes to cooperate, make decisions and develop their skills (i.e., relatedness, autonomyand competence-supporting environments) lead to increased basic need satisfaction [20]. For example, athletes’ basic need satisfaction can be predicted by the quality of their relationship with coaches and parent autonomy support has been found to be related to autonomous forms of motivation in youth sport [7,21]. Furthermore, peer-created motivational climates, such as when peers are supportive of one another and emphasize personal improvement, can predict athletes intrinsic motivation, and the quality of peer relationships can facilitate motivational outcomes such as competence [6,22].

AGT asserts that motivation and behavior derive from athletes’ achievement goals, which are broadly categorized as mastery/ task (i.e., mastering and improving tasks) and performance/ego (i.e., outperforming others and basing ability on comparisons [17]. Achievement goals are generated by the interaction between one’s goal orientation (i.e., a predisposition to adopting specific types of goals) and the perceived motivational climate (i.e., the context and situation related to the task [23]. Motivational climates are influenced by those behaving in them (e.g., coaches, parents and/or peers) and perceptions of task and ego-oriented climates are associated with adaptive (e.g., self-confidence) and maladaptive (e.g., negative emotions) outcomes respectively [5]. Ego-involving peer climates (e.g., intra-team conflict) have, for instance, been related to perceived burnout in adolescent athletes, and parent-created task-involving climates (e.g., where parents provide encouragement and positive responses to success) predicted positive athlete sporting behaviors [24,25]. Hofstede gives us the differences between those countries in terms of cultural and personal characteristics. It is not enough for the Coach to be open to discussions or to care about his/her players when they are injured for example. The players obey not only their culture but also their diversity and require inclusion based on their personalities. Table 1 depicts part of the issue. This study, in particular, is to serve as a base for the development of the project. As a precondition for development of the Curricula (IO 1 and IO 2), the project has foreseen the development of a Talent Management Analysis in all 4 partner countries. This Analysis is based on a research Methodology developed by the project team (Figure 2). It is performed by all project partners together and its outcomes were discussed during a transnational effective workshop in order to agree on the needs of the sport workers as professionals and how these needs meet with the values and skills available in HR.

Table 1: The empirical part of the analysis has been conveyed with representative sample of 312 interviewees

Figure 2: Development of a Talent Management Analysis in all 4-partner countries

Materials and Methods

This study is to serve as a base for the development of the core intellectual outputs of the project “Elite Talent Development for youth football players”-Innovative program for building personal and social skills” (ET4SPORT). The objective of the project is to promote professional development of sport workers through an innovative ET4SPORT. In this way the sport workers will gain empowerment, inclusion, and respect for diversity through sports.

The project includes the following work:

1. Conducting an assessment of the specific training needs of workers in sport,

2. Development of two broad curricula, one in the area of life-skills, and the other in the area of social values, for sport workers,

3. Testing and refining these curricula through short term training for sport workers,

4. Implementing these curricula,

5. Broadly disseminating these curricula among the sport workers.

This particular study serves in the stage of developing curricula for all sports workers (coaches, recruiters), and is later to be implemented directly to a targeted group of sport workers in soccer, and broadly to be disseminated to sport workers in the partner countries and beyond. The project involves partners

from N. MACEDONIA, Greece, Italy, and Austria, but the dissemination effort will involve the broader region. Leadership is a widely used term with multiple definitions, meanings, and conceptions. Northouse defines leadership as a process of social influence in a group setting that results in achievement of goals or objectives [26]. In sport, coaches are leaders of their teams. Theory-driven research provides compelling evidence that certain coaching behaviors promote positive psychosocial and behavioral outcomes among athletes [14,27]. For example, coaches’ feedback and reinforcement, interpersonal styles, and motivational climate are influential for developing athletes’ self-perceptions, motivational orientations, positive affect, and group cohesion. Across studies, more frequent contingent praise, instructional feedback, supportive styles, democratic decision-making, and mastery-oriented climates are associated with athletes who report higher levels of enjoyment, perceived competence, intrinsic motivation, and task and social cohesion [14]. Coaches are not the only source of leadership on sport teams-athletes are also essential leaders. Studies show that peer leaders are characterized as more skilled and higher in social acceptance, perceived competence, and instrumental and expressive behaviors than those rated.

Positioning the Present Study

In line with the preceding discussion regarding the paradigmatic nature of motivation theory in sport, this study aligned to a critical realist philosophy. Critical realism was developed by to deviate from both positivist and constructivist perspectives, which were argued to limit the advancement of knowledge by reducing ontology to epistemology [28,29]. Critical realism ontologically proposes three levels of reality: The real, the actual and the empirical [30]. At the real level, causal structures contain mechanisms which cause events at the actual and empirical level. At the actual level, events occur whether they are observed or not. At the empirical level, events are observed and experienced, and can be understood through interpretation [31]. For example, players on a school football team may all experience and perceive the motivational climate during training differently (empirical level), yet the motivational climate exists independently of players’ experiences of it (actual level). The motivational climate is itself caused by complex and interacting structures and mechanisms, such as coach experience, educational context and socioeconomic factors (real level). Critical realism suggests a reality exists independent of humans’ perceptions of it but understanding of reality is profoundly difficult and can always improve [30]. From an ontological position of critical realism, the role of science is to improve existing, fallible knowledge of an external reality, rather than pursuing an absolute ‘truth’ [30]. This fallibility of our knowledge of reality, and researchers’ pursuit of improving understanding, means that critical realism is epistemologically similar to Critical Rationalism sharing a ‘fallibilism’ tradition [15,32]. Critical realism thus provides a valuable philosophical framework for exploring perceptions of athletes’ motivational influences in a manner which challenges existing motivation theory paradigms. Qualitative research grounded in critical realism can challenge existing theories through analysis of participant perspectives and interpretations [33].

