Sport-confidence and coach expectancy sources in intercollegiate ice hockey

Abstract

The information meaningful to coaches during player assessments and the types of experiences that contribute to athletes' confidence are not as well studied in ice hockey as in other sports. The primary purpose of this investigation was to determine what sources of expectancy information are salient to collegiate ice hockey coaches. A secondary purpose was to identify the experiences that contribute to sport-confidence in collegiate ice hockey players. Thirty two coaches and 16 athletes in NCAA ice hockey programs participated in this study. Results indicated that there is congruence between the information used by ice hockey coaches of different roles and competitive levels when evaluating athletes. It was observed that coaches rate psychological factors highest when evaluating athletes. The experiences meaningful to ice hockey players' sport-confidence were accessed and the ordering of sources was compared between positions. A sport psychology consultant working within ice hockey can better understand coach behavior by knowing what player characteristics are meaningful to a coach when evaluating athletes. Additionally, a consultant can know what information an athlete taps in his or her personal life for reassurance of self-efficacy in sport. Future research employing interview techniques can identify sport-specific sources of evaluative information relevant to ice hockey coaches and the experiences particularly meaningful to hockey players' confidence in sport. This study provides some groundwork and direction for further investigation of the expectancy information and sport-confidence sources relevant within specific sports.