Player retention is a prominent issue within women’s football however social support improves the probability of participating within women’s football. Social relationships have been shown to contribute towards the level of social support that athletes experience, with the coach-athlete relationship (CAR) being one of the most important social relationships in sport. Therefore, this study aimed to explore university female footballers’ perceptions of the CAR. Gatekeepers were used to recruit 10 female footballers (M age 19.4 years, SD = 0.92), all of whom compete in British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS). A semi-structured interview, lasting between 31 and 51 minutes (M length 40.95 minutes, SD = 6.36), was conducted with each participant. The divergent questions that were asked in the interviews were based upon the CAR and relevant themes such as perceived components of the CAR (e.g., “can you tell me what the ideal coach-athlete relationship looks like?”), gender (e.g., “can you describe your experiences with female coaches as opposed to male coaches?”), coaching behaviours (e.g., “how does your coach’s behaviour impact you?”), and previous experiences (e.g., “could you tell me about a positive experience that you have had with a coach?”). The qualitative data was then analysed using a thematic analysis which resulted in the construction of four higher-order themes that contributed to the CAR within university female footballers which included supportiveness, communication, trust, and gender preference for the coach. Furthermore, no gender preference for the coach was observed amongst the participants as a collective. Findings provide an understanding of the CAR within university female footballers and the beneficial impact this has on player retention. This may encourage future coaching practice to focus on building positive relationships with players in order to improve player retention within women’s football.
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