A COMPARISON OF PERCEPTIONS OF SECONDARY SCHOOL HEAD BASKETBALL COACHES AND PRINCIPALS

The purpose of the study was to determine if a discrepancy existed between the perceptions of high school boys\u27 head basketball coaches and high school principals concerning the ideal high school boys\u27 head basketball coach. Measurement was made involving six major factors: general evaluative, potency, oriented activity, stability, receptivity, and aggressiveness. The instrument used in the study was a form of semantic differential. Data were gathered from boys\u27 head basketball coaches and principals from TSSAA-approved high schools throughout the state of Tennessee. Seventy-five coaches and seventy-two principals participated in the study. The data were subjected to one-way analysis of variance and t tests, to determine if a significant difference did exist between the coaches\u27 and principals\u27 perceptions. The data yielded the following results: (1) No significant difference occurred between the perceptions of coaches and principals concerning the ideal coach in the areas of general evaluative, receptivity, potency, and oriented activity. (2) Significant differences did exist between perceptions of coaches and principals concerning the ideal coach in areas of stability and aggressiveness, with principals perceiving stability as being more desirable and coaches perceiving aggressiveness as being more desirable. Among the conclusions resulting from the analysis of data, the following were deemed to be most significant: (1) Basketball coaches and principals perceive overall positive moral character and receptivity as desirable for the ideal high school boys\u27 head basketball coach. (2) While both principals and basketball coaches perceived emotional stability and aggressiveness as desirable traits for the ideal high school boys\u27 head basketball coach, principals viewed stability as more desirable than the coaches, while coaches viewed aggressiveness as more desirable than did the principals. (3) Role conflict for coaches is not caused by a discrepancy in perceptions between coaches and principals concerning the need for performing daily tasks, however, this study did not ascertain which daily tasks each group believes need to be performed. There may be a role conflict therefore relating to specific tasks