Coach, Data Analyst, and Protector: Exploring Data Practices of Collegiate Coaching Staff

Research Background and Issues

• What problems or challenges did the authors identify?
  This paper explores the emerging research area of SportsHCI, particularly within the context of competitive sports, focusing on how coaching teams use data to enhance athlete performance, reduce injury risks, and promote team success. However, the study found a lack of understanding regarding the data practices and needs of coaching teams, especially in collegiate sports environments, where this group has been underrepresented in research.

• Why is this issue important?
  Coaches play a crucial role in athletes' training and competition, influencing their psychology, performance, and team success. However, coaches and support staff who directly interact with athletes are often overlooked. Additionally, the complexity of data and rapid technological advancements pose new challenges for coaches. Studying these practices can help design data tools better suited for coaches.

• Research Motivation and Related Work
  Previous SportsHCI research has primarily focused on athletes, with limited attention given to the role of coaches. This study aims to address the significant challenge in SportsHCI regarding the "coach-athlete relationship" by understanding how coaches use data to guide decision-making. Prior research has indicated that data complexity and a lack of specialized skills are barriers to widespread adoption of these technologies by coaches. This paper seeks to expand this direction and provide design recommendations.

Solution

• What methods or solutions did the authors propose?
  The authors conducted semi-structured interviews with five focus groups comprising 17 collegiate sports coaches. Using the five stages of the data lifecycle—collection, sharing, decision-making, action, and evaluation—they analyzed coaches' data practices and proposed design recommendations to support their data needs.

• What is innovative about this solution?

  1. It is the first study to focus on collegiate sports coaches' data practices, addressing a gap in the field.
  2. It identifies the dual role of coaches as "data analysts" and "protectors," highlighting the complexity of their responsibilities in high-pressure environments.
  3. It provides design recommendations for developing new SportsHCI technologies tailored to coaches, emphasizing specific needs at different stages of the data lifecycle.

• What are the implementation steps and key technologies used?

  1. Organize focus groups and use semi-structured questions to explore coaches' experiences with data usage, covering various types of coaches and teams.
  2. Apply thematic analysis to focus group data, using coding and sub-theme construction to identify patterns in data practices, mapped onto the data lifecycle framework.
  3. Develop design recommendations based on the analysis, focusing on the stages of data collection, sharing, decision-making, action, and evaluation.

Research Findings

• What specific findings were achieved?

  1. Identified coaches' data practices in the high-pressure collegiate sports environment, showing the critical role of data in athlete performance, emotional well-being, and balancing privacy concerns.
  2. Revealed that coaches lack adequate support for data analysis while also needing to protect athletes' privacy and emotional health.
  3. Proposed a set of design recommendations to improve data collection, sharing, security, integration, and interactions between athletes and coaches.

• What advantages does it have compared to existing solutions?
  This study is the first to systematically focus on collegiate sports coaches' data practices, rather than athletes or other groups such as endurance coaches. By using the data lifecycle framework, it comprehensively integrates the data usage process from collection to influencing athlete behavior. Additionally, the paper introduces the perspective of coaches as "data analysts" and "protectors," offering new insights into how coaches balance team success with individual privacy.

• What are the experimental or evaluation results?
  Data collected from focus groups revealed that coaches face challenges such as data complexity, lack of transparency in systems, insufficient integration tools, and the potential negative impact of data on athletes' mental health. Coaches also expressed a need for innovative data tools to simplify interactions and improve data efficiency.

• Limitations and Future Directions

  1. Sample limitations: Participants were from teams within a single university, which may not fully represent other institutions or sports environments at different competitive levels.
  2. Focused solely on coaches' perspectives; future research should incorporate athletes' data practices and interactions.
  3. Highlighted the need for further development of new systems to address specific technical and ethical challenges faced by coaches in data usage, such as data transparency and cross-stream integration capabilities.

Conclusion

This study provides an in-depth exploration of collegiate sports coaches' roles and challenges in data practices. Through multiple focus group interviews, it highlights coaches' dual roles as "analysts" and "protectors" within the data lifecycle, while summarizing key challenges and proposing a series of technical design recommendations. The paper not only fills a gap in the field but also establishes a strong foundation for future SportsHCI research in the collegiate sports context. Future research directions include expanding the sample scope, incorporating athletes' perspectives, and developing data tools better suited for high-pressure sports environments.