The athlete triangle: Coach, athlete and parents as an educational system

Abstract

Educational interaction Motivated participation of parents, children and coaches in youth sports activities creates an effective educational system. This system can be described as a continuous process of positive interaction between the three elements of the system. Recent studies however show that such a three dimensional education system is underdeveloped, is not positive enough and could be more effective if certain social instruments were used: more active engagement of parents in youth sports activities; pressure on children were replaced by motivation in psychologically favourable environment; coaches had continuous learning possibilities. The article analyses how this system functions, what is the educational effect of the collaboration between children, coaches and parents. The goal of the article is to disclose the characteristics of educational interaction of children, coaches and parents in youth sports activities. The following research methods are applied: scientific literature analysis and generalization methods. Scientific literature analysis revealed the importance of the three constituents of the education system. The level, degree and continuation of the child’s participation in sports activities depend on financial and psychological support of the parents, physical and emotional wellbeing of the child, the coach’s positive education strategy, competence and authority.