M8 Solutions to Maltreatment: Athlete-Centered Sport

Athlete-Centered Coaching

An approach that places athletes at the center of their sport experience, viewing them as humans first and athletes second

Athlete-Centered Coaching Elements

Elements include

• Athletes as active participants, driving their own experience

  • Gives agency

• Coaches act as a support system, cheerleader, and challenger, rather than a dictator

• Focus on holistic development (physical, mental, social, personal) beyond just athletic skills

Athlete-Centered Coaching Effects

By focusing on positive sport and athlete well-being, this approach naturally moves away from abusive behaviours and the “gray area”

Athlete-Centered Coaching Challenge

Athlete-Centered Coaching / “The Soft Approach” is often associated w/ youth sport, but research aims to show its efficacy and necessity in competitive environments

Ted Lasso Example

An Apple TV series depicting a positive-minded coach of a UK football team

• Demonstrates positive coaching strategies that prioritize athletes’ well-being and intrinsic motivation

Half-time Speech: Contrasts traditional aggressive, fear-based motivation w/ a supportive, effort-focused approach (play hard, play smart, play together, do your best)

Motivation: Shifts focus from extrinsic rewards (winning, medals, trophies) to intrinsic motivation (joy, mastery, love of the game, personal improvement)

Intrinsic Motivation

Research into sport psychology suggests intrinsic motivation leads to better performance, reduced stress, greater fulfillment

Ted Lasso Origin

Ted Lasso was based on real-life mentors and NFL coach Jim Harbaugh, highlighting that positive coaching approaches can exist at the elite level and work

Positive Coaching Styles

1. Athlete Centered Coaching

2. Autonomy-Supportive Coaching

Athlete Centered Coaching Details

Objective: Empower athletes as active participants in their sport, fostering both performance and a sense of belonging

Key Principles:

1. Holistic Development

2. Agency

3. Power Balance

Holistic Development

Success is dual-faceted, encompassing performance and personal growth/well-being

Agency

Providing athletes opportunities to find solutions, make decisions, and take ownership

Power Balance

Rebalancing the traditional coach-athlete power dynamic by giving athletes a voice and choice, incorporating consent

Autonomy-Supportive Coaching Details

Objective: Grounded in Self-Determination Theory (intrinsic motivation leads to enhanced performance, while extrinsic motivation can decrease motivation and performance due to external pressure)

Key Principles:

1. Increase autonomy

2. Increase competence

3. Increase relatedness

Autonomy

Sense of control

Competence

Belief in one’s own ability to successfully complete a task

Relatedness

Feeling cared for/connected

Autonomy-Supportive Coaching Implementation

Provide choice: offer options within structured tasks (e.g. choice of workout order)

Provide rationale: explain why certain tasks are important for athlete development

Foster learning and independence: Gradually shift ownership to athletes as they gain knowledge and self-awareness

Coach Quote Example

An Olympic coach defines success as having “effectively worked himself out of a job” when athletes are educated and self-sufficient

Benefits of Positive Coaching

Individual:

• Increased self esteem, motivation, well-being, decision-making, leadership, and performance

Preventative Measure:

• Can act as a preventative measure against maltreatment by addressing underlying and systemic factors

  • Provides power to athletes and encourages active participation

  • Reduces traditional coach control

  • Encourages athletes to speak up earlier, fostering conflict resolution skills

Research Findings: Youth High-Performance Athletes (Unpublished)

Methodology: Survey on coaching styles

Important Correlations:

• Positive Correlations:

  • Emotional Abuse is positively correlated with Neglect/Physical Abuse and Discrimination

  • Athlete Centered Coaching is positively correlated with Well-being and very strongly correlated with Positive Youth Development

• Negative Correlations:

  • Emotional Abuse is negatively correlated with Well-Being, Athlete-Centered Coaching, Positive Youth Development

  • Neglect/Physical Abuse is negatively correlated with Athlete-Centered Coaching, Positive Youth Development

  • Discrimination is negatively correlated with Athlete-Centered Coaching, Positive Youth Development

Unpublished Findings

ACC and PYD (fostering life skills, leadership, connection) were negatively related to emotional abuse and neglect

• Suggests that coaches focused on holistic athlete care inherently move away from abusive behaviours

• These coaching styles were also related to higher well-being and reduced discrimination

