Wang, John Chee Keng

The purpose of this study was to examine the developmental pathways of high performance basketball coaches in Singapore. Such information is useful in providing information about appropriate training and development programmes for high performance coaches. Nine head coaches and assistant coaches from several senior and youth national basketball teams participated in structured retrospective quantitative interviews. All coaches had at least a Level 2 coaching certificate (technical), with level 3 being the highest standard attainable in Singapore. They were experienced coaches at the developmental level (i.e., school or club team) prior to their current appointment. Results are partially consistent with previous studies that: (1) most of the coaches were competitive athletes before coaching, and (2) coaches had engaged in coaching for at least ten years prior to coaching at the elite level. All participant coaches played a variety of sports in the early stages of sport participation. They also trained and prepared for structured competition from their early primary school days. Participant coaches also acknowledged the importance of informal and non-formal learning opportunities in enhancing their coaching knowledge and skills. Unique to the Singaporean context were the absence of mentoring, the structure of the sporting system, and the support for coach development through the national sporting organisation. The results are discussed in relation to coach education and coach development.