Coaches’ perception of their motivation and mentoring skills for professional practice in Benue State, Nigeria

Leaders typically flounder not because they lack technical skills or knowledge of the job, but  rather because they have a competence  deficit.Competencies work best when they become deeply ingrained in both the values of the organisation and in the performance that is expected of individuals. Motivating athletes is considered an important competency in coaching practice. There is a strong need for research on the role of mentoring and coaching in supporting the holistic well-being and ongoing development of athletes. This study examined coaches’ perception of their motivation and mentoring skills for professional practice in Benue State. The research design that was adopted for this study was survey research design. The Population of the study consisted of all the coaches of Benue State Sports Council Makurdi. The sample comprised one hundred and sixty two (162) coaches of Benue State Sports Council who were purposively selected for the study. The questionnaire titled (EAGCPCRSPP) developed by the researcher was used for data collection in this study. The independent sample t-test was used to find out gender, and work experience differences in motivation and mentoring skills among coaches. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to analyse age and level of education differences inmotivation and mentoring skills among coaches. All the analyses were conducted using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS version 23) at 0.05 level of significance. Coaches were competent in motivating athletes and possessed good mentoring skills. There was no significant difference in the mean ratings of coach’s competences in Benue State relating to motivation as perceived by gender, age, education and years of experience (p>0.05). There was no significant difference in the mean ratings by gender, age and years of experience of coaches in Benue State on training needs relating to coaching and mentoring skills (p>0.05). However, coaches differed significantly on their mentoring skills based on their level of education. Coaches perceived themselves as competent in motivating athletes. Coaches also possessed adequate coaching and mentoring skills for professional practice in Benue State