Given that football is one of the most popular sports in the world and has substantial positive social, economic, and health effects, it is crucial to comprehend the factors that affect athlete motivation in football-specific circumstances [1,2]. Football players’ transitional pathways are also often consistent (e.g., from youth teams to football academies to professional teams), making it the perfect sport to study the motivationally significant social agent influences at various stages of athlete development. So, the purpose of this study was to investigate the perceived motivationally significant influence that coaches, parents, and peers had at each step of the growth of investment-stage football players and to ascertain how these influences evolved throughout the course of development.

Methodology of Research

The conducted research for measuring the opinion of the relevant people in academies/training centers, sport workers (soccer trainers), soccer players and parents of the soccer players was implemented in the period February-May 2022. In July 2022, the final analysis was done by combining all the information from the four countries. The research questionnaires were distributed electronically, through e-mail, and in hard copies. The questionnaires consisted of semistructured questions which were conducted through interviews in order to investigate the tendencies, set the baseline in terms of future activities related to the elaboration of the educational programs/curricula, and implementation of pilot training for the soccer trainers [34-36]. The main goal of the research, besides gathering the opinions of relevant people in sport, was to: Collect information, set the baseline regarding human resource management in soccer clubs, identify programs used to educate the soccer trainers and skills used by the soccer trainers in order to manage players, as well as for selfmanagement. It also serves to identify proposals to promote these processes through the specific opinions and visions of the interviewees, especially regarding the aspects of:

• Self-evaluation, Self-awareness

• Ability to lead, motivate and communicate

• Social values

These are the three aspects relevant and measured in the questionnaire, and the results will serve as a base to elaborate the educational curricula which will be the starting point upon which the program will later be implemented. Secondary objectives refer to the results which are expected to give direction for preparation of the educational program/curricula and implementing the pilot training based on the curricula aiming to strengthen the skills of soccer trainers. These results give us an overview of the current state regarding human resources management in soccer clubs, soccer trainers’ skills for self-management and if, and to what extent are social values taken into consideration by the soccer trainers. The secondary objectives are of great importance to at least three groups: Soccer trainers, players and sport clubs in general.

Structure and Sample of the Questionnaire

Four unique research questionnaires were developed intended for 4 distinct social agents (i.e., academies/training centers (partner organizations), sports workers-soccer trainers, soccer players and parents). All questionnaires followed a similar structure and focused on 3 different aspects

• Self-evaluation, Self-awareness

• Ability to lead, motivate and communicate

• Social values

The questions have been adjusted appropriately in order to truly establish the opinion of the set target group. Each section examines several levels of logic including: Values and belief, capabilities, behavior and surroundings (Table 1).

Analysis Methodology

The questionnaire was based on answers on 4-pointLikert Scales: “Strongly agree”, “agree”, “disagree” and “strongly disagree”. Afterwards, the gradation was transformed into 2 dichotomies of “pro” and “con” accordingly. The degrees “strongly agree”, “agree”, transform into pro and “disagree” and “strongly disagree” transform into con. The research analysis was done by utilizing a quantitative approach and the conclusions were made based on inductive reasoning. The statistical elaboration of the results has been done using Microsoft Excel spreadsheet tools and SPSS. The results herein will be presented through frequencies and tables [37-44]. The semi structured questionnaire for the responsible person in the academy/training center had a total of 43 questions, including an open-end discussion, and it is structured in 3 sections: General demographic data, questions referring to the 3 categories of capabilities and a part of open-end questions.

Discussion Comments

A: Assessment of training programs: (Comment on the need to improve the situation)

1. Development is always in special need

2. Mostly very basic and old until now

3. They need leadership, coaching, and some basic psychology

*According to the comments we can conclude that there is a need of improvement and development in many aspects.

B: Assessment of HR skills of trainers: (Comment on the need to improve the situation)

1. Because of the large team pool, this is very difficult challenge

2. Same as above. Very keen on the technical and tactical training and knowledge

3. They will need some basic language skills, English mostly

4. Also, some managing people skills, with specific focus on issues like identity, injury, exclusion and diversity

5. Certainly they will need communication techniques, conflict management, some EI principles

*It shows the necessity of improvement of the communication skills and people managing skills, Declares the lack of development plans, as well as the need of working on setting goals for each player.

