The Coach-Athlete Relationship: A Comprehensive Understanding

Behan, Dr. Craig M.
Dr. Craig Behan is a professor of Kinesiology and experienced post-secondary basketball coach. Educational background incorporates a Doctorate with a focus in Social-Psychology (Kinesiology); Masters in Education (Coaching Science); Bachelor of Education (Physical Education); Bachelor of Arts; and certified NCCP L4 high performance coach (Canada).

This book consists of three main sections, providing practical insight into the development, maintenance, and repair of the coach-athlete relationship. The first section is a historical overview of the coach-athlete relationship literature within sport; this section examines and provides a comprehensive overview of examining the coach-athlete relationship. The subsequent section is a qualitative study, semi-structured interviews were conducted with successful team sport coaches within 'USPORTS' (Canadian University Sport). The interpretive research identifies key components pertaining to the Coach-Athlete Relationship (CAR). A final thematic structure revealed five major dimensions and themes contributing to common factors the role relationships play in coach-athlete success (R-CART; Reciprocating Coach-Athlete Relationship Tool). Finally a qualitative longitudinal case study examining the evolution of the CAR over a season assessed the impact of the visual tool (R-CART) to help guide coaches in enhancing the CAR. Amendments and advancement of the user-friendly Coach-Athlete Relationship Tool was further developed into the Coach-Athlete Relationship Bandwidth Model (CAR-BM).