Sport Leadership Research Articles

Evaluation of a mindfulness intervention for Paralympic leaders prior to the Paralympic Games

This article presents an evaluation of the effectiveness of an applied mindfulness intervention for stress reduction delivered to Paralympic leaders prior to the Paralympic Games. The intervention group of Swedish Paralympic leaders ( n = 10) received a mindfulness intervention of eight web-based seminars, while a Norwegian reference group ( n = 6) received no intervention. Three assessments were performed for both samples: at baseline, post-intervention and six weeks post-intervention. The evaluation indicated intervention effects of higher psychological flexibility ( p = .03), less rumination ( p = .02) and lower perceived stress ( p = .001), and offers initial support for the applied usefulness of a web-based mindfulness training program as a supplement in stress-reduction programs for elite sport leaders. General challenges from an applied sport psychology perspective related to the implementation of mindfulness interventions in samples with experienced high levels of stress and perceived time-constraints are discussed.

The role of human capital, psychological capital, social capital and leadership capital in building an athlete's global brand image

This conceptual paper offers a new perspective on developing an athlete's global brand image. In addition to human capital, the framework considers the theoretical lenses of psychological capital, social capital and leadership capital. Human capital is based on the dimensions of an athlete's physical attributes, performance and marketable lifestyle. Psychological capital is illustrated as an athlete's self-efficacy, hope, optimism and resilience. Athletes also need to utilise their social capital, exploiting the brokerage opportunities in linking the networks of sponsors and fans and developing trust in their networks. Leadership capital is illustrated through the provision of opportunities and resources arising from the relationship between athletes and sports leaders. The proposed framework extends studies on brand management of sports celebrities by holistically considering the various forms of capital in building an athlete's global brand image. The implications for the theory and practice of sports marketing and branding are discussed.

ПУБЛІЧНЕ УПРАВЛІННЯ ФІЗИЧНОЮ КУЛЬТУРОЮ ТА СПОРТОМ: КРАЩІ СВІТОВІ ПРАКТИКИ

The American model is considered to be one of the most developed systems of public administration. The United States is one of the most developed democracies in the world. It should be noted that the leading countries of socio-economic development have high sports results. In general, the interaction of different public administrations is the basis of an effective system of public administration in the United States, which is reflected in the relationship between public authorities, the private sector, local governments and public associations. The United States is one of the leaders in world sports. The amount of funding for sports in the United States is one of the largest in the world. It is important to note that the specifics of the public sports management system in the United States is its interaction with the private sector. Each state has its own specifics of sports policy-making, but they are all based on the commercialization of sports development processes. The article identifies priorities for the development of physical culture and sports, the effectiveness of such development, leading countries, analyzes the classical approaches to building public administration systems, conducted a retrospective analysis, which identified effective models of public management of physical culture and sports. Thus, in the United States, sport is a multiplier industry that affects the development of other sectors of the economy: trade, hotels and restaurants, tourism, infrastructure construction and more. The country is developing primarily professional sports, focused on results. Professional sports are a profitable business that operates under the laws of the open market. This allows you to attract additional investment and increase the achievements of athletes. It was determined that the American model is characterized by the development of sports as a business structure, which determines the increase in compliance of the results with the costs involved in the development of physical culture and sports.

In quest of gold: Olympic Gold Quest

Olympic Gold Quest (OGQ) is a unique organisation from India due to its aim and structure. The aim of the organisation is to win gold medals for India in the Summer Olympics as well as in other international tournaments of repute. However, it does not represent any government agency, is privately held and promoted and earns no revenue through its activities except goodwill. Since the government agencies have proven to be a failure as far as India's international sporting performance is concerned, OGQ represents a unique experiment. The present paper studies the origin, the evolution, the challenges, and the first decade of its existence. There are various sports management and leadership insights. Given an emerging economy aspect, the case is also relevant for drawing policy lessons for government agencies for better sports performance management.

