Identifying the level of sports knowledge base of volunteer coaches in an urban public school sports program

The purpose of this study was to determine the level of sports knowledge base of volunteer coaches currently coaching within an urban volunteer sports program. Sport knowledge base encompasses the sport specific technical and coaching knowledge, and the psychological and physiological aspects of coaching. Respondents (N=70) were a cross section of 42 elementary schools within Area 17.Research findings revealed that 77% of the male and 78% of the female coaches were categorized as naive in regards to sports knowledge base. The coaches categorized as experts in regards to sports knowledge base were 23% males and 22% females. Fifty-four percent of the respondents had coached a sport team for one year or less. Twentyone percent of the respondents had received some form of training, while 79% had never been trained to perform the duties of a coach. This research supports the implementation of training programs to assist with improving sports knowledge base of volunteer coaches.