Katelyn Ohashi Video

Ohashi experienced abuse at the elite level; rediscovered joy and love for gymnastics under Ms. Val at UCLA

Val’s Philosophy

UCLA head coach for 29 years

• Initially adopted the “tough coach” routine (unsympathetic, cold, results-driven)

  • Team meeting made her realize the true effects of her coaching style (degrading, feeling worthless)

• She changed by:

  • Redefining Success: Winning does not always equal success. The “win-at-all-costs” culture can damage human beings

  • True Success: Developing champions in life (win or lose, does not matter)

• Outcome:

  • This shift led to developing strong athletes and 7 national championships, demonstrating that positive coaching translates to performance

Willson’s PhD Research: Positive Coaching in High-Performance Sport

Objective: Challenge the narrative that high performance requires aggressive coaching or that positive experiences are incompatible with winning

Participants: 13 athletes and 11 coaches who had won medals at the Olympic, Paralympic, or World Championship levels and reported positive experiences

Findings Part 1

Part 1: Performance in Positive Environments

• Found that performance and positive experiences are NOT a balancing act but a cycle where they feed into each other

  • An Olympic gold medalist attributed her win to a positive coaching environment after her previous abusive coach was fired

  • Quote from an Olympic champion: “It’s not a theory. Like if you treat people better, then they’ll do better. It’s tangible. I have a gold medal upstairs that can prove it to you.”

Findings Part 2

Part 2: Why it works (benefits)

• Increased enjoyment, motivation, and resiliency (ability to bounce back from setbacks)

• Longer careers (reduced burnout/injury)

• Ability to put sport into perspective (e.g. hobbies, volunteering)

• Personal development (life skills, leadership, time management)

• Feeling cared about

Redefining Success in High Performance Sport (PhD Research)

Intriguing Finding: When asked about success, elite athletes and coaches rarely focused solely on medal count/tangible wins

Five main areas of success identified

1. Personal Performance Attainment

2. Building Better Humans

3. Ensuring Health and Well-being

4. Emphasizing Joy in Sport

5. Career Longevity and Engagement

Personal Performance Attainment

Striving to be THEIR best, but not necessarily THE best (personal improvement)

Building Better Humans

Prioritizing character development and being a good person over winning

Ensuring Health and Well-being

Never compromising athlete health (allowing adequate physical, mental, rest and recovery) for performance

Importance of Joy

Recognizing fun and enjoyment as a crucial metric of success at all levels of sport

Career Longevity and Engagement

Fostering continued engagement in sports (as athlete, coach, volunteer, donor) to prevent burnout and disengagement

What Constitutes Positive Experience? (PhD Research)

Six core aspects of a coaches’ philosophy

1. Holistic

2. Individualized

3. Good Governance

4. Healthy Environment

5. Empowering Approach

6. Respectful

Holistic

Focus on physical, psychological, social, and spiritual needs

• Encourage sport-life balance and life skill development

• “You’ve got the technical training, but a lot of your role is just trying to

  support athletes and making sure they’re okay as people. If you’re just a

  coach you’re missing something, you’re a little bit of a parent, a

  psychologist, a little bit of a friend, a little bit of a guide, a little bit of…”

Individualized

Tailoring coaching styles and techniques based on individual athlete needs and capacities

• Getting to know athletes, respecting their day-to-day capacity (e.g. adjusting training if an athlete is having a bad day)

• Celebrating individual potential

Resources: Quality Coaching Toolkit (developed with Coaching Association of Canada)

Good Governance

Ensuring a strong coaching philosophy aligned with organizational values

• Rewarding more than just performance (e.g. celebrating growth)

• Promoting athlete input into decisions (e.g. team rules, even board composition)

Healthy Environment

Creating a space that fosters fun, enjoyment, safety, and overall health

• Recognizing the importance of rest, recovery, and balance to prevent injury and burnout

• Fun and enjoyment increase health and performance

Empowering Approach

Intentional inclusion of athlete in decision-making processes (autonomy-supportive)

• Using supportive language that motivates rather than tears down

Strong Coach-Athlete Relationship

Building close relationships based on mutual trust and respect

• Fostering open communication for conflict resolutoin and challenge

• Maintaining strong professional boundaries (e.g. “friendly but not friends,” adhering to the Rule of Two)