Female athletes’ Behavioral Experiences through the Coach-athlete Collaboration

The scope of this study was to explore the experiences and the perceptions of Greek female athletes with male and female coaches, in the field of communication and behaviors within their daily encounters. The sample of this research project was consisted of 182 female athletes splitting in participants of international level 38.7%, national 51.4%, regional 2.8% and club 7.2%.Their age range was between 15-35 years and the average practice per week was 5.5 times. Data were gathered using a written questionnaire Results indicated a preference for working with female coaches as athletes seem to feel more comfortable in the relationship. Athletes’ opinions about coaching behaviors were differentiated by their competition level. With elite athletes believe that “female coaches care more than male coaches for the athletes personality” (χ2 (1, Ν = 103) = 6.83, p = .009) but it “is more difficult to communicate with female coaches than male” (χ2 (1, Ν = 99) = 5.73, p = .017). Finally, athletes΄ experiences of coaching behaviors were statistically different between elite and no-elite as from individual and team sports athletes. In conclusion, male coaches in athletes΄ view seemed to put pressure on athletes, use rough language but at the same time have good communication skills. As for the female coaches seemed to scream at athletes, let them influence the decision taken and have good communication skills. Concerning these perceptions and experiences of athletes there is a need of reconstruction and development of communication and leadership skills of coaches through education.