The Role of Coaches in Identifying and Selecting Talent Through Co-Curricular Sports

Abstract

Identity is an important part of an individual, especially a university student. However, how does a coach perceive those participating in co-curricular sports? Coaches are in the position to guide young athletes and contribute to the formation of their identity as varsity athletes. It is important for coaches to wholly observe them and support their participation. Any words said to young athletes will directly influence their self-perception and their ability to cope with the challenges in achieving victory. This research has two objectives: (i) to determine the extent of the coaches’ role in the participation of varsity athletes; and (ii) to assess the perception of coaches toward co-curricular sports in Malaysian universities. The data were collected via questionnaires from 32 coaches. The findings indicated that, from the perspective of the coaches, the most important variable was the individual performance of varsity athletes (M = 5.35, SD = 0.74), followed by talent development (M = 5.1, SD = 0.91). Identification and selection of talent was the least important variable (M = 4.87, SD = 0.98). If a coach is confident with the potential of a student-athlete, he would continue to search for tournaments relevant to the latter’s skills. If the student-athlete has displayed consistent performance, the coach would look for teams and coaches from whom the athletes can gain more knowledge and experience. However, the sole efforts of the coaches alone are not enough, so the varsity athletes themselves must possess strong interest, high commitment, and enduring discipline to persist with the sport of choice. These factors are indispensable for the success of varsity athletes.