ASSESSMENT OF TRAINING ADEQUACY AT THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR SPORTS AND ITS IMPACT ON COACHES’ COMMUNICATION SKILLS DEVELOPMENT IN NORTH-WEST NIGERIA

Abstract

This study assessed the impact of the training adequacy of the National Institute for Sports (NIS) on the development of communication skills of coaches in the North-West Zone, Nigeria. A survey research design was used in the study. The population of this study was four hundred and fifty (450), made up of football, Basketball, Taekwondo, Tennis, Athletics, and Swimming coaches who were trained by the NIS Nigeria from 2019 – 2023. The sample size for this study was two hundred and sixty-nine (269) drawn using stratified, purposive, proportionate, and convenience sampling techniques. The instrument used in this study was a self-developed questionnaire. The instrument’s validity was ascertained through expert review by five (5) jurors in the field of Sports Management. To determine its reliability, a pilot study was conducted using fifty (50) respondents from Bauchi State Sports Organization (25) and Gombe State Sports Organization (25), where a Cronbach's Alpha reliability index of 0.857 was obtained, which made the instrument reliable for the study. The researchers and seven (7) research assistants administered and retrieved the questionnaire for the study within four (4) weeks. A total of 269 copies of the questionnaire were distributed to the respondents, and 265 were retrieved and valid for analysis. The data collected was analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 30. Descriptive statistics of frequencies and percentages were used to analyse the demographic characteristics of the respondents. Mean (x̄ ) and standard deviation were used to answer the research question, while Chi-Square statistic was used to test the hypothesis at a 0.05 level of significance. The results revealed that there was a significant impact of the training adequacy of the NIS on the development of communication skills (p = 0.000, X2 Cal=131.729). The study concluded that the training adequacy of the NIS impacted the development of communication skills of coaches in the North West Zone of Nigeria. Based on the findings of this study, it was recommended that the Federal Ministry of Sports enhance communication in NIS programmes.