Coaching Styles, Motivation, and Playing Retention Among College Athletes

Coaching styles and athlete motivation play vital roles in influencing playing retention among college athletes. This study aimed to identify the coaching styles, student motivation, and playing retention of athletes in the South Cluster Satellite Campuses of Bukidnon State University, focusing on authoritarian, democratic, and laissez-faire coaching styles, as well as extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. Using a predictive-correlational design with stratified sampling, data were collected from volleyball and basketball athletes during the 2024-2025 school year using adapted, validated instruments and analyzed with descriptive statistics and Pearson’s correlation. Results revealed that democratic coaching was the most positively perceived style, fostering motivation and respect, while authoritarian coaching was moderately experienced with an emphasis on discipline. Laissez-faire coaching was associated with insufficient guidance. Athletes demonstrated high intrinsic motivation and strong team commitment, effectively balancing academics and athletics, though injury concerns moderately influenced retention. Democratic coaching and intrinsic motivation emerged as the strongest predictors of retention in playing. The findings suggest that supportive and inclusive coaching combined with internal motivation significantly enhances athlete engagement and retention, highlighting the importance of fostering these elements in collegiate sports programs.