Coaches’ conceptions about competition role on the sport development of youth volleyball players

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to analyze the conceptions of expert coaches about the competition on sport formation, concerning the objectives and organization of the competition and also its role in training organization. The participants were 10 experts coaches with average age of 45±13,8 and 24,8±12,1 years of coach experience in Brazilian volleyball. Data collection was accomplished through structured open answers interviews. Its construction validation was supported in the specialized literature and the content validity was accessed by expert validation. The treatment of the information was accomplished through content analysis, with logic-semantics procedures. The results showed that the coaches considered four major objectives for the competition: Psychological Development; Tactical Development; Feedback for Training and Motivation for learning. Concerning training organization, on two different stages, coaches valued in the initiation stage Adaptations of the rules, Functional versatility and Obligatory participation and in the Improvement Stage all other categories except Obligatory participation. The expert coaches considered the competition as essential in the sport development since guided by based pedagogic values and directed to the inclusion.