Book Description
ABSTRACT: The recruitment experiences of Division III student athletes were examined using a transcendental phenomenological design. Four freshman student-athletes, competing in different sports, for different institutions, and within different conferences at the Division III level participated in the qualitative study; their parents served as informants. All interviews were transcribed verbatim, and four athlete-parent dyads were created based on head coach gender and student-athlete gender. Following phenomenological reduction and coding, taxonomic analysis was conducted to categorize head coach recruitment behaviors within and across all dyads. Common head coach behaviors were identified as: influence tactics, relationship development, and gateway tactics. Cross-dyad analysis revealed gender differences in specific head coach behaviors during the recruitment process. The methodology of the study encapsulated the recruitment experience from the student-athlete and the parent perspectives, providing practitioners with considerations for recruiting Generation Z student-athletes and researchers with a foundation to further explore gender differences in head coach recruitment behaviors in the future.