Coach and Athlete Burnout - West Virginia University

Burnout 21
study’s inventories. At each meeting, the researcher explained the nature of the study as
was done with the data collected at the championships. Those collegiate swimmers
willing to participate were given an envelope containing the questionnaires and asked to
place the inventories back in the envelope once finished. When returning the sealed
enveloped to the researcher, each individual was thanked for their participation in the
study. Between both rounds of data collection, 22 “elite” athletes who were competing in
the Championships were sampled. 69 collegiate swimmers not participating in the event
were also sampled.
Coaches. Two rounds of data collection were also conducted to obtain the
swimming coach data used in analyses. The first round occurred at a world swimming
coach’s clinic held in the Midwest. A proposal explaining the study’s purposes and
procedures was prepared and forwarded to the sponsoring association’s executive director
for review and permission to survey collegiate swimming coaches attending the clinic.
Upon being granted permission, the site where data collection would occur was discussed
and finalized. Similar to the championships, it was decided that a table would be set up
in the vicinity adjacent to the registration area where all swimming coaches attending the
event would pass through to receive their name tags and conference materials. The
researcher used the table to store study inventories in addition to displaying the prizes
used for a raffle for those coaches who completed the questionnaires. A large sign was
also displayed on the table to get collegiate coaches’ attention as they passed through the
registration area and recruit them for participation. This was particularly useful as
coaches from other levels of competition (i.e. club, high school) were attending the
conference as well.