Athletic Coaches Have a Profound Impact on the Lives of Young Athletes

April 20, 2010 Bedford, NY—Athletic coaches have a tremendous impact on the lives of their young athletes, according to a poll taken by the National Coach Survey (NCS).

In a survey taken by more than 1,000 travel sports coaches in the first two weeks of April, coaches responded that more than 80% have been asked by parents to speak to their children about non-sport issues. Nearly 90% say that their players seek advice about non-sports issues, such as problems with friends, schoolwork or family issues.

In a typical in season week, a third of the coaches polled said that they spend more than 16 hours with their athletes. Nearly all of the coaches said reported they council their players on nutrition or off-season training, apart from games and practices.

When asked what the most important lesson they wanted to teach their athletes, 40% replied "hard work," 30% replied integrity, 20% teamwork and 10% said sportsmanship. Winning was not mentioned.

"You can see from these numbers just how important coaches can be to the development and choices that young athletes make, especially at the travel sports level," said John Kelly, Publisher of NationalCoachSurvey.org. "Our research shows that coaches often rank equal to, and in some cases higher than, parents in terms of influencing the decisions young people make on and off the field. I don’t think the general public has any idea about the level of their influence."

The National Coach Survey focuses on exploring the issues facing our nation’s athletic coaches and the impact they have on our society. Twice a month, NCS distributes a new survey on topics that relate directly to how coaches impact and improve the lives of the young athletes they work with so closely. Full results of this survey can be found at www.NationalCoachSurvey.org.

For more information on the National Coach Survey, please contact John Kelly, Director at jkelly15@mac.com or (917) 648-8391.

The National Coach Survey is managed by My Sports Dreams, a leading provider of product-less solutions to financial challenges faced by teams at the collegiate, interscholastic and travel levels nationwide. For more information, visit www.mysportsdreams.com/ncsurv.