Does Age Matter? Examination of Hungarian Basketball Coaches’ Pedagogical Beliefs and Professional Attitudes

Abstract

Sports coaching in Hungary is an established profession. The coaching workforce, which is diverse in terms of age and coaching experience, is trained and paid. This study aimed to illustrate the impact of age on coaches’ values, beliefs and attitudes towards various aspects of their jobs. A total of 152 basketball coaches (105 male and 47 female) working in Hungary, with an average of 12.9 years (±11.5) coaching experience participated in an online survey. They were categorized into five age-groups i.e. < 23 years, 23-35 years, 36-45 years, 46-55 years and > 55 years; one-way analysis of variance and Tukey’s post hoc tests were used to identify the differences between groups. Regardless of their ages, coaches shared similar viewpoints on a range of aspects concerning coaching. Significant distinctions were mainly seen between coaches aged over 55 years and other age-groups suggesting that age has some effect on coaches’ beliefs and attitudes. Because respondents’ age and coaching experience were closely related, these differences could be attributed to age and commensurate experience.