THE INFLUENCE OF GENDER ON COACHING EFFICACY AND LEADERSHIP STYLE AMONG BULGARIAN FOOTBALL PLAYERS

ABSTRACT According to a number of authors, athletes ‘perceptions and evaluations of their coach’s effectiveness and behavior (real and preferred) influence athletes’ behavior and performance. The aim of the present study is to examine coaching efficacy expectations and leadership style among Bulgarian football players. Methods: The research was done among 73 football players (female-28, male-45) aged between 16 and 26 years. In order to fulfill the aim, we used: 1) Coaching Efficacy Scale (CES), Feltz et al., 1999; 2) Revised Leadership Scale for Sport (RLSS), Zhang et. el., 1997. Results and discussion: The results from the variation analysis showed similar levels in some of the components of coaching efficacy and leadership style. The comparative analysis revealed significant differences depending on the gender of the game strategy subscales and the way the coach makes decisions. There are established significant differences in the preferred behavior of the coach from the players on the social support and positive feedback subscales. The correlation analysis did not reveal strong relationships between the coaching efficacy subscales and the leadership style subscales. Accordingly, our results differ from the data published in the literature. The results from the regression analysis reveal that coaching efficacy does not directly affect the subscales of the leadership style, which differs from what is reported in the literature.