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Majority of parents have a positive relationship with their child’s coach.
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Over 90% of parents have high levels of trust in their child’s coach.
Over 1000 parents of children, who currently take part in coached sport and physical activity, were surveyed in the independent, nationally representative research, with 80% describing their coach-parent relationship as very or fairly positive. Additionally, 93% of respondents had very high levels of trust in their child’s coach and 98% never had any concerns, complains or problems.
The primary aim of the survey, which was conducted by YouGov on UK Coaching’s behalf in 2018, was to understand parents’ views of their child’s coach and coaching.
Familiarity has an important part to play in the coach-parent relationship, with results showing that 87% of parents who were on first name terms with their child’s coach, were more likely to report a positive relationship. This was also a factor in the amount of feedback parents received from coaches about their child, with those parents who said they ‘know the coach very well’ receiving frequent feedback.
When asked what they liked most about their child’s coach, the most popular responses were: ‘their child likes them’; ‘they are experienced and knowledgeable; ‘and they make sessions enjoyable’. However, the report also shows that two-thirds of parents did not undertake any relevant checks on their child’s coach, either because they did not think it was necessary, or because they expected the club/facility to do the relevant checks.