Youth Coaches’ Perceptions And Knowledge Of Sport-related Concussions

Coaches are community leaders and role models who are responsible for athletes’ health, well-being, and personal development (Bloom, Falcão, & Caron, 2014). Given their prominent role in athletes’ lives, it is disconcerting that coaches are underrepresented in the concussion literature. More specifically, researchers have found that youth coaches are lacking knowledge on the common signs and symptoms, management, and return to activity guidelines associated with sport-related concussions (Covassin, Elbin, & Sarmiento, 2011; White et al., 2014). PURPOSE: To understand youth coaches’ perceptions of sport-related concussions. METHODS: Individual interviews were conducted with eight youth coaches from a variety of contact and non-contact sports. All the participants reported having coached numerous athletes who suffered a concussion. Data were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using a hierarchical content analysis (Côté et al., 1993; Sparkes & Smith, 2014), a commonly used strategy in coaching science research. RESULTS: Based on the inductive analysis, two higher-order categories emerged: Athletic and Coaching Experiences and Coach Concussion Knowledge. Although the eight coaches said they were aware of concussions, the majority did not feel they had sufficient knowledge regarding concussion management, return to activity guidelines, and long-term implications. Participants said they acquired concussion knowledge through their own direct and indirect experiences as athletes and by coaching their teams. Additionally, coaches said they learned about concussions through media reports and formal concussion education training. CONCLUSIONS: Findings from this study concur with previous research that suggests knowledge emanating from peer-reviewed articles and published guidelines are not reaching coaches (White et al., 2014). This suggests that knowledge translation strategies (Straus, Tetroe, & Graham, 2013) aimed at bridging the gap between the scientific community and coaches should be considered when developing concussion education programs for these individuals. Ultimately, researchers must find the best way to educate coaches about concussions because they play an important role in young athletes’ health and well-being.