Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0009-0004-0160-0654

Semester

Fall

Date of Graduation

2025

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Type

PhD

College

College of Applied Human Sciences

Department

Not Listed

Committee Chair

Kristen Dieffenbach

Committee Member

Sean Bulger

Committee Member

Peter McGahey

Committee Member

James Wyant

Committee Member

Thadeu Gasparetto

Abstract

Youth sport organizations in the United States rely heavily on volunteer coaches to deliver accessible and developmentally aligned programming, yet little research has examined how organizational leaders perceive and manage this volunteer workforce. Existing scholarship has focused primarily on volunteer coach motivations and experiences from the coach perspective, leaving a gap in understanding the views of those responsible for recruiting, training, retaining, and supporting volunteers. Guided by the youth sport social-ecological model (NYSS, 2019), the recent USOPC Commission Report, and principles of self-determination theory (Ryan. & Deci, 2000), this instrumental case study explored youth sport organizational leaders’ perceptions of working with volunteer coaches within one large, multi-region youth soccer organization. Five focus groups were conducted with across five regional clubs including club managers, recreational directors, and recreational administrators (n = 16). Using reflexive thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2019), 12 themes were developed across the five core topics.

Some of the key findings youth sport organizational leaders highlighted the ongoing tensions around accountability and expectations for volunteer coaches, even as volunteers were recognized as essential to sustaining accessible, athlete-centered programming. Volunteer coach recruitment and retention were perceived by participants as difficult, emphasizing the difficult nature of “voluntold” coaches. Training and development efforts were consistently constrained by volunteer availability and by organizational leaders’ own limited time, leading to a model of support characterized by resource provision and “being available” rather than structured, ongoing education. Findings highlight the complex, often conflicting demands placed on volunteer-reliant systems and underscore the need for organizational structures that intentionally support volunteer coaches while aligning with athlete-centered programming goals (NYSS, 2019). Implications for organizational practice and future research directions are discussed.

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