Case study: The USA Paralympic Volleyball Coaching Internship Course

A group of American University Graduate Students participated in a one week internship at the USA Paralympic Volleyball training center in Oklahoma, USA. A primary goal of the internship was to increase the motivation of the students in the program towards their own coaching endeavors as they examined and re#ected upon their core values in coaching. The student coaches in the study (n=9) were exposed to Coaching by Master Coaches from the USA Paralympic Volleyball team. These master coaches were skilled in an Athlete Centred Coaching Style that manifested the core values of: 1) an exemplary work ethic, 2) player empowerment, and 3) a prioritization of team cohesion. Upon the completion of the internship, data analysis revealed that there was a signi!cant di"erence on scores for the student coaches on the Sport Motivation Scale II, a reliable and valid instrument designed to measure sport motivation. This increase in coach motivation occurred in large part as a result of the students’ exposure and interaction with the Paralympic Master Coaches and the USA Paralympic Volleyball teams.