By Michael T. Vesci & Kevin T. McGinniss
(June 19, 2024)
The sports and entertainment fields are some of the most rigorous and time-consuming professions. Whether it is with a professional, minor league, collegiate, or independent organization, the hours that full-time professionals, regardless of position, must put into their career are unlike any other job, because a position in sports is essentially seven days a week and 365 days a year, with little to no time off. While many join the coaching profession because of their passion for sports, many exit because of the toll it takes on their personal lives.
Bill Sutton (2021) noted in Sports Business Journal, the failure of the sports industry to evolve with the rest of the job market by offering competitive salaries, meaningful benefits, realistic work hours, clear expectations, and personal development plans has led to many professionals, including coaches, to explore other opportunities outside of sports. Post-COVID, industry giants such as Google and Apple began offering better incentive packages for their workers while the sports industry has remained largely the same (Sutton, 2021). One survey on this subject found that 24 of their 25 participants experienced extremely high or high levels of conflict in trying to balance their career with their personal life; the most highly scaled survey question was “I often have to miss important personal and family events because of my job” (Mazerolle & Hunter, 2018, p. 144).
Sport researchers have suggested three ways to achieve work-life balance: create separation between work and home, have an understanding and supportive significant other, or have better organizational support to distribute the workload effectively (Mazerolle & Hunter, 2018). That third factor is the most critical. Conflicts that develop because of demanding work schedules of a professional, like a coach, can be reduced when management and supervisors demonstrate support and facilitate initiatives that promote work-life balance. The most common organizational factors noted by professionals, that challenge a work-life balance, include work demands, work climate, lack of autonomy, travel requirements, low salaries, managerial incompetency, role strain, long work hour requirements, and inadequate staffing (Graham & Smith, 2021). Some solutions of note were workplace flexibility, supervisor support, reducing roles or tasks, integrating work and personal life, improving time management, coworker support, and compartmentalizing work and personal life (Graham & Smith, 2021). Work-life balance concerns plagued parents and would-be parents in particular, as they felt unable to carry out their parental duties due to travel and long hours (Mazerolle & Eason, 2015, p. 857).
Collegiate coaches struggle with work-life balance. Texas A&M University’s Marlene Dixon explored the issue of work-life balance after noticing colleagues were struggling and even quitting (Janak, 2021). Since sports are a tangible, public product, additional pressure is added to the individual working in the field; one bad game can result in fans calling for the coach to be terminated. These added pressures lead to increased workplace stress.
Since collegiate coaches take on the roles of coach, fundraiser, front (wo)man, and supporter of their assistants and players, there is not much wiggle room for them to manage their home life (Janak, 2021). Larger staffs at the Division I level help to mitigate that issue, but at the Division II or III levels, the same support system is likely not available. This issue resonates at the high school level as well. The conflict for these coaches has centered around time, energy, attention, and emotional spillover; issues occurring at their jobs often spilled over into their home lives, which created tension amongst their loved ones (Graham & Dixon, 2017). “While these coaches acknowledged that they relied on their spouses more because of the time commitment their jobs entailed, they also kept open communication channels with them to ensure both sides know what the other was going through as well as what was going on” (Graham & Dixon, 2017, p. 295-6).
To address these issues, Hebron Christian Academy Athletic Director, Taylor Davis discusses with her coaches the importance of family time each year. She will not allow them to take on three different sports and wants them to communicate openly with her as often as possible. Professor, Scott Crawford from Eastern Illinois University tried a different tactic; he emulated from legendary basketball coach Phil Jackson’s routine on his coaching days. Crawford believed that mixing in non-sport-related activities—like a weekend coaching retreat to discuss life strategies, recreational activities, weekly coach clusters, volunteering, and reading new publications—could potentially shape a new, innovative paradigm for coaches (“What can…”, 2014, p. 52-3). This allowed Crawford to coach and also enjoy other activities outside of sports.
To improve work-life balance, some graduate assistants have suggested hiring additional personnel to split the work evenly instead of loading it on one person, while others have suggested more specialized staff to deal with the logistical needs of a team while the coach deals with the training and team management pieces (“What can…”, 2014). There is no perfect method for achieving work-life balance for sport, but there are a multitude of ways it can be reached.
To better understand work-life balance, and thus better identify how to create it, the authors created a survey based on a seven-point Likert Scale to ask individuals in professional and collegiate sports about their work hours, stress levels, social life, family life, personal life/health, and overall satisfaction with their current and past roles in sports. Following the survey, participants were given a section to elaborate on their thoughts about work-life balance in the sports industry. The survey was distributed virtually through Qualtrics, the web-based survey and analytics platform preferred by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) at Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU).
