Metaphors used by the summer sports school athletes for their coaches

This research was undertaken to investigate the metaphors used by the athletes in the summer sports schools showing their perception of the concept of a coach. The study group consisted of 706 athletes participated in the open summer sports schools in 18 different branches of Ankara Youth Services and Provincial Directorate of Sports. The metaphors used by the students for the concept of coach were classified in 13 different categories according to their common characteristics. The data of the study were collected from the questionnaire with 9 socio-demographic questions and the expression "My coach ........., because .........." found in all forms. When the research data were examined, it was seen that the students produced 132 metaphors regarding the concept of "coach". 11,8% of the participants used father, 10,6% used friend, 9,6% used brother and 6,9% used sister. In conclusion, it is seen that the trainees of the coaches see their trainers in the form of a "coach as an information source and transmitter", "a coach as a relaxing and therapeutical person, " a coach as a protector and a heplful person" and "a coach as a pure and innocent person". The metaphors in these categories indicated that the athletes see their coaches as a family member and believe that their coaches will protect them just like their mothers and fathers do and approach them with pure and innocent feelings. It is thought that this behavior of the coaches will increase the results of goodness, love and success in the athletes.