Decision-making based on knowledge management and information technology among football coaches

Abstract

Attention to the role of the sports coach and their ability to make decisions is a measure of the coach's capability to manage the training process according to the established training plan. This is considered the foundation of their success and skill in executing the training plan's requirements and their ability to effectively solve the problems they encounter. Good decisions made by the coach reflect positively on the success of the training process in achieving its goals. The correct decision requires a set of variables, including knowledge management and information technology for the coach. Management has entered many sports fields, becoming the foundation upon which the coach's decisions are built through concepts that provide the sports field with various methods and means, leading to changes in work.Training, there are many challenges facing the work of the coach, including understanding the concepts of the era and how to deal in a world witnessing massive information technology. This requires the coach to be armed with knowledge and its management. Therefore, the research aimed to identify decision-making, knowledge management, and information technology among football coaches, as well as to identify the relationship between decision-making, knowledge management, and information technology among coaches, and then derive a predictive equation for decision-making based on knowledge management and information technology among football coaches. The researchers followed the descriptive method using survey, correlational, and predictive studies, which aligns with the requirements of their research and achieving its objectives. The research sample consisted of coaches and assistant coaches, totaling (100).They represent the first division football clubs in the Al-Furat Al-Awsat region for the sports season (2018-2019). The total number is (54) clubs, with one coach and one assistant coach taken from each club. The sample was divided according to the research requirements into an exploratory sample consisting of (8) coaches and assistant coaches, a sample for building the research tools consisting of (100) coaches and assistant coaches, and the main application sample, which is the same as the building sample. Decision-making, knowledge management, and information technology were measured through the two scales built by the researchers according to the scientific foundations followed in building the scales. The researchers concluded that football coaches in Iraq possess above-average levels.In the decision-making process and high levels of knowledge management and information technology, meaning they have good knowledge management, and they use modern information technology techniques in training and competitions. There is also a positive correlation between decision-making and knowledge management and information technology among coaches, in addition to deriving a predictive equation for decision-making based on knowledge management, information technology, and emotional intelligence among football coaches.