C: Assessment of social values: (Comment on the need to improve the situation)

1. That works well

2. Improve on understanding the “Ecological Model Theory” where each player is the core of a larger system much bigger than the club or the team they belong to

3. Ethics and law-abiding practices, when it comes to training and recovery from injuries, pharmacology used, exercising limits and limitations

4. Improve on values and goal setting for young players, visualization techniques and creating their vision on their values, not someone else’s

*Declares the need of working on setting goals for each player and expanding their vision, based on their own values

The semi structured questionnaire for the sport workers/ soccer trainers, contained a total of 90 questions including an open-ended discussion and is structured in 3 sections: General demographic data, questions referring to the 3 categories of capabilities and third part of open-end questions [45-49]. This questionnaire was anonymous (Table 2). This figure displays the percentage of the general discrepancy/cohesiveness between the answers (Figure 3). The table displays the Discrepancy of the answers for each section of the questionnaire; since the discrepancy isn’t significant, it can be concluded that the answers are cohesive, and based on the cohesiveness generalized conclusions may be drawn (Table 3).

Table 2: General demographic data, questions referring to the 3 categories of capabilities and third part of open-end questions

Table 3: Discrepancy of the answers for each section of the questionnaire; since the discrepancy isnâ??t significant

Figure 3: The figure displays the percentage of the general discrepancy/cohesiveness between the answers

Discussion Comments

A: Self-management skills: (Comment: What do I need to improve my-self management skills)

1. Motivation

2. Professional development

3. Feedback

4. More time

5. Advice from the outside

6. Experience

7. Books, Internet

8. Emphasizing personal development in the coaching staff

9. Big need to improve on communication skills especially during the debriefing after the games. They do well before the game but not at the end

10. Improve their impulse and emotional handling by learning how our thymic system works

11. Understand the young player’s psychology after a victory or a defeat

12. More education and practice on personality traits

13. More seminars for better emotional control, and organizational tools

14. More help from the parents

*According to the comments we can conclude that the trainers feel the need of professional development, that they require improvement in the aspects of time management, knowledge in the field of sports psychology and organizational tools.

B: HR skills: (Comment: What do I need to improve my HR skills?)

1. Self confidence

2. Seminars

3. More time

4. Keeping more written logs on what has been talked about with the players.

5. I think nothing

6. Make sure everything is important

7. Would be open for anything

8. Big help on recruitment, selection and motivation of young players. More autonomy

9. Learn how to engage the players to come back after a rough season, or a change in the training process. More information on what causes fear and disappointment

10. Time management and stress relief techniques More seminars from the football federation and professional lectures

*We can conclude that the answers are mostly pointing out the need of better time management, stress relief techniques, better recruitment skills, more seminars and professional lectures.

C. Social values: (Comment: What do I need to improve my social skills?)

1. Respect

2. Development sessions, feedback, meetings

3. Nothing

4. More Experience

5. More contact with other people

6. Help the players improve the way they present themselves during the games

7. Need help to understand the players that their image/ brand counts to those who are willing to trust you, the players I mean

8. More time with the players, the parents, other coaches

9. Better psychology on injury situation

10. Language skills, diversity handling

*The comments are based on the requirement of improvement of the soft skills and time to help the players build a better image of themselves.

The semi structured questionnaire for the soccer players (age above 16), contains a total of 62 questions including an open-end discussion and is structured in 3 sections: General demographic data, questions referring to the 3 categories of capabilities and third part of open-end questions. This questionnaire is anonymous. This table displays the Percentage of the general discrepancy/cohesiveness between the answers (Table 4).

Table 4: Percentage of the general discrepancy/cohesiveness between the answers

This table displays the Discrepancy of the answers for each section of the questionnaire; since the discrepancy isn’t significant, it can be concluded that the answers are cohesive, and based on the cohesiveness generalized conclusions may be drawn (Table 5).

Table 5: Discrepancy of the answers for each section of the questionnaire

Discussion Comments

A: Inner state and motivation: (Comment: What I would like to improve about myself?)

1. Physical performance

2. Technique

3. Physicist

4. Speed

5. Improve the game vision

6. Mentality and reducing the risk of making a mistake

7. Better communication with my teammates and my coach

8. To learn how to cope with my aggression and to avoid conflicts

9. Discipline and commitment

10. To speak up when I have a chance

*The answers are mainly related to the athletic training, football game technique and the mental aspect of the players (Figure 4).

Figure 4: Inner state and motivation of players

B: HR skills of trainers: (Comment: What would I like my trainer to improve in our relationship/or with the whole team?)

1. Control of the emotions during the game, because it affects my performance

2. To point out my strengths and not only my weaknesses

3. Make everyone feel included, motivate the whole team, have conversations about the development of every single player and not focus only on the development of the starters on the team.

4. Precise feedback and instructions on what we should improve

5. Get insight from players and value our opinion more

6. Communicate in a friendlier way

7. Treat everyone equally and give everyone equal playing time

*The comments show the lack of soft skills and development programs for each player.

C: Social values skills: (Comment on the need to improve the situation)

1. Bad leadership, many players are neglected

2. There is not enough rotation. The coach talks to players, but has rarely talked to me.

3. I am satisfied with the academy and the trainer

4. More conversation regarding the diversity issues

5. I mustn’t let the shouting affect me

6. Spend more time as a team

*The comments point out the requirement of more time spent individually with every player and open conversation between the team.

