Perceptions of Stress of Swedish Volunteer Youth Soccer Coaches

Background: The work of a coach can be stressful, and little is known about how volunteercoaches in child and youth soccer perceive stress. Therefore, the overall aim of this study was toexplore perceptions of stress among Swedish volunteer youth soccer coaches. Methods: An onlinequestionnaire was distributed to 1514 soccer coaches of which 688 (78% men and 22% women; 4%< 30 years, 34% 31–40 years; 57% 41–50 years and 5% > 51 years) with non‐profit positionsresponded. Results: Findings indicate that participants in general do not feel excessively stressed bybeing a volunteer youth soccer coach (M = 2.20; SD = 0.93; Min = 1; Max = 5), and no significantdifferences in perceived stress level were found based on gender, age, ethnicity, educational levelor occupation. Multiple regression analysis showed that demands from employment (β = 0.24, p <0.001), difficulty catching up with the family (β = 0.22, p < 0.001), not having enough time to planactivities (β = 0.13, p < 0.001), feeling pressured when selecting the team (β = 0.09, p = 0.013) and owndemands to achieve good results (β = 0.07, p = 0.045), significantly contributed to perceptions ofstress among the investigated youth sport coaches. Conclusions: The results shed light on theimportant aim that sport clubs develop holistic strategies when recruiting and retaining coaches andfor other functions concerning child and youth soccer teams