Abstract:
The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of coach-athlete relationship on
the augmentation of soccer players’ performance in Oromia league football clubs in west
shoa zone, Oromia, Ethiopia. Soccer is the most widely played professional and amateur
sport in the world. Thus, effective communication between players and coach is the most
important aspect in football performance. In coaching process the coach–player
relationship is vital for players’ performance and which is characterized by a growing
appreciation and respect for each other as individuals. It is important to provide
individuals competence, relatedness and autonomy as well as provide optimal function
for growth, integration, social development and personal well-being. The
conceptualization of the coach-athlete relationship is a model that specifies which
constructs and explains the relationships that link components of the closeness
(affective), commitment (cognitive) and complementarity (behavioural) represent the
model. Genuine relationships between athletes and coaches generate more trust, better
communication and a winning attitude. An open line of communication helps everyone be
more honest with one another, which leads to stronger training, athletic progress and
personal growth. The study was conducted on the West Shoa Zone of Oromia league
football clubs namely: Bako kenema, Gedo kenema, Babiche kenema, Ginchi kenema.
The study population of the total subjects of players N= 82, and 8 coaches were
incorporated in this study. The study employed a descriptive survey method and the data
collection instruments were questionnaire and observation. The Statistical Package for
Social Science (SPSS version 21.0) was used to compute the collected data. The
descriptive statistics encompasses that the Mean, Standard deviation, Frequency and
Percentages was employed in this study. In addition to this Charts/graphs and tables was
employed to illustrate and elaborate based on the results of records. The finding of this
study indicates that the interpersonal relationship between coaches and soccer players
has been moderately good in their respective football clubs. Therefore, the study finding
revealed that the coach shows a friendly attitude of interactions on the field and out of
field in their football clubs and it is essential to increase players’ performance. The
researcher recommends that the coaches, managers, and technical directors should
considering that the coach-athlete relationship is crucial to augment players’ holistic
performanc