The semi structured questionnaire for the parents of soccer players, contains a total of 42 questions including open-end discussion and is structured in 3 sections: General demographic data, questions referring to the 3 categories of capabilities and third part of open-end questions. This questionnaire is anonymous. This table displays the Percentage of the general discrepancy/cohesiveness between the answers (Table 6).

Table 6: Percentage of the general discrepancy/cohesiveness between the answers

This table displays the Discrepancy of the answers for each section of the questionnaire. There is a significant variation in only one section of the questionnaire “Assessment of HR skills of trainers” (46% Pro-54% Con of 40 questions/statements). The discrepancy in the other sections of the questionnaire isn’t significant, therefore it can be concluded that the answers are cohesive, and based on the cohesiveness generalized conclusion may be drawn (Table 7).

Table 7: Discrepancy of the answers for each section of the questionnaire

Discussion Comments

A: Assessment of training programs: (Comment on the need to improve the situation)

1. The program here is out of place. For the best young talents in the country there should be the best coaching staff available

2. The athletic director of the Academy has in his function to judge whether a trainer has the necessary skills and necessary qualities to work with adolescents. It is therefore not necessary that I as a parent get insight which courses the coach has completed. Since we are dealing here with adolescent athletes, the topic of continuing education in “Sport-mental-training” would already be an ingenious further education for the athletes as well as for the trainer. Academies certainly promote the training their trainers, small clubs unfortunately not

3. Educational training can be helpful to a football coach, but is not mandatory. There are many authentic people who can build much better communication with players even without pedagogical training

4. Review expertise football coaches twice a year

5. Trainers have a massive impact on the development of adolescents at a difficult age. Further education measures (such as coaching skills) are therefore in my opinion absolutely necessary

Better organization, more flexible timetable especially during exam weeks (Figure 5).

Figure 5: Assessment of training programs

*The comments are mainly addressing the need of more specialized education of the trainers due to the crucial impact they have on the players.

B: Assessment of HR skills of trainers: (Comment on the need to improve the situation)

1. Give more feedback on the current performance status or on the personal development. Individual feedback and development talks come as too short. There is clearly still room for improvement!

2. Factual analyses certainly help the trainers to make the achievements more comprehensible, which is ultimately also relevant. Performance records such as arrival passes or tactical behavior or social behavior (motivation)

3. Increases self-confidence for the chosen one but for others (the majority) only increases the frustration. I think everyone who was shot is a perspective player

4. Concepts should be created and implemented. Goals should be set by the leadership and implemented by the coaches

5. More concern for their school obligations by scheduling extra practice once in a while

6. Improve on communication and sharing feedback more often

7. Give parents some useful and practical suggestions on the diet of the player

8. The trainer needs to avoid outside influence and develop listening skills

*The comments show the necessity of personal development programs, performance records, good feedback, and to be resistant to the outside influence.

C: Assessment of social values: (Comment on the need to improve the situation)

1. Every player should be treated equally. Don’t favor “better” players. Discipline is very important!

2. Trainers know a lot of things, but because of the pressure from “outside”, the information is only considered to be remarks

3. Regular communication with the players and the parents would be great

4. Equal opportunities, ethics, individual coaching, caring for the injured, etc… all of that is differently taken into consideration with each coach. It is important to develop a uniform standard and to demand it.

5. Unequal performance assessment of individual players

6. Education on HR skills

7. More time with the players to discuss their problems

*The comments point out problem caused by the favoritism, the need of HR skills and regular communication.

Results

Summary Results of the Research

In the collected questionnaires, three categories were analyzed: Assessment of the Training Programs, Assessment of the Trainers’ HR Skills and Assessment of the Trainers’ Social Skills. The curricula, which will be created in the next stage of the project, is going to be based on the key findings regarding each of the categories which we are going to break down in this part of the study [50-58]. Regarding the Assessment of the Training Programs, research showed that there should be more focus put on professional education, as well as the clubs’ involvement and investment in the education itself. About 60% of the parents do not think that there are enough available programs for professional education relevant for the trainers in their country”, even though the majority of the Academy respondents think that there are enough existing educational programmers. Also, only 2 out of 5 academy respondents agreed that “The clubs invest in trainers’ education”, and The Parents share this opinion, they also think that the clubs themselves should invest in the education of their trainers.

Looking through Assessment of the Trainers’ HR Skills, we can conclude that not only is there a need for an improved professional education, but also obligatory trainings for professionals and even a coaching program, as well as personal development trainings for the sport workers. When asked about their methods of work, 87% of the trainers said that they like to use their familiar methods of work, but when asked about using a higher voice (as a familiar method of work), 67% of the trainers do not see improvement after using this method. About half of the players have said that they do not see their trainer’s tone of voice as soothing and supportive, and the majority of them feel that their trainer’s behavior during the match makes them feel tight and tense and that when their trainers get overcome by their emotions, their effectiveness to coach the match is altered (items, 22, 24, 25 Players: HR skills of trainers) [59-68]. These findings are the opposite of what the trainers believe about themselves. All trainers believe they have a positive attitude about themselves and at the same time only about half of them know that they have numerous shortcomings related to their personalities, this is why there is a necessity for a personal development program for the trainers.

