Designing a Model for Establishing a Sports Coach University in Iran

The aim of the present study was designing a model for establishing a sports coach university in Iran, which was conducted using a descriptive survey method. Its statistical population, according to the report of the Institute for Higher Education Research and Planning for the 2020-2021 semester, consisted of all faculty members of the faculties and departments of physical education and sports sciences of the university affiliated with the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology, totaling 961 people, of which the statistical sample size was 278 people randomly selected based on the Cochran formula. A researcher-made questionnaire was used to collect data, the content validity of which was approved by 5 academic members with a master's degree in physical education and sports sciences. Cronbach's alpha coefficient was used to determine its reliability, which was 0.84 for the entire questionnaire. Descriptive statistics tests, Friedman's test, and structural equation modeling based on the maximum likelihood approach were used with SPSS version 23 software at an error level of 0.05 and Amos structural equation modeling software version 23. The research findings showed that contextual indicators with an average of 6.43 are the most important factor and cognitive outputs with an average of 4.01 are the least important factor. Also, contextual indicators with a total effect of 0.76 have the greatest impact on the establishment of a sports coach training university in Iran. Also, the space index with 0.74, the process index with 0.70, the educational index with 0.65, and cognitive outputs with 0.60 were influential. And overall, the research model shows a suitable model according to the goodness-of-fit indices. According to the research results, based on the needs of the society, attention can be paid to appropriate programs, facilities, good spaces, specialists, and important aspects of the education and training of specialized sports coaches, and help in the growth and increase of the quality of training of the country's sports human resources by establishing a university.