PLEASE READ THE BELOW INFORMATION CAREFULLY BEFORE CONTINUING WITH THE SURVEY (Please note: Your participation in this study is voluntary and it must be your own decision to take part. It is important that you do not feel pressured or coerced to take part in the research).

You are invited to participate in a research project which aims to examine parents’/ guardians’ initial perceptions of new coaches, as well as their behavioural intentions in response to information provided about coaches who might work with their child athletes.

Who is eligible to participate?
You are being invited as you have been identified as a parent/ guardian of an athlete currently engaged in regular structured sport.

What will participation involve?
Participation in the study is likely to take around 10-15 minutes and will involve the following activities:
• Provision of informed consent to participate (after you have read this information);
• Provision of information about you and your child athlete(s);
• Reading an online news item about the appointment of a new head coach at a sport club – after reading the online news item, you will be asked to complete two brief questionnaires which will allow you to rate your perceived competence of the coach described in the news item, and also your behavioural intentions if such a coach were to be appointed to work with your child athlete(s).
• Completing a final questionnaire to understand more about the sources of information you use to inform your perceptions/judgments of others.

Once you have completed the above activities, you will be provided with a full debrief regarding the nature of the study and the specific methods used in conducting the research.  You will also be given contact details for requesting a full report of the study findings.      

What are the risks to participating in the study?
There are no risks to participation beyond those that would be expected from completing an online survey. However, we do acknowledge that there may be some slight inconvenience caused given the short amount of time that it will take to fully participate in the study.

What are the expected benefits of the study?
Results from the study could help to identify approaches that sport coaches could take when joining clubs in efforts to improve the relationships with their athletes and significant others (e.g., parents/guardians).

How will your data be used?
All data you provide is treated as confidential and you will not be asked to provide personal information (e.g., name, address, date of birth) from which you or your child/children can be identified.  The data will be stored securely (i.e., password-protected) and only the lead researcher (listed below) will have access to this information. Data will be stored for up to 10 years before being destroyed in line with confidential waste disposal procedures. The results of the study are intended to be disseminated as a conference presentation and also within a published research article. No individuals, groups, or organisations will be identifiable through the data presented within these research outputs.

What if you wish to withdraw from the study?
You may withdraw from this study at any point without reason by contacting the lead researcher using the contact email below. Your data will be destroyed within four weeks of receiving a withdrawal request, and will not be used within the formal analyses.

If you have any additional questions about the research, please contact the lead researcher, Dr Andrew Manley, using the details below:
Email: a.j.manley@leedsbeckett.ac.uk 
Tel: 0113 812 4717

If you wish to speak to an independent Research Ethics Coordinator about the study, please contact Dr John O’Hara (j.ohara@leedsbeckett.ac.uk).