Learning through the adventure of youth sport

ABSTRACTBackground: Participation in youth sport is often associated with a variety of positive development outcomes. In order to effectively utilize sport as a context of learning and development, the sport must be intentionally designed and programed. One often-used approach is known as sport-based positive youth development (PYD). Recently, to further enhance the intentionality of a sport-based PYD approach, several researchers have posited the potential benefits of applying experiential learning theory to youth sport programing. Through utilizing experiential learning within a sport-based PYD approach, it is believed youth sport can be designed to intentionally promote desired PYD outcomes.Purpose: Experiential learning theory offers a deep understanding and history of effective youth programing. However, within the field of experiential learning, many different pedagogical approaches exist. To date, sport-based PYD has yet to identify a specific pedagogical approach within experiential learning. In order to be accessible and applicable for youth sport leaders, a more definitive pedagogical approach is needed. One specific application of experiential learning which offers specific programing techniques that are compatible with a sport-based PYD approach is adventure pedagogy.Conclusions: Adventure pedagogy draws from adventure-based learning and adventure-based groupwork. Thus, adventure pedagogy is defined as a participant-centered approach consisting of intentionally designed and sequenced challenging group activities, which, when processed and debriefed, can lead to a shared opportunity for growth and development related to the intrapersonal development and interpersonal skills. Specifically, to enhance the programing and practices of the youth sport leader, this paper identifies key tenets of adventure pedagogy and highlights their applicability within a sport-based PYD approach. These tenets include the promotion of PYD outcomes, physical and emotional safety, intentionally designed activities, sequencing of prescribed activities, a novel learning experiences, intentional facilitation, challenging group activities, real and immediate consequences, and debriefing to transfer learning. Through the integration of adventure and sport-based PYD, youth sport leaders can effectively program and facilitate youth sport to promote desired PYD outcomes.

Examining prior experiences and career attainment of FBS football head coaches

A Football Bowl Subdivision college head coach position is desired in the American football coaching profession due to associated financial benefits, social network improvements, and prestige. The rise of an individual from player, to assistant coach, and eventually head coach, is primarily understood anecdotally. This empirical evaluation of head coaching attainment provided insight into the career progression of these important sport leaders. The purpose of this study was to assess prior experiences (e.g., playing and assistant coaching) of first-time Division I Football Bowl Subdivision college football head coaches hired from 1998–1999 to 2013–2014 (n = 200). Data were collected to determine if the quantity of playing and coaching experiences indicated variance within or predictability for career attainment. The five experiential categories investigated were: Playing Experience, Coaching Experience, Affiliation, Coaching Success, and Descriptive Variables. Several significant predictors among the coaching variables emerged, including coaching experience, affiliation, and past coaching success. Playing experience variables were found to be largely non-significant, suggesting that career attainment of college football coaches does not hinge on playing experience.

The Peculiarities of Physical Education Teachers’ Professional Training: Foreign Experience

AbstractThe article deals with professional training of future teachers of physical education within the context of leading countries, namely the USA, Great Britain, China, Germany, France. The aforementioned countries are not just leaders in economical development; they are also leaders in sports. The analysis of literature resources allowed revealing a number of peculiarities, implementation of which in the process of professional training of teachers of physical education in Ukraine will have positive impact. They are reorientation of professional training, as well as future activity on health protection of students, individual physical development, skills development, big-scale implementation of health-improving systems, non-standard types of motor activity in educational process. This calls for improvement of medical knowledge, health fundamentals, disease prevention, and injury prevention. Increase of the role and duration of teaching practice and implementation of compulsory year-long training at future workplace are of great importance. Taking into account national traditions, historical experience of the development of physical culture in native land, and introduction of national types of motor activity to the curricula have positive effect. The division on two individual stages is common in professional training of teachers. The first one is primarily oriented on theoretical component of educational, while the second one emphasizes practical activity of a future teacher. Along with standardization, independence and autonomy of educational institutions in matters of professional training organization have positive effect in educational process. Governmental support, namely financing of physical training and sports and educational sphere, improvement of material and technical base, plays a key role in the process of professional training of future teacher of physical education.

Emotional intelligence, emotional labor, coach burnout, job satisfaction, and turnover intention in sport leadership

ABSTRACTResearch Question(s): Emotions play a critical role in the leadership process. Relatively little is known about the management of emotions and its impact on individual well-being within the realm of sport leadership. To fill this void, this study examined the relationships between emotional intelligence, the three forms of emotional labor, coach burnout, job satisfaction, and turnover intentions among high school athletic coaches.Research Methods: Three hundred twenty-two high school coaches in the United States completed the online questionnaires measuring the proposed variables. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were employed to test the proposed hypotheses.Results and Findings: Emotional intelligence was significantly associated with all three forms of emotional labor in different directions. Additionally, surface acting was positively associated with coach burnout and negatively associated with job satisfaction. Deep acting and genuine expression were negatively associated with coach burnout and positively associated with job satisfaction. Finally, turnover intention was positively associated with coach burnout and negatively associated with job satisfaction.Implications: Practically, coaches should use deep acting and genuine expressions and avoid surface acting for the benefit of both coaches and organizations. The results also showed the significant role of emotional intelligence on the health-detrimental strategy of surface acting and the health-beneficial strategy of deep acting and genuine expression.