On the quality of Leadership skills of the trainers, the academy is aware that the trainers are not natural born leaders and that they do need leadership skills training. All of the academy respondents claim that the trainers motivate players with individual coaching, for the purpose of personal growth. When asked, the Players have displayed a high opinion on their trainers on a personal level, they recognize the skills of their coach and recognize their social value. They trust their trainers and feel close to them and they believe that they take care of them and respect them (Items 52, 53, 54 Players). However, there is a drastic differentiation if we look at the group of questions referring the development and motivation of the players. Almost half of the players do not feel like their trainers are a source of motivation for them, and over half of them deny that the trainers keep personal records for each player about their performances. When it comes to the latter, we have contradictory results from all sides. Some trainers claim they do and others say they do not have these files, and it appears that the parents are unsure about this as well. (Items 35, 42). It is safe to say that the trainers need to work on their leadership and motivational skills.

In addition, when we inspected the situation of Setting Goals and Performance management, 89% of the trainers have said that they create personal development plans for the players, working on it together with them, but about 60% of the players did not confirm this information (Items 30-trainers, and item 46-players). The analysis has shown us that the trainers, the academy and the parents of soccer players, are all in agreement that trainers need to continually organize their trainings in order to increase their efficiency and that they do so (Items 26-trainers, item 18 academy, item 18-parents). This finding tells us that trainers are already equipped and planning the trainings in an organized way, however, the majority of the trainers have said that they have the feeling that they do not have enough time for implementation of the goals for the daily training sessions (Item 27-trainers). The trainers have also 100% confirmed that they take care about players when they are injured and that they communicate and visit them in these situations, and the players and parents have confirmed this. The players have also confirmed that their trainers pay close attention to them mostly in the case of a poor performance or lack of motivation.

From this we can conclude that the trainers need help with Organization of time because they clearly do not have enough time to keep up on all levels of attention to their players, even though they devote their time to the injured and the players who are in a more immediate need of attention, they cannot fully focus on their daily goals, and there is no time in the day left for individual work with the rest of the players, nor for evaluation of their progress.

Soccer trainers attend obligatory trainings courses, but some are not trained in communication and soft skills development. In fact, some trainers have not passed specialized trainings intended for better pedagogy communication with the soccer players. Both the academy and the parents agree that trainers’ communication skills need improvement (item 16-Academy, there is a need to strengthen the communication skills of the trainers in order to successfully lead their teams and improve their individual approach to each soccer player-100% agree, Item 16-Parents-97% agree). On the other hand, the trainers think that they communicate enough with the players, they say that they discuss their demotivation and provide feedback (items 31 and 55-Trainers) and the players are hesitant on this question (item 11).

For the Social Values aspect of the questionnaire, we have already discussed that the trainers take care of their players, to the best of their abilities. When it comes to diversity and equality, almost all of the trainers have said that they respect others and diversity, and that ethnic and religious diversity makes the team better (Items 78 and 84), but also the majority of them said that they feel under pressure due to the ethnic differences within the team. The parents view is also in correlation to this which tells us that perhaps the problem does not lie in the trainers themselves, but that they do face difficulties and pressure with this issue and that they need to be educated on how to deal with this pressure in order to be able to better promote and support diversity and equality in their teams. We can see in the questionnaire that the relations between different groups and clubs are consistently positive for the trainers, however when it comes to the players viewpoint, there are differences between countries; in Greece and Italy the players have said that they do face problems and conflicts with other teams and clubs. Therefore, in the program it should be included the promotion of better and more positive interclub relations. When it comes to the trainers being equipped and capable of evaluation of the players, in some countries the results show that the trainers are being bias towards some of their players, especially in Greece and Austria. And about half of the trainers have said that they have been forced to put some players in the team to play certain position, no matter their capabilities, even though 90% of them say that they always organize the team based on abilities and performances. An important part which should also be represented in the curricula is the Players’ Inner State and Motivation. To the question “What I would like to improve about myself?’, the answers are mainly related to athletic training, sports and football game technique: (Sports technique, Physical Force, Physical performance, Technique, Physicist, speed, Improve the game vision), and much less players have answered with things such as their mindset, their personalities or personal development [69-73].

Discussion

General Recommendations

The recommendations are based on the findings from the analysis of the collected questionnaires and the comments noted down by the respondents. To begin with, in order to solve the problem regarding time management, the large expertise of the HR managers in the field of time management should be used to improve the trainers’ skills. Using the methods developed by the HR managers, the trainers should be able to develop a successful method of planning and prioritizing their everyday tasks. As a result, this will create room for implementation of an evaluation system, which will enable the trainers to follow every player’s results and achievements. Additionally, this will provide them with better feedback and it will increase the odds of reaching their potential. Consequently, it is meant to bring the players’ satisfaction to a higher level. It can also be a way to guarantee equality among the players. Moving on, regarding the issue of personal development, investing in more educational seminars could bring the significant difference in finding the best way to work with adolescents. Furthermore, it is evident that there is a need of developing the soft skills of the trainers. Sports management soft-skills play a vital role in sports. Not only sensible information of sport management however conjoining soft-skills like problem-solving, nondiscrimination, equal opportunities, trust, respect for others and diversity management are needed. Soft-skills are required to be effective in sports management. For instance, if implemented effectively it could be a way to stop the hostile actions towards the members of other clubs.

