Team officials and their effect on individual subjective performance

Abstract

New Zealand sports people are struggling at an international level. Some have expressed concern at the administration and management of their sport and maintain it is detrimental to their satisfaction and performance. Twenty elite national sports people from athletics and netball were interviewed for the purpose of: 1. Gauging the impact on elite competitors of officials selected to tour with New Zealand teams. 2. Assessing the competence of officials as perceived by competitors. Qualitative data were collected in an attempt to understand the exact nature of the problems and provide relevant sports administrators and coaches with information about competitor needs at the elite level. Two types of sports were investigated, 'interactive' (netball), and 'individual' (athletics). I attempted to identify the differences and similarities in team structure, and the implications of these for coach and manager. Many participants were dissatisfied with appointed coaches and managers. They felt that some officials were not suitably equipped to cope with the demands of international travel and competition in the team situation. Among the criticisms, participants cited difficult personalities, a lack of genuine interest in competitors, and little appreciation of competitor needs, as shortfalls. Other criticisms included the inconsistent and unprofessional selection of officials. I have made two main recommendations. The primary recommendation is to set up a task force to develop a national blue-print for coach and manager education. While some sports codes have good coach training and support guide-lines, a national direction is lacking and there is also little or no guidance for managers. This situation must be addressed before expected performances in the international arena can be achieved. The second recommendation is to develop a system of accountability to measure the performance of the coach and manager. At present, win-loss statistics are central to evaluation of the coach. Clearly player satisfaction and enjoyment is not taken into account. Manager appraisal does not appear to exist at all. New Zealand sports people have the potential to perform successfully in international competitions. If all factors contributing to the equation for success are carefully analysed and the above recommendations heeded. New Zealand may not only be able to produce more medal winning competitors more consistently, but also maintain a wide following in sport by future generations.