체육지도자 양성현황과 선행연구 동향 분석을 통한 자격제도 개선방안에 관한 연구 - 생활스포츠분야를 중심으로

체육지도자 양성현황과 선행연구 동향 분석을 통한 자격제도 개선방안에 관한 연구 - 생활스포츠분야를 중심으로

Pathways to sports leadership for Latinas in U.S. higher education

ABSTRACTThis paper investigates how U.S. Latina college students can attain leadership roles in college athletics. The theoretical framework used in this paper is Cultural Identity Theory (CIT). CIT posits that people carry and communicate several kinds of cultural characteristics (e.g., ethnic, national, and social class traits). While these cultural identities can remain strong over time, they can also fluctuate in significant situations, relationships, and life phases. In this paper, several case studies of successful U.S. Latina college athletes are included to demonstrate how CIT can support those athletes’ embracing of their identity (so as to gain pathways to sports leadership).

Leadership competencies: qualitative insight into non-profit sport organisations

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the competencies of leadership used and the reasons behind their use in an attempt to understand the nature of leadership competencies in non-profit sports organisations, and guide the experts to focus on specific competencies for general purposes.Design/methodology/approachThe current study adopts a qualitative method to achieve the aim of the study.FindingsThe results revealed that four groups of competencies, namely, understanding the whole,communication, general management relation, and change tend to be specific competencies for general purposes in different leadership positions. The findings demonstrate the value of the approach in discoveringinsights that would not have emerged from more commonly utilised methodologies.Practical implicationsOverall, these findings suggest that individuals, in different sport leadership positions, need four groups of competencies to overcome internal and external challenges effectively. Implications of this research may exist in business and other domains. Specifically, several competency frameworks are suggested in business for leaders to meet their internal and external challenges.Originality/valueThis research represents the first attempt to understand and explore the nature of leadership competencies in non-profit sports organisations in the Middle East.

Servant Leadership in Sport: A Review, Synthesis, and Applications for Sport Management Classrooms

Servant leadership is a style of leadership characterized by principles of other-centeredness and ethical behavior, and suggests that truly effective and legitimate leaders place service to others ahead of personal power and control. Studies on servant leadership in organizational and sport settings have consistently produced positive outcomes. However, the idea of servant leadership as a model for successful leadership in sport is only in the early stages of being accepted. Motivated by a need for adequate information and pedagogical resources, the present review describes the origin and conceptualization of servant leadership and summarizes the positive outcomes resulting from servant leadership. A model for understanding servant-leadership attributes and dynamics is presented along with recommendations for sport management educators.

Leadership styles and organizational learning in UK for-profit and non-profit sports organizations

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate the transformational and transactional leadership styles and organizational learning at for-profit and non-profit sports organizations, and the impact of these leadership styles on enhancing organizational learning in these sports organizations.Design/methodology/approachA quantitative questionnaire survey method was adopted. The data were collected from for-profit and non-profit sports organizations in the UK.FindingsManagement by exception-active in transactional leadership and idealized leadership in transformational leadership seem to be equally important for facilitating organizational learning. The results also revealed significant differences between for-profit and non-profit sports organizations in leadership styles and organizational learning.Research limitations/implicationsThe generalizability of the results for different sports settings or different countries must be examined, given that only some sports organizations under the umbrellas of non-profit and for-profit sectors were used as the target population. The research is limited to the use of moderating variables, such as motivation, organizational structure, culture and innovation, that might attenuate this effect. This study contributes to the field by investigating the direct relationship between leadership styles and organizational learning in a sports setting.Originality/valueThe originality of this study is its advances of sports leadership research that is linking leadership styles and organizational learning in for-profit and non-profit sports organizations.

