Balancing Act: Exploring the Challenges and Triumphs of Special Program in Sports (SPS) Coaches in Public Schools

This study explored how coaches balance teaching and coaching careers, challenges, and triumphs experienced by Special Program in Sports (SPS) coaches in public schools. The main thrust of this study was to discover the different emerging themes of coaches’ experiences that surfaced and were derived from the in-depth interviews. This used an intrinsic research design to generate valuable and needed data. Participants were briefed on their roles before the interview commenced. Findings revealed the following themes: how coaches balanced their coaching and teaching; effective time management and scheduling, reciprocal influence and integration of teaching and coaching practices, employing conflict resolution and prioritization strategies, using institutional and collegial support, and dual role management through strategic planning and collaboration. On the other hand, it was also found that, although teacher-coaches experienced the following challenges in coaching, they still managed to perform their dual role. The challenges of coaches were time management & scheduling constraints, limited resources and infrastructure, students’ motivation, discipline, skills development challenges, administrative policy constraints, and socio-economic and inclusion challenges. Finally, triumphs encountered by coaches were competitive success and achievement, holistic athlete development, personal growth, and innovative coaching practices leading to success. It is therefore recommended that DepEd officials and other stakeholders continue to support the teacher-coaches and student-athletes.