The purpose of the current study was to develop, implement, and evaluate a season-long athlete leadership development program. Participants were 27 female varsity athletes who participated in four leadership workshops throughout the season, each 1 hr in duration. All of the participants completed inventories measuring leadership behaviors, cohesion, communication, athlete satisfaction, and peer motivational climate. Overall, the results showed significant differences in regards to leadership behaviors, athlete satisfaction, and peer motivational climate from pre- to postintervention. Further, follow-up focus groups were also conducted to assess the social validity of the leadership development program. These focus groups revealed important insight into program structure, influence of the program, leadership challenges, and suggestions for future improvements. These findings provide researchers, sport psychology consultants, and coaches with important information regarding the effectiveness of this athlete leadership development program in targeting human and social capital development.
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The Development, Implementation, and Evaluation of an Athlete Leadership Development Program With Female Varsity Athletes
Ashley M. Duguay, Todd M. Loughead, and Krista J. Munroe-Chandler
Athlete Leadership as a Shared Process: Using a Social-Network Approach to Examine Athlete Leadership in Competitive Female Youth Soccer Teams
Ashley M. Duguay, Todd M. Loughead, and James M. Cook
The study of athlete leadership has gained momentum over the past decade and is now recognized as a vital component of sport teams ( Loughead, 2017 ). This increased attention has not only provided insight into the important associations between athlete leadership and a range of individual and team
Fun, Failure, and Fulfillment: A Case-Study Approach to Informal Athlete Leadership in Minor League Baseball
Philip D. Imholte, Jedediah E. Blanton, and Michelle M. McAlarnen
research on athlete leadership ( Gould, Voelker, & Blanton, 2012 ). Recognizing this imbalance, Loughead, Hardy, and Eys ( 2006 ) initiated a series of studies on athlete leadership. Their results indicated that both team captains and other teammates contributed to team leadership. Although captains (i
A Solution-Focused Approach to Shared Athlete Leadership Development Using Mixed Methods
Christopher Maechel, Todd M. Loughead, V. Vanessa Wergin, Tom Kossak, and Jürgen Beckmann
, see Loughead, 2017 ). In sport, this phenomenon is referred to as athlete leadership and is defined as players “occupying a formal or informal leadership role within the team and influencing team members to achieve a common goal” ( Loughead et al., 2006 , p. 144). This definition highlights that
Unleashing the Power of Athlete Leadership Groups: Strategies Perceived to Leverage the Potential of Shared Leadership in Professional Football Teams
Gina Haddad, Donna O’Connor, and Kellie Burns
recognition of the leadership contribution of athletes within sports teams (i.e., athlete leadership; Loughead et al., 2006 ). Athlete leadership has been defined as “an athlete occupying a formal or informal role within a team, who influences a group of team members to achieve a common goal” ( Loughead et
The Role of Athlete Leadership Quality in the Characteristics of Team Resilience in Elite Soccer Teams: A Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Mediation of Team Identification
Miguel A. López-Gajardo, Inmaculada González-Ponce, Tomás García-Calvo, Edgar Enrich-Alturo, and Francisco M. Leo
Athlete leadership is an important factor to optimize team functioning ( Cotterill, 2013 ; Cotterill & Fransen, 2016 ; Leo et al., 2019 ). Leaders can transform the team into an effective operational group ( Fransen et al., 2015 ). In fact, the impact of athlete leaders on the team is illustrated
The Art of Athlete Leadership: Identifying High-Quality Athlete Leadership at the Individual and Team Level Through Social Network Analysis
Katrien Fransen, Stef Van Puyenbroeck, Todd M. Loughead, Norbert Vanbeselaere, Bert De Cuyper, Gert Vande Broek, and Filip Boen
This research aimed to introduce social network analysis as a novel technique in sports teams to identify the attributes of high-quality athlete leadership, both at the individual and at the team level. Study 1 included 25 sports teams (N = 308 athletes) and focused on athletes’ general leadership quality. Study 2 comprised 21 sports teams (N = 267 athletes) and focused on athletes’ specific leadership quality as a task, motivational, social, and external leader. The extent to which athletes felt connected with their leader proved to be most predictive for athletes’ perceptions of that leader’s quality on each leadership role. Also at the team level, teams with higher athlete leadership quality were more strongly connected. We conclude that social network analysis constitutes a valuable tool to provide more insight in the attributes of high-quality leadership both at the individual and at the team level.
The Relationship Among Athlete Leadership Behaviors and Cohesion in Team Sports
Diana J.E. Vincer and Todd M. Loughead
This study examined the influence of athlete leadership behaviors on perceptions of team cohesion. The participants were 312 athletes from 25 varsity and club level teams. Each participant completed the Group Environment Questionnaire (Carron, Widmeyer, & Brawley, 1985) that assessed cohesion and the Leadership Scale for Sports (Chelladurai & Saleh, 1980) that assessed athlete leadership behaviors. Overall, it was found that individual perceptions of Training and Instruction, and Social Support positively influenced all four dimensions of cohesion (ATG-T, ATG-S, GI—T, GI-S). Furthermore, Autocratic Behavior was negatively associated with the four dimensions of cohesion. Finally, Democratic Behavior was positively related to ATG-T. These findings provide researchers, sport psychology consultants, athletes, and coaches with some initial evidence that it is important to foster the development of athlete leader behaviors to influence the team environment.
The Role of Team Captains in Integrating Positive Teammate Psychological Development in High-Performance Sport
Fernando Santos, Leisha Strachan, Daniel Gould, Paulo Pereira, and Cláudia Machado
Researchers have attempted to understand the underlying mechanisms of athlete leadership in high-performance-sport settings ( Fransen, Decroos, Broek, & Boen, 2016 ; Fransen et al., 2017 ). In fact, high-performance sport has been considered a context conducive to several positive outcomes such as
An Online Program for High School Student-Athlete Leadership Development: Community Engagement, Collaboration, and Course Creation
Scott Pierce, Jedediah Blanton, and Daniel Gould
SPPs and a state high school sporting body. Second, we outline the case of creating, developing, and launching an online course for high school student-athlete leadership development. We conclude with lessons learned and practical recommendations for SPPs who can use community engagement as a means to
