Comparative analysis of coaches' perception of their capability, opportunity, and motivation to train athletes with special educational needs

Background: In ensuring equal opportunities for all athletes, including those with special educational needs (SEN), coaches play a key role, as their inclusive competence determines the creation of an inclusive sports environment and affects the quality of the training process. Previous studies usin...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Olesia Shevchuk, Iryna Kohut, Viktoriia Marynych
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Kharkiv State Academy of Physical Culture 2025-06-01
Series:Слобожанський науково-спортивний вісник
Subjects:
Online Access:https://shssjournal.com/index.php/journal/article/view/273
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849688479593660416
author Olesia Shevchuk
Iryna Kohut
Viktoriia Marynych
author_facet Olesia Shevchuk
Iryna Kohut
Viktoriia Marynych
author_sort Olesia Shevchuk
collection DOAJ
description Background: In ensuring equal opportunities for all athletes, including those with special educational needs (SEN), coaches play a key role, as their inclusive competence determines the creation of an inclusive sports environment and affects the quality of the training process. Previous studies using the COM-B model have shown that Ukrainian coaches rate their readiness to train athletes with SEN low. Since this depends on various factors, it is important to understand how different socio-demographic characteristics may influence their responses and behavior. Study Aim: to conduct a comparative analysis of Ukrainian coaches’ perceptions of their capability, opportunities, and motivation to train athletes with special educational needs, which shape their behavior, based on socio-demographic differences and their own coaching experience. Material and Methods. The survey, conducted between September 2023 and March 2024, involved 379 Ukrainian coaches from 58 sports disciplines, with an average age of 37 (±14) years. Data collection was carried out via Google Forms, and statistical calculations were performed using Microsoft Office Excel 2010 and IBM SPSS Statistics Version 27. Methods included questionnaires and a range of general scientific and mathematical-statistical methods (descriptive statistics, Mann-Whitney U test, and Kruskal-Wallis H test). Results. Statistically significant differences were found in coaches' perceptions of their capability, opportunity, and motivation to train athletes with SEN based on the following factors: sex (2,09≤|Z|≤3,41; 0,01<p≤0,04; small effect size); experience with SEN athletes (5,90≤|Z|≤8,06; p<0,01; moderate effect size); self-identification as an inclusive coach (5,67≤|Z|≤8,84; p<0,01; рmoderate to large effect size). No statistically significant differences were found based on age, coaching experience, education level, or specialties. Conclusions. The absence of differences in responses between coaches with and without coaching-specific education indicates that, at present, professional training does not adequately prepare coaches to work with athletes with SEN. These results should be considered when developing training programs and professional development initiatives related to inclusion in sports.
format Article
id doaj-art-dc797e4d9be84ed4a211edcf272f1f15
institution DOAJ
issn 1991-0177
1999-818X
language English
publishDate 2025-06-01
publisher Kharkiv State Academy of Physical Culture
record_format Article
series Слобожанський науково-спортивний вісник
spelling doaj-art-dc797e4d9be84ed4a211edcf272f1f152025-08-20T03:21:59ZengKharkiv State Academy of Physical CultureСлобожанський науково-спортивний вісник1991-01771999-818X2025-06-01292130141https://doi.org/10.15391/snsv.2025-2.04Comparative analysis of coaches' perception of their capability, opportunity, and motivation to train athletes with special educational needsOlesia Shevchukhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-6331-8049Iryna Kohuthttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-3042-2189Viktoriia Marynychhttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-2784-680XBackground: In ensuring equal opportunities for all athletes, including those with special educational needs (SEN), coaches play a key role, as their inclusive competence determines the creation of an inclusive sports environment and affects the quality of the training process. Previous studies using the COM-B model have shown that Ukrainian coaches rate their readiness to train athletes with SEN low. Since this depends on various factors, it is important to understand how different socio-demographic characteristics may influence their responses and behavior. Study Aim: to conduct a comparative analysis of Ukrainian coaches’ perceptions of their capability, opportunities, and motivation to train athletes with special educational needs, which shape their behavior, based on socio-demographic differences and their own coaching experience. Material and Methods. The survey, conducted between September 2023 and March 2024, involved 379 Ukrainian coaches from 58 sports disciplines, with an average age of 37 (±14) years. Data collection was carried out via Google Forms, and statistical calculations were performed using Microsoft Office Excel 2010 and IBM SPSS Statistics Version 27. Methods included questionnaires and a range of general scientific and mathematical-statistical methods (descriptive statistics, Mann-Whitney U test, and Kruskal-Wallis H test). Results. Statistically significant differences were found in coaches' perceptions of their capability, opportunity, and motivation to train athletes with SEN based on the following factors: sex (2,09≤|Z|≤3,41; 0,01<p≤0,04; small effect size); experience with SEN athletes (5,90≤|Z|≤8,06; p<0,01; moderate effect size); self-identification as an inclusive coach (5,67≤|Z|≤8,84; p<0,01; рmoderate to large effect size). No statistically significant differences were found based on age, coaching experience, education level, or specialties. Conclusions. The absence of differences in responses between coaches with and without coaching-specific education indicates that, at present, professional training does not adequately prepare coaches to work with athletes with SEN. These results should be considered when developing training programs and professional development initiatives related to inclusion in sports.https://shssjournal.com/index.php/journal/article/view/273inclusionsportcom-bsocio-demographic factorsexperiencecoach
spellingShingle Olesia Shevchuk
Iryna Kohut
Viktoriia Marynych
Comparative analysis of coaches' perception of their capability, opportunity, and motivation to train athletes with special educational needs
Слобожанський науково-спортивний вісник
inclusion
sport
com-b
socio-demographic factors
experience
coach
title Comparative analysis of coaches' perception of their capability, opportunity, and motivation to train athletes with special educational needs
title_full Comparative analysis of coaches' perception of their capability, opportunity, and motivation to train athletes with special educational needs
title_fullStr Comparative analysis of coaches' perception of their capability, opportunity, and motivation to train athletes with special educational needs
title_full_unstemmed Comparative analysis of coaches' perception of their capability, opportunity, and motivation to train athletes with special educational needs
title_short Comparative analysis of coaches' perception of their capability, opportunity, and motivation to train athletes with special educational needs
title_sort comparative analysis of coaches perception of their capability opportunity and motivation to train athletes with special educational needs
topic inclusion
sport
com-b
socio-demographic factors
experience
coach
url https://shssjournal.com/index.php/journal/article/view/273
work_keys_str_mv AT olesiashevchuk comparativeanalysisofcoachesperceptionoftheircapabilityopportunityandmotivationtotrainathleteswithspecialeducationalneeds
AT irynakohut comparativeanalysisofcoachesperceptionoftheircapabilityopportunityandmotivationtotrainathleteswithspecialeducationalneeds
AT viktoriiamarynych comparativeanalysisofcoachesperceptionoftheircapabilityopportunityandmotivationtotrainathleteswithspecialeducationalneeds