Abstract
Although coaches and players recognise the importance of leaders within the team, research on athlete leadership is sparse. The present study expands knowledge of athlete leadership by extending the current leadership classification and exploring the importance of the team captain as formal leader of the team. An online survey was completed by 4,451 participants (31% females and 69% males) within nine different team sports in Flanders (Belgium). Players (N = 3,193) and coaches (N = 1,258) participated on all different levels in their sports. Results revealed that the proposed additional role of motivational leader was perceived as clearly distinct from the already established roles (task, social and external leader). Furthermore, almost half of the participants (44%) did not perceive their captain as the principal leader on any of the four roles. These findings underline the fact that the leadership qualities attributed to the captain as the team’s formal leader are overrated. It can be concluded that leadership is spread throughout the team; informal leaders rather than the captain take the lead, both on and off the field.
Highlights
Results revealed that the proposed additional role of motivational leader was perceived as clearly distinct from the already established roles
Frequency analyses revealed that most participants perceived that the roles of task leader, motivational leader and social leader were present in their teams; respectively 77.5%, 77.4% and 71.3% of the participants identified a task, a motivational and a social leader in their team
Almost half of the participants (47.9%) indicated that no player fulfilled the role of external leader in their team
Summary
Results revealed that the proposed additional role of motivational leader was perceived as clearly distinct from the already established roles (task, social and external leader). Almost half of the participants (44%) did not perceive their captain as the principal leader on any of the four roles. These findings underline the fact that the leadership qualities attributed to the captain as the team‟s formal leader are overrated. Based on a generic definition of leadership as „a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal‟ 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”
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