Regarding the coach’s role in the ecological system, it is noted that not only the players, also the family circle, the organization as well as the culture are affected. Another recommendation is in the selected countries to set up some sort of a permanent advisory board as part of sports and athletic part of the government, respectable and away from politics and interests of various groups. In addition to this, it’s important to enhance this entity with people (experts) as well as resources like ethics, HR, environmentalists, dieticians, social communications etc. Regarding recommendations, the undeniable fact is that there is a huge necessity to improve and to upgrade coaches’ abilities regarding the soft and social skills. This education would be implemented on a mandatory basis by the existing sports academies. Therefore, regarding Training Programs experts emphasized that there is a need of TNA, and afterwards some programs will be developed concerning self-management skills, creating team dynamics, HR skills, and standardized programs for professional trainings as well as coaching programs. In addition, programs for developing specific skills (professional as well as soft skills) are needed to be implemented as a part of continuous formal learning. In this context, experts argued that the leadership skills are very crucial for guiding, organizing and motivating youth soccer players. In this sense, academy’s CEO should enhance their managers as well as HR skills aiming to understand the function of all involved parties (academy, trainers, players, and parents) in the whole system. In this direction, CEO’s would be the model of leadership, promoting the professional and learning organizational culture. In this way, systemic approach to all stakeholders would be established, creating trust, commitment and desire for improvement.

Regarding Setting goals and Performance Management experts argued that each coach has a plan for the training session, but this plan is not formed in a standardized form as there is a lack of communication with players. Therefore, each coach should establish a plan for each training session, to set specific goals for that session. In this way, players should be well informed about the session as well as they will be committed to fulfill the goals. In addition, the individual and personal communication with players is more than needed, regarding that they are young children who need future directions, advices for some professional improvements as well as constructive feedback for their strengths and weaknesses. In some clubs, Performance management system is not implemented. Experts marked that the process of giving appropriate feedback regarding personality is more important than the feedback for technical skills. Players, by coaching conversations, should be motivated towards their personal and team improvement. In addition, performance management process should be implemented as a 360-degree assessment, where all professional as well as personal competences should be evaluated, not only for the players as well as for the coaches. Therefore, coaches should possess coaching skills and should give assertive and professional feedback to their players. Experts argued that performance management system is a good basis to construct an individual development plan.

Regarding Communication skills and Conflict Resolution many recommendations are given. For instance, there is a need to strengthen communication as well as to improve conflict resolution skills because this facilitates the decision-making process. Therefore, all parties: CEO, trainers, as well as the middle management should be in a day-to day communication with players aiming to give appropriate feedback concerning their training, match preparation, their health as well as their mental and physical state. All parties should build open and transparent communication with the purposes of developing competent soccer professionals. The players’ motivation would be raised by their resourcefulness, respectfulness, recognition and trust. Talent Development is another area of improvement. Experts marked that champions ‘are not born they are trained’. Therefore, coaches should pay attention to the development of each player’s resources, his/her personal goals as well as their future vision. Talent management throughout personal and team discussion should elicit individual, as well as joint team resources towards successful achievements. This imposes implementing the coaching approach in communication by which vision, goals, resources, potentials as well as the desire for improvement would be challenged, individually and jointly. As well, there was a special remark that trainers (sport coaches) should transform the technical communication into open communication or “from telling to discussing”. In this context, the trainer should act as a motivator, using the powerful words like “I respect you; I see you; I believe in you”. Moreover, the power of talent is provoked by “peer to peer” communication, which generates a new confidence among players, between player/s and the trainer as well as between trainer to trainer. In this way the whole ‘eco system’ is affected: Players, trainers, management structure, their families, clubs, the whole society as well as their mental condition, physical state as well as their mental health. In addition, trainers should discuss with players’ parents in an open way “evidence-based discussion”, talking about their qualities, competences, best traits as well as their developmental support. Consequently, the entire environment will grow in the spirit of building young professionals as a model of best players.

