Abstract
The study has two principal goals. The first one is the analysis of personal characteristics of coaches, participating in the top and second to top competitions of adults in handball, tennis and volleyball.
Analysis brakes data down following criteria of age, level of education reached and gender. The second goal of our study is the analysis of the sport preparation of children and youth, including detection of their opinions on the beginning of specialized training for respective playing functions.
Research sample was created all-together by 234 coaches (102 volleyball, 69 tennis, 63 handball), who responded to sent non-standard questionnaire. Questions concerned players participating in competitions of age groups from about 8 to 19 years.
As far as personal composition concerns, the prevailing part is created by coaches of age category 30-40 years, out of which about 1/4 are women. We have found significant differences among respective games in the educational sphere.
While in tennis and volleyball the university educated coaches creates simple majority (65% and 76% respectively), their portion in handball is only about 40%. The representation of P.E. teachers among respective sports games is similarly different - 83% and 76% respectively in tennis and volleyball, on the contrary to 29% in handball.
Tennis possesses very low portion of coaches working with category of youngsters (6%). We have found also differences in opinions regarding to the necessity of preparatory phases, i.e. categories preceding younger pupils.
Primarily coaches of tennis assume this phase as inevitable. On the contrary we find the distinctive agreement in opinions concerning early specialization - only a narrow minority of coaches is assured about its benefits (8%).
Coaches of tennis and volleyball are in agreement as concerns the start of specialization according to playing functions in older pupils category. The selection of one age category of tennis coaches is impossible.