The purpose of this study was to examine the factors that make "national coaches" who participate in the Olympic Games have official recognition (qualifications). The qualification of coaches has not been institutionalized by Japan's traditional volunteer thinking, despite its public value. It would be a problem of education and employment society in Japan, which encompasses everyone from local coaches to professional coaches. As a study method, semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight former national coaches, either face-to-face or online (Zoom). In the interview, we asked about (1) planning and execution of international competition, (2) use medical and sport science, (3) international collaboration, (4) expansion of job opportunities, and (5) sports promotion. The results were organized by a co-occurrence network analysis using KH Coder. Results showed the following three points. First is that the importance of "management" and "communication" is pointed out in all the questions. Second is that the improvement of international competitiveness would affect not only the spread of the sport high performance but also the public value of expanding the job opportunity in the society. Third is the fragility of the "job" of the national coach. In this interview, coaches talked about the job of national coach as a "one-way ticket", and this is a long-standing issue. These three points are important when considering the qualification of national coaches. The value of sports could be reaffirmed in times of social unrest. Coaches should always have a range of values about social contribution, so that society might see as a public presence. More specific recommendations for policymakers should include the definition of an evaluation body that identifies eligibility criteria, what kind of career paths are specifically proposed, and the identification of policy organizations for parliamentary legislation.
Published in | Social Sciences (Volume 14, Issue 3) |
DOI | 10.11648/j.ss.20251403.11 |
Page(s) | 191-201 |
Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2025. Published by Science Publishing Group |
National Sport Coach, Qualification, Network Analysis
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APA Style
Ito, R., Sasaki, K., Sakamoto, N., Kono, I. (2025). Public Qualities of National Sports Coaches - Scope of Qualification in Japan. Social Sciences, 14(3), 191-201. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20251403.11
ACS Style
Ito, R.; Sasaki, K.; Sakamoto, N.; Kono, I. Public Qualities of National Sports Coaches - Scope of Qualification in Japan. Soc. Sci. 2025, 14(3), 191-201. doi: 10.11648/j.ss.20251403.11
@article{10.11648/j.ss.20251403.11, author = {Rina Ito and Koh Sasaki and Noriyuki Sakamoto and Ichiro Kono}, title = {Public Qualities of National Sports Coaches - Scope of Qualification in Japan }, journal = {Social Sciences}, volume = {14}, number = {3}, pages = {191-201}, doi = {10.11648/j.ss.20251403.11}, url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20251403.11}, eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ss.20251403.11}, abstract = {The purpose of this study was to examine the factors that make "national coaches" who participate in the Olympic Games have official recognition (qualifications). The qualification of coaches has not been institutionalized by Japan's traditional volunteer thinking, despite its public value. It would be a problem of education and employment society in Japan, which encompasses everyone from local coaches to professional coaches. As a study method, semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight former national coaches, either face-to-face or online (Zoom). In the interview, we asked about (1) planning and execution of international competition, (2) use medical and sport science, (3) international collaboration, (4) expansion of job opportunities, and (5) sports promotion. The results were organized by a co-occurrence network analysis using KH Coder. Results showed the following three points. First is that the importance of "management" and "communication" is pointed out in all the questions. Second is that the improvement of international competitiveness would affect not only the spread of the sport high performance but also the public value of expanding the job opportunity in the society. Third is the fragility of the "job" of the national coach. In this interview, coaches talked about the job of national coach as a "one-way ticket", and this is a long-standing issue. These three points are important when considering the qualification of national coaches. The value of sports could be reaffirmed in times of social unrest. Coaches should always have a range of values about social contribution, so that society might see as a public presence. More specific recommendations for policymakers should include the definition of an evaluation body that identifies eligibility criteria, what kind of career paths are specifically proposed, and the identification of policy organizations for parliamentary legislation. }, year = {2025} }
TY - JOUR T1 - Public Qualities of National Sports Coaches - Scope of Qualification in Japan AU - Rina Ito AU - Koh Sasaki AU - Noriyuki Sakamoto AU - Ichiro Kono Y1 - 2025/05/14 PY - 2025 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20251403.11 DO - 10.11648/j.ss.20251403.11 T2 - Social Sciences JF - Social Sciences JO - Social Sciences SP - 191 EP - 201 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2326-988X UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20251403.11 AB - The purpose of this study was to examine the factors that make "national coaches" who participate in the Olympic Games have official recognition (qualifications). The qualification of coaches has not been institutionalized by Japan's traditional volunteer thinking, despite its public value. It would be a problem of education and employment society in Japan, which encompasses everyone from local coaches to professional coaches. As a study method, semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight former national coaches, either face-to-face or online (Zoom). In the interview, we asked about (1) planning and execution of international competition, (2) use medical and sport science, (3) international collaboration, (4) expansion of job opportunities, and (5) sports promotion. The results were organized by a co-occurrence network analysis using KH Coder. Results showed the following three points. First is that the importance of "management" and "communication" is pointed out in all the questions. Second is that the improvement of international competitiveness would affect not only the spread of the sport high performance but also the public value of expanding the job opportunity in the society. Third is the fragility of the "job" of the national coach. In this interview, coaches talked about the job of national coach as a "one-way ticket", and this is a long-standing issue. These three points are important when considering the qualification of national coaches. The value of sports could be reaffirmed in times of social unrest. Coaches should always have a range of values about social contribution, so that society might see as a public presence. More specific recommendations for policymakers should include the definition of an evaluation body that identifies eligibility criteria, what kind of career paths are specifically proposed, and the identification of policy organizations for parliamentary legislation. VL - 14 IS - 3 ER -