CBU prof gets funding for coaching research
A feedback tool to help coaches tailor tactics that optimize the performance of adult athletes is the subject of a federally funded study involving a Cape Breton University professor.
Bettina Callary, an associate professor of sport and physical activity leadership and community studies, is the recipient of the $227,348 grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.
Her research is focusing on coaching adult (masters) athletes and the development of a firstof-its-kind tool that allows their coaches to use instruction that optimizes performance and the quality of the sporting experience.
“Masters athletes are typically 35 years or older and are currently the fastest growing category of athletes in Canada,” Callary said, in a news release.
“There is a current need for specific research into the behavioural, personal, emotional and ethical aspects of masters sport in order to effectively provide correct coaching and support to this group of athletes.”
Callary’s four-phase research project will also provide a more in-depth understanding of how adult learning and teaching manifest differently across sports and ages, and how adultoriented coaching approaches impact quality sport experience.
She will work with co-investigators Scott Rathwell of the University of Lethbridge and Bradley Young of the University of Ottawa on the project.
Initial evidence shows benefits for adults associated with having a coach, including a more self-determined profile related to psychological well-being and sport persistence.
Results from this project are expected to specifically inform enhanced learning efforts for masters coaches and advance conceptual understandings of how practices may be adapted in an ever-aging demographic.