Sport coaching officials and their stressors: Work overload, role ambiguity, role conflict and the influence on job satisfaction of sport coaching officials in Gauteng province, South Africa

Abstract

Sport officials’ concerns over job stressors have become common due to the adverse effect on health. The study sought to examine the associations of work overload, role ambiguity and role conflict, as well as their predictive influence on job satisfaction of sport coaches in Gauteng, South Africa. Data were collected from a sample of 203 sport coaches by means of a structured questionnaire. Correlations and regression analysis were used to test the nature of the relationships among the examined job stressors and their predictive effect on job satisfaction. The results of the correlation and regression analysis show that role ambiguity and role conflict negatively impacts on the job satisfaction of sport coaches. Of particular importance in the study is that work overload does not seem to lead to job dissatisfaction. The study recommends that sporting organisations should be aware of the role stressors and provide support to sport coaching officials in the execution of their coaching duties. Furthermore, sport coaching officials with specific skills should be employed in the relevant field with clear job clarity. A clear understanding of these three job stressors could conceivably help in stimulating development and efficiency of the sports coaches in South Africa.

Keywords: Job satisfaction, work overload, role conflict, role ambiguity, sport coaches.