FROM COACHES' ROLES TO THE COMPETITIVE ENVIRONMENT IN CHILDREN’S FOOTBALL: WHAT’S AT PLAY?

Abstract

This study examines coaches’ views about their role in the U-10 football competitive environment. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 coaches, and 5 matches of the final stages of the competition were observed. The results show that coaches recognize their educational role but do not focus on values and the most appropriate skills in that stage of training. Coaches perceive competition as a learning environment, recognizing the game and competition as a pressure environment inherent to other tasks in life, but they stress that this pressure environment often becomes excessive due to the behavior of adults. Thus, adults’ purposes are often superimposed on children’s possibilities for experiencing and learning in competition.

Keywords:
Soccer; Sports; Competitive Behavior