The decision to adopt a formal athlete leadership group: Qualitative insights from professional football coaches

Haddad, Gina; O’Connor, Donna; Burns, Kellie

doi:10.1016/j.psychsport.2020.101803

Cited by 10 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 48 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Also in professional sport, there is an increasing focus on the use of leadership groups and the adoption of formal leadership groups by coaches to meet the perceived leadership needs of the team ( Haddad et al, 2021 ). In professional football in Australia, for example, coaches advocated the use of leadership groups as they believed that player ownership and autonomy regarding leadership had a positive impact upon performance, upon on and off field functioning, and ultimately upon the team’s culture ( Haddad et al, 2021 ). Fransen et al (2017) corroborated these assumptions and showed that the quality of those leadership teams within Australian professional football teams indeed predicted their effectiveness.…”

Section: Leadership Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Athlete Leadership Development Within Teams: Current Understanding and Future Directions

2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Leadership has been shown to be a fundamental factor influencing the performance of sport teams. Within these teams, leadership can be provided by coaches, formal athlete leaders, such as team captains, and other ‘informal’ athlete leaders. The role of the athlete leader in a team, either formal or informal, has been consistently reported over the last 10 years to have a significant impact upon a teams’ functioning and effectiveness, as well as teammates’ general health and mental wellbeing. As such, cultivating the provision of this leadership within a team has emerged as an important focus for managers, coaches, sport psychologists and scholars alike. While the recognition of the importance of athlete leadership is well established, there has been a lag in the development of systematic approaches to enhance and develop the leadership skills and capabilities of the athletes within sport teams. As a result, this paper seeks to review contemporary examples and current understanding of approaches to athlete leadership development. The paper will also highlight future areas for research and applied practice development.

show abstract

Section: Leadership Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Athlete Leadership Development Within Teams: Current Understanding and Future Directions

2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Athlete Leadership Groups (ALGs) represent a shared athlete leadership model whereby a small group of players are selected as athlete leaders and appointed to a formal ‘leadership group’ (i.e., an ALG) that shares team leadership responsibilities with the coach [ 1 – 3 ]. In Australia and New Zealand ALGs play a central role in team management in professional football teams (in the context of this study professional football refers to Rugby League, Rugby Union, Soccer and Australian Rules Football) [ 1 ]. In addition to providing the type of on-field leadership (e.g., directing the play, motivating teammates, interacting with referees) commonly associated with a team captains’ role, these athlete leaders fulfil many of the responsibilities traditionally seen as the preserve of head coaches and assistant coaches [ 1 , 4 , 5 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In Australia and New Zealand ALGs play a central role in team management in professional football teams (in the context of this study professional football refers to Rugby League, Rugby Union, Soccer and Australian Rules Football) [ 1 ]. In addition to providing the type of on-field leadership (e.g., directing the play, motivating teammates, interacting with referees) commonly associated with a team captains’ role, these athlete leaders fulfil many of the responsibilities traditionally seen as the preserve of head coaches and assistant coaches [ 1 , 4 , 5 ]. ALGs serve as an important conduit between the coach and players, disseminate coaching messages and giving the players a ‘voice’.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…ALGs serve as an important conduit between the coach and players, disseminate coaching messages and giving the players a ‘voice’. These leadership groups provide important input into training, workload, game strategy, team management, selection and recruitment decisions [ 1 , 5 ]. ALGs are responsible for monitoring, mentoring, and supporting teammates, holding them accountable to team standards and enforcing discipline [ 1 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These leadership groups provide important input into training, workload, game strategy, team management, selection and recruitment decisions [ 1 , 5 ]. ALGs are responsible for monitoring, mentoring, and supporting teammates, holding them accountable to team standards and enforcing discipline [ 1 ]. There is a prevailing expectation that ALGs will exert influence on teammates in a way that positively influences motivation and commitment to team goals [ 1 , 6 , 7 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Developing players for athlete leadership groups in professional football teams: Qualitative insights from head coaches and athlete leaders

Haddad

O’Connor

2022

PLoS ONE

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Athlete leadership groups (ALGs) are a widely used yet under researched approach to leadership in professional sports teams. Athlete Leadership Groups (ALGs) represent a shared athlete leadership model whereby a small group of players are selected as athlete leaders and appointed to a formal ‘leadership group’ (i.e., an ALG) that shares team leadership responsibilities with the coach. Although athlete leadership has been linked to improved team outcomes, inadequately trained athlete leaders can have a detrimental effect on team functioning and performance. The aim of this study was to provide coach and athlete leader’s perceptions of the development opportunities that have been afforded to players to prepare them for their role in an ALG. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 head coaches and 14 players from leadership groups drawn from 17 teams across four professional football leagues (i.e., Super Rugby, National Rugby League, A League and Australian Football League) in Australia and New Zealand. Results illustrate that athlete leaders benefit from developing enhanced understanding of leadership as a multidimensional relational process, recognising various leadership styles, preferences, and how to leverage their influence with teammates. However, it is evident this theoretical knowledge alone is insufficient to equip players for a professional team ALG role. Players need opportunities to practice their developing leadership skills in authentic and appropriately challenging situations with support and facilitation. Findings point to the importance of systematic, individually tailored leadership development that includes scaffolded, structured experiential learning and meaningful interactions with other successful high-performance leaders. Further, this study reinforces the value of guided reflective practice in leadership development and how this process can enhance learning and transfer from leadership development initiatives. Finally, this study adds weight to calls from other researchers for coaches to be consistently intentional in employing leadership development strategies.

show abstract

Perceiving and experiencing subgroups in sport: a proposed conceptual framework

McGuire

Evans

Martin

2021

International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The decision to adopt a formal athlete leadership group: Qualitative insights from professional football coaches

Cited by 10 publications

References 48 publications

Athlete Leadership Development Within Teams: Current Understanding and Future Directions

Athlete Leadership Development Within Teams: Current Understanding and Future Directions

Developing players for athlete leadership groups in professional football teams: Qualitative insights from head coaches and athlete leaders

Perceiving and experiencing subgroups in sport: a proposed conceptual framework

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About