Measuring service quality of international tennis coach education courses

Abstract

Customer satisfaction with the quality of sport services contributes significantly to the sustained competitiveness of sport organisations, and customer retention. This study measured the perceived service quality of the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Starter-Beginner coach education courses. A purposive sample of four courses and 56 tennis coaches was drawn. A precourse and post course SERVQUAL questionnaire together with a biographical questionnaire were administered. The findings of the current study suggest that tennis coaches are dissatisfied with four of the five SERVQUAL dimensions of service quality namely the reliability of the services, the responsiveness of the ITF as service provider, the tangibles of the course as well as the empathy of the ITF. Tennis coaches expressed overall satisfaction in the service dimension of assurance of service users. Satisfaction with service quality differed across the four different geographical course locations suggesting dissatisfaction with personal interaction between head tutors and participants. This study should be regarded as exploratory research in the area of tennis coach education service quality. Further research should determine the reliability and validity of the SERVQUAL instrument in sport coach education contexts.