Covid-19 and the Sports Coach: between adversity and psychological empowerment

ABSTRACT

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic tested the mental health of young athletes and their coaches, involving everyone in permanent and global uncertainty, forcing them to face adversity, manage emotions and relationships and check health guidelines and new solutions. Objectives: To identify the perceived main changes in sports coaches' social role and psychological functioning produced by the prolonged pandemic. Methods: Semi-structured interviews with four coaches specialized in training young athletes from different sports, aged between 34 and 63 years (M=48.0). Results: Priority actions, personal and social resources mobilized, lessons learned, and difficulties experienced while dealing with the various emerging constraints were identified. Conclusion: Considering the adversity experienced, which is recognized as decisive for psychological empowerment, there are some implications the need to update educational programmes for coaches and psychological intervention with this population.