Author(s): KOMINE, S., TAKEDA, T., KAWANISHI, M., Institution: HOKUSHO　UNIVERSITY, Country: JAPAN, Abstract-ID: 1519

Introduction
There are approximately 300,000 competitive junior high school students playing soft tennis in intramural sports clubs (ISCs) at schools in Japan. In Japan, the transition of ISCs from school to community will begin in 2023, and the "Comprehensive Guidelines for School Club Activities and new Community Sports Club Activities" call for the construction of a new sports environment that meets the divers sports preferences and needs of junior high school students through the coordination of ISCs and community club activities (Sports Agency et al,2022). A coaching style that changes the balance between "instructional behavior" and "developmental behavior" according to the level of the players is recommended for coaching the youth generation (Zushi, 2017). Therefore, it is important to examine the challenges of coaching styles that approach the current ISCs instructors from a comprehensive perspective, including their interests, values, attitudes, and opinions about coaching, in order to secure and train appropriate instructors for future regional transitions.
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to clarify the relationship between the coaching styles of ISCs instructors of junior high school soft tennis in Japan and their job status in ISCs.
Methods
A web-based survey was conducted on 14,725 junior high school soft tennis club instructors nationwide over a one-month period beginning in July 2023. The number of respondents was 1,162 (7.9% of response rate). The coaching style was measured using a 5-point Likert-type scale ranging from "important" to "not important for 30 items.
Results
The highest mean values of the coaching style items were related to coaching ideals, such as "developing leadership skills as a sports coach", while the lowest mean values were related to athletic ability, such as developing mental strength that can be demonstrated in a game. Next, an exploratory factor analysis using the main factor method and varimax rotation was conducted to clarify the factor structure. As a result, five factors were extracted and named as factor 1 "Leadership ideal ", factor 2 "Educational effect", factor 3 "Integrity", factor 4 "Lifelong sports", and factor 5 " Competitive ability". To verify the relationship between each status, we conducted at-test of the scores of each factor between "school faculty advisor" and "outside instructors". The results showed that the mean scores of factors 1, factor 3, factor 4, and factor 5 were significantly higher for the outside instructors than for the school faculty advisors (P<.001).
Conclusion
In coaching ISCs, school faculty advisors tended to emphasize "educational effects," while outside instructors were more likely to emphasize "leadership ideal", "integrity", "lifelong sports" and "athletic ability.
References
Japan Sports Agency, Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan (2022) Comprehensive guidelines for school club activities and new regional club activities.
Zushi K (2017) Coaching model and the content of general coaching studies that should be conducted in physical education colleges, Journal of Coaching Studies, Vol. 30, Extra Issue: 137-140.