엘리트스포츠 지도자윤리 정립을 위한 세가지 윤리학적 접근

엘리트스포츠 지도자윤리 정립을 위한 세가지 윤리학적 접근

체육지도자들의 자기관리 유형분석

This paper aims at analyzing sports leader"s views with Q-Method to put into a practical use of them as a basic materials with the purpose of nurturing sports leaders and developing their capabilities. First, sports leader"s self-management were classified with three types. Basing on the traits of factors, the types were named ‘TypeⅠ, education efficacy oriented type’, ‘TypeⅡ, gift development oriented type’, and ‘TypeⅢ, internal value oriented type’. Second, this paper analyzed the traits, classified with the types. The most respondents answered ‘Type Ⅰ, education efficacy oriented type’. ‘TypeⅠ, education efficacy oriented type’ showed the gift expected to general sports leaders who responded to education efficacy performed by the sports leaders. Sports-for-all leaders and expert sports leaders were of great importance. ‘Education efficacy oriented type’, ‘TypeⅡ, is conspicuous in freelancer sports leaders. It shows the efforts in the level of enhancing external self-value. ‘TypeⅢ, internal value oriented type’ finds the basis and reason of the self-management efforts at the inside. Sports lectures were of great importance. Third, this paper analyzed the items consensus to respective types. The respondents agreed positively on ‘grasping respective person"s traits in all leader groups and making great efforts in developing and leading proper programs, and agreed passively on ‘knowledges about sport5s law’. In conclusion, sports leader"s inclination to self-management arises from the type of leaders. They pursue the efforts in the actual or effective level, according to the trait of the affairs such a s leader"s role, responsibility and duty.

The Domain Five Observation Instrument: A Competency-Based Coach Evaluation Tool

The Domain Five Observation Instrument (DFOI) is a competency-based observation instrument recommended for sport leaders or researchers who wish to evaluate coaches' instructional behaviors. The DFOI includes 10 behavior categories and four timed categories that encompass 34 observable instructional benchmarks outlined in domain five of the National Standards for Sport Coaches. The DFOI stands apart from other competency-based observation tools in that it 1) focuses on coaches' instructional behaviors, 2) is based on Domain 5 (“Teaching and Communication”) of the National Standards for Sport Coaches, and 3) can be used by both sport program leaders and researchers.

An Experiential Approach to Sport for Youth Development

Experiential learning has been used to inform programming and practices in a wide variety of contexts such as adventure therapy and outdoor education. Furthermore, experiential learning has been used to explain the learning process of individuals, groups, and teams. Its relationship with the context of youth sport, however, has yet to be fully explored. Within youth sport, especially sport-based positive youth development (PYD), experiential learning can be utilized to help guide programming and practices of the youth sport leader (YSL). The integration of sport-based PYD and experiential learning is important, as research has indicated that YSLs lack intentionality as they aim to facilitate sport toward youth development. To highlight the potential integration of sport-based PYD and experiential learning, one previously developed model is identified. Moreover, the utilization of experiential learning within sport-based PYD is discussed to help illuminate the potential impact of experiential learning in both research and practice.

Longitudinal associations between athletes' controlled motivation, ill-being, and perceptions of controlling coach behaviors: A Bayesian latent growth curve approach

Although many scholars have argued that leadership is a dynamic process jointly produced by leaders and followers, leadership in sports is most often researched as a unidirectional process from coaches to athletes. Within self-determination theory (SDT), individual characteristics are suggested to influence how people perceive external events such as coaches' behaviors. In the present study, we examined this jointly produced leadership process by investigating longitudinal associations between athletes' controlled motivation, ill-being, and perceptions of coaches' controlling behaviors at the between- and within-person levels. The participants were 247 young elite skiers enrolled at Swedish sport high schools who responded to self-report questionnaires at three time points over the course of an athletic season. At the between-person level, increases in perceptions of coaches' controlling behaviors over the season positively predicted controlled motivation at the end of the season, and controlled motivation at the beginning of the season positively predicted ill-being at the end of the season. At the within-person level, athletes' controlled motivation positively predicted perceptions of coaches' controlling behaviors. The results at the between-person level support the unidirectional perspective and the tenets of SDT. The results at the within-person level suggest that individual characteristics such as motivation can influence how athletes perceive external events, which has been proposed theoretically but seldom examined empirically. Three plausible explanations for this reversed association are presented in the discussion.

Leadership in Sport

Leadership in Sport

Navigating Plurality in Hybrid Organizing: The Case of Sport for Development and Peace Entrepreneurs

Sport leaders are redefining organizational paradigms by blending elements from traditional forms of organizing. Leaders of emergent hybrid forms face unique challenges in managing tensions associated with the paradoxical elements they embody. This paper introduces the concept of hybrid organizing and examines its applicability to Sport for Development and Peace (SDP). Specifically, Battilana and Lee’s (2014) multidimensional framework is used to examine the core practices, workforce composition, organizational design, interorganizational relationships, and organizational culture of hybrid SDP entities. Findings from this exploratory empirical work with nine organizations indicate SDP hybrids operate under a multitude of legal structures yet are underlined by shared beliefs that these new forms provide better opportunities for achieving social impact and organizational sustainability. Organizational leaders appear to use a multitude of internal mechanisms for managing the seemingly paradoxical nature of hybrid organizing. Strengths and challenges associated with these efforts were revealed and are critically examined.