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Chris Johansen is on the board for the Rockton Yuba Hockey Association, a robust and growing youth hockey association near St. Paul, MN. Parents in the association have brought to his attention a couple issues with the structural organization. Specifically, (1) some think athletes are limited in their opportunity to develop to their fullest potential because of the current structure of the association, and (2) others feel that if the youth hockey association was organized differently this would facilitate retention of players through high school. Chris has been charged by the president of the association to learn more about potential organizational changes and how these changes could impact the players and organization. Based on this information, the advisory committee has been asked to submit a recommendation to the board regarding potential organizational changes. The Integrative Model for Organizational Theory will be used to gain a better understanding of the organizational change process.

Using the mental toughness framework of Jones, Hanton and Connaughton (2007), the authors interviewed thirteen highly-experienced swimming coaches in a two-part study to determine the specific mental toughness subcomponents present in mentally tough swimmers, and to examine the factors that led swimmers to develop mental toughness. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed using methods outlined by Creswell (2007). While confirming eleven of thirteen subcomponents of mental toughness previously identified by Jones et al. (2007), the participants identified (a) “coachability” and (b) “retaining psychological control on poor training days” as previously unidentified subcomponents of mental toughness. In the second part of the study, the authors identified six higher-order themes describing how both the coach and the swimmer acted to develop mental toughness in the swimmer. Implications for researchers, swimming coaches, and sport psychology consultants are discussed.