Since convenience sampling was the primary method of data collection for this quantitative study, professionals in the sports industry were contacted to participate, including those involved in minor league baseball, NCAA Division I, II, and III athletics departments, and a high school interscholastic athletics department. Twenty-five coaches completed the survey.
Twenty of the 25 respondents came from collegiate athletic departments, with the other five coming from professional sports. Fifty-six percent of the respondents had either less than a year or one to five years of experience in the sports industry, while 36% fell in the five to 10, or 11 to 20 year ranges. The other 8% fell in the 21-30 and 30-plus years category. Thirty-six percent of the respondents worked more than 51 hours a week with 44% ranging between 41 and 50 hours. Over 60% of the respondents were between the ages of either 18-24 or 25-40, with the other 36% being between the ages of 41-56 and 57-65 years old.
Although 62% of participants were happy with their work hours, 56% of them recognized that their hours heavily interfered with their personal lives. About half of the participants also felt stressed by their current schedule or experienced high levels of burnout or fatigue; half said they were able to de-stress as well, and 48% said their coworkers and organization helped to manage the stress associated with the position.
While over 60% of the respondents were satisfied with their social and family lives, over 60% also said that their work schedule interfered with spending quality time with loved ones or making it to events/social gatherings. Nearly 80% said coworkers tended to be their only form of social interaction during the week, and about half said they rarely prioritized family or friends over work. Most shocking was that half of the respondents were not likely to start a family given their current work situation.
Healthy levels of sleep did not tend to be a problem amongst participants, with 60% saying they got adequate sleep, but a concerning 52% said they would often go into work sick to fulfill their work obligations as well and 44% have regularly sacrificed personal goals/tasks for their job. Despite this, nearly 80% of respondents did not consider leaving for a job with better work-life balance. All but one respondent went into work five or six days or every day during the week, with one outlier going in only three to four days a week.
So, despite most participants being satisfied with their current schedule and getting support from others, there seems to be a disconnect when it comes to managing stress or having a personal life. What is redeeming about the responses from coaches is that when participants are away from work, they can enjoy their family, as 60% of the participants said they can connect with family/friends without worrying about work, showing that there is some semblance of work-life balance. But the data becomes more concerning about that balance as 48% rarely prioritized family/friends over their job and 24% teetered in the middle of balancing both.
The survey’s comment section provided further insight. Two veteran coaches noted that the long hours are the nature of the job and that those in the field needed to be able to deal with that or leave. One coach also mentioned that their balance depended on in-season versus out of season. But the two comments that stood out the most came from one individual who noted their department supports them and understands the grind of college athletics; thus, they can take days off or work from home to help promote work-life balance. Finding this sweet spot will promote work productivity and boost morale while also allowing athletic workers to create a more satisfying work-life balance.
References
Graham, J. A. & Smith, A. B. (2021). Work and life in the sport industry: A comparison of work-life interface experiences among athletic employees. A review. Journal of Athletic Training, 57(3), 210–224. https://doi.org/10.4085/1062-6050-0633.20
Graham, J. A. & Dixon, M. A. (2017). Work–Family balance among coach-fathers: A qualitative examination of enrichment, conflict, and role management strategies. Journal of Sport Management, 31(3), 288–305. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsm.2016-0117
Janak, H. (2021, March 23). For sports employees, work-life balance is a challenge. Texas A&M Today. https://today.tamu.edu/2021/03/23/for-sports-employees-work-life-balance-is-a-challenge/
King, B. (2012, August 13). What’s the payoff in sports? Sports Business Journal. https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Journal/Issues/2012/08/13/In-Depth/Salary-survey.aspx
Mazerolle, S. M., & Hunter, C. (2018). Work-Life balance in the professional sports setting: The athletic trainer’s perspective. International Journal of Athletic Therapy & Training, 23(4), 141–149. https://doi.org/10.1123/ijatt.2016-0113
Mazerolle, S. M., & Eason, C. M. (2015). Perceptions of National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I female athletic trainers on motherhood and work-life balance: Individual- and sociocultural-level factors. Journal of Athletic Training, 50(8), 854–861. https://doi.org/10.4085/1062-6050-50.5.02
Sutton, B. (2021, November 1). Is the sports industry facing a hiring/retention crisis? Sports Business Journal. https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Journal/Issues/2021/11/01/Opinion/Sutton.aspx
What can the interscholastic athletic directors do to promote work-life balance among sport coaches? (2014). Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance, 85(1), 52–54. https://doi.org/10.1080/07303084.2014.855601