Recommendations regarding the Inner state of players are connected to closer discussions between the players (individually and jointly) with their trainers. Experts noted that young players are still children who need family communication approach. They argue that this indicates that trainers must follow the individual inner state in order to show that they are on disposal to talk with, that they have understanding and possess methods to give support in any time they need. Social values are another area of interest in this project. Experts appointed that Taking care about players is a complex approach that needs attention from the 3 sides: Clubs, trainers and parents. Generally speaking, young players need high level of taking care, not only for their technical skills, but also for their health, diversity, respectfulness as well as personal integrity. Regarding Diversity on the expert’s meeting was mentioned that the club’s, trainer’s as well as player’s consciousness should be on a high level. Low level of diversity awareness generates conflicts, identity violation, demotivation, weak performances, low team dynamics and lost matches. Regarding Ethics, some clubs have an Ethics code, and the main recommendation is to be improved or to be implemented in those clubs which do not have it. The Ethics code should be communicated in a spirit of “wanted behavior”, distributed to all club’s employees. In addition, the club should conduct additional code of ethics for players, trainers and parents, containing specific wanted behaviors and moral behavioral principals. Experts marked several general issues that should be included in the Code of Ethics: Club’s values, the way of communication (internal and external), the way of professional attitude, the way of player’s selection, leadership model, diversity, non-discrimination etc. Sense of Belonging is another sensitive aspect of the human behavior. Experts recommended that trainers should create organizational culture where all players would have equal opportunities for their development and career possibilities. Therefore, trainers as well as clubs should create a motivational environment of being “belonged, accepted, seen and valued” in order to enable players to feel and to find the meaning of their work. And if players find emotional relationship with the vision, goals and social values then they are more committed to give their best.

Comparisons with Existing Theories

In line with a critical realist position, this study sought to understand the perceived motivationally-relevant influence of social agents in a footballing context. An important contribution of the present study is that due to the abductive nature of the analysis, the findings did not align exclusively or entirely with theories of motivation in sport. For instance, the relationship factors reflected some dimensions of Jowett’s (2007) 3+1 C model of the coach-athlete relationship, the dimensions of which have been shown to predict athlete basic need satisfaction in line with the SDT. Elements of the interpersonal interaction category reflected aspects of AGT’s other-created motivational climates and SDT’s autonomy-support contexts. None of these theories on their own, however, predict or explain each of the categories identified in the present study, suggesting that the perceived social agent influences on athlete motivation extend beyond those included within the paradigmatic theories (e.g., AGT and SDT) which dominate motivation research in sport. The results add to our understanding of the complex nature of perceived motivation-ally-relevant social agent influence in sport. The five identified categories share similarities with other attempts to map the perceived motivationally-relevant social agent influence, such as the heuristic model of motivational atmosphere.

Conclusion

The current study identified that the types of influence social agents have on football players’ motivation is consistent across development in sport. While categories of perceived social agent influence were consistent with previous research, this study identified that the influence of coaches, parents and peers had changed as players progress through each developmental stage. Although coaches and peers dominated motivationallyrelevant support for athletes, social agents frequently provided similar and overlapping support. Further research should determine whether social agents have distinct or combined influences on athlete motivation, or whether athletes require specific motivational support regardless of which social agent provides it.

Key Take Outs for All

• Overall, Academies and Trainers, although they recognize the need for further training, have a much better view on their performance, than do players and their parents.

• Moreover, the system today seems to plan and work better on the team level than on the individual level.

• What is lacking from the whole system is not human skills like motivation, interest and empathy, but the scientific method of measuring, assessing, planning and acting.

• Players are expected to come to their coaches whenever they face a problem, but this may not be possible for each player due to social (inequality) or personal (character) reasons. Open-door syndrome!

• The introduction of a more scientific assessment and management method on a more individual level will help trainers and academies overcome this communication barrier, work on an individual level with the players and, ultimately, improve performance efficiency for the good of the whole team.

• These issues appear to be more intense in Greece, Austria and Italy, but there are also cultural biases involved in reporting them. North Makedonia is an ex-soviet culture.

More Specifically

1. Key take outs for academy:

• Although sample is very small (n=5), here are some key take outs

• Training programs: There is need for trainers to become better in educational roles and clubs need to invest in trainer education on top of self-assessment training that is provided. The problem is that such programs are not available in some countries

• HR skills: Although trainers play a key role in training resolution, there is need to strengthen their communication skills, as they do not have the necessary knowledge today and they are not naturally born leaders. They do not have the skills necessary for the purpose and do not keep individual assessment files that would lead to the personal development of each player. It is not a oneon- one improvement game yet.

• Social values: Although trainers will demonstrate empathy for injured players, it appears neither to be an institutionalized process, nor a cultural norm in all cases. Therefore, social values are not necessarily part of everyone’s professional skill set.

2. Key take outs for parents:

• From the parents’ point of view,

• Training programs: There is definitely need for more, obligatory and continuous training for the trainers, which will lead to increased efficiencies. However, this is not only a question of the clubs investing in this (which in many cases they do not), but also a matter of availability of such programs in the country.

• HR skills: Although all parents agree that trainers play a key role in training resolution, there is need to strengthen their communication skills, as they do not have the necessary knowledge today and they are not naturally born leaders. They do not have the skills necessary for the purpose and do not keep individual assessment files that would lead to the personal development of each player. Overall, science and methodological tolls are often not applied on per player case and this is left to the trainer’s “natural” skills, which means that it depends on the trainer’s own talent.

• Social values: Parents deem that clubs should have strict codes of ethics and that trainers should be educated on these, to raise their levels of awareness. Lack of such training means that equal opportunities are not given to all players, cultural or ethnic discrimination may occur in some cases and there is little discussion with each player on the reasons of lower achievement or even failure in a game.

