Stressors and coping of Japanese high school baseball coaches in highly competitive Kōshien teams

Coaches in highly competitive youth sport environments operate under intense performance and organizational pressures, yet little is known about how such pressures are experienced and managed within non-Western sport systems. This study examined the stressors and coping practices of head coaches from highly competitive Japanese high school baseball teams that had participated in the culturally significant Kōshien tournament. Semi-structured retrospective interviews were conducted with five head coaches, and the data were thematically analyzed using the transactional model of stress and coping, the cognitive–motivational–relational theory, and a three-dimensional model of coping. Three interrelated categories of stressors were identified: Gaze from inside and outside the school ; Dealing with players and parents , including career guidance and recruitment; and Busyness , arising from teachers’ dual roles. A total of 14 coping themes illustrated coping as a dynamic, process-oriented set of practices through which coaches navigated the combined demands of competitive success and educational responsibility. Practices such as Clarification of goals , Commitment to responsibility , and Building trust highlighted how coaches proactively integrated performance and educational aims while managing ongoing pressures. These findings inform coach education, organizational policy, and mental-health support in highly competitive youth sport environments.