Date of Award

2025

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

Organizational Leadership

First Advisor

Laurie Goodman

Second Advisor

George Sziraki

Third Advisor

George Giokaris

Abstract

Purpose: This phenomenological examination examines ninth-12th grade athletic coaches’ perceptions of the impact on athletes returning to athletic competition after being online during the pandemic for 2 years with regard to behavior, athletic achievement, attitude, and social connections.

Methodology: This qualitative study interviewed athletic coaches in the Tri-County Athletic Conference in Central California. Semi structured open-ended interview questions were the main source of data collection. Data were coded and the researcher analyzed the data for themes and patterns, and the results were validated through the interrater process by an experienced researcher.

Findings: After analyzing data, codes, and themes, the researcher concluded with five major findings related to high school student-athletes returning to school after being online for 2 years in regard to mindset, behavior, social connections, and athletic achievement. The findings indicated by the 11 participating coaches reported that athletes exhibited decreased motivation, decreased persistence/perservance, and students struggled with peer and team interaction as a result of fixed mindset impacting their self-efficacy. Furthermore, the participants strongly indicated that student-athletes were able to increase their motivation and self-efficacy if coaches intervened and designed incremental tasks or small wins.

Conclusions: This study supported Bandura’s self-efficacy theory and it adds to the thematic study examining the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on different populations in K-12 education. The conclusions of this study confirms that self-efficacy is essential for athletes in order to overcome obstacles that may interfere with their success in their chosen sport. When a student’s self-efficacy is affected it can negatively impact their mindset in all areas including high school sports.

Recommendations: The researcher recommends that further research should be conducted to determine the impact of different coaching styles on self-efficacy as well as the role the coach plays in building self-efficacy in individual student-athletes. It is recommended that further research be expanded to include students younger than high school and postsecondary education.

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