3. Key take outs for players:

• From the player’s point of view,

• Training programs: Players feel respect ad motivation to work with their trainers. They feel committed to them and they feel their trainers understand them. However, there are cases where some players would feel their trainer is not committed to them and that the trainer would not make for them the kind of sacrifice, they would make for him/her.

• HR skills: Similarly, players feel that they are committed and on a total team level the trainer would provide them with clear instructions and support and is in most cases, generally interested in their progress. Although the trainer would not in most cases become abusive and stressful, still they would not be as supportive as possible. He/she would also not work with players on an individual, planned way, by use of documented records on individual player performance.

• Social values: As a result of all the above, although the player does not feel any discomfort on a club level, and most seem to be at ease with the trainer, they often do not feel rewarded on an individual level and they do not feel they have been coached (and therefore given the chance to) to use their full potential.

4. Key take outs for trainers:

• What do trainers have to say for all the above?

• Training programs: Trainers feel motivated, like their jobs and feel they take time to learn what players need from them. They do not feel they have shortcomings and they are ok with being evaluated. Although they do face some pressure as trainers, most are confident they are in the right job for them.

• HR skills: They feel they have programs and they are well prepared for each session, they feel they take care of each player’s individual needs and they see their job as a career, hence they are willing to be continuously trained on it. Most see it is their responsibility-not the players’-to assess each player. They are not stressed and they feel they are responsible-not management-for their training path. They have the time and the empathy required to do it right.

• Social values: They feel they are working for the good of the team, they are confident and they are at the disposal of each player to come to them whenever there is an issue to be resolved. Some feel there is need for cultural alignment of the club and some that there is some disrespect from other groups (parents or players), but overall, they do not feel neither pressure, nor that they are willingly creating injustice for any players due to their ethnic or cultural differences.

5. Proposed framework for coaching components of professional practice (ICCE, 2013):

Knowledge areas, Primary functions, Levels of competence

• Professional knowledge: Set vision and strategy Understand big picture, align and govern, analyze needs, set vision, develop strategy, conduct practices and prepare for competitions, Guide practice, employ suitable pedagogy or andragogy, identify and manage suitable competitions.

• Interpersonal knowledge: Shape the environment Create action plan, organize setting and personnel, identify and recruit athletes, staff and resources, safeguard participants, develop progress markers. Build relationships Lead and influence, manage, manage relationships, be an educator

• Intrapersonal knowledge: Read and react to the field, Observe, make decisions and adjust, record and evaluate, Learn and reflect Evaluate session and program, self-reflect and self-monitor, engage in professional development

6. Key impact on performance-conclusions:

• Character/Personality vs. Culture (Hofstede Theory applied)

• Players education in Decision Making, Emotional Intelligence.

• Open-door syndrome biases.

• Data showed a clear differentiation:

(i) Academies-trainers vs Players-parents or in business,

(ii) Institutions, Organizations vs. Customers, clients

• Implications on Coaching Talents

(i) A clear need of Scientific Assessment competence,

(ii) Organizations can learn from Football on Innovation and Creativity in Talent Strategies,

(iii) Football Coaches can learn from other sports i.e. Basketball, Track and Field and other social organizations such as Cinematography, Acting etc.

Directions for the Future Project Activities

In the next phase of the project, on the basis of the results of the research, an Educational Program will be prepared, which will be run by teams consisting of university professors for HR, HR practitioners, soft skills trainers and coaches. The educational program will be developed through a unique blend of university knowledge in human resource management, good HR practices, personal development techniques and soft skills development in Neurolinguistic programming and Neurocoaching approach.

Proposed curricula for coaches

• Through this program, professional coaches will be professionalized, by raising their capacities for selfmanagement, management others and team management.

• A Research course and a Technology course suggested.

• The two physiology classes, Performance Recovery and Training and Conditioning, are also proposed.

• A Psychology class is paired with Team Leadership and Dynamics.

• It is highly recommended the program to offer a new course in either injury prevention or global coaching in a historical context.

• It is most important to add a risk management class, as the medical side of coaching has become very important, and not every coach has access to an athletic trainer. This is an example of what is now expected of coaches in the 21^st century and provides an example of increased level of professionalization.

• Today’s soccer coaches are expected to have knowledge of medical issues, such as the risk of concussions and how to treat them.

I. Ethical values

Ethics, Integrity, humanity, equal opportunities, fairness

II. Team values

Team spirit, belonging, relationship (connection)

III. Personal values

Commitment, discipline, passion

IV. Interpersonal values

Trust, respect others (respect of diversity), care/health

Social Values will be Processed as Follows

• Theory according to the latest scientific approaches in explaining social values, assessment instruments (selfassessment, assessment of the other and measuring the culture in the team), exercises for the revival of NLP values and coaching approach.

• As an additional act, a Code of Ethics for sports workers will be developed. This Code of Ethics should act in a way to harmonize the personal with organizational (club’s) values, culture, beliefs and the most important “the vision and success”.

Acknowledgement

None.

Conflict Of Interest

The author have no conflict of interest.

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