The Impact of an Authentic Sports Leadership Program for Coach

Purpose: This paper studies the effects of authentic sports leadership training on coaches' self-perception of their own authentic leadership, perceived justice, competence, overall self-efficacy, and collective efficacy. Additionally, players' perceptions of their coaches with respect to their authentic leadership, perceived justice, competence, collective efficacy, satisfaction with the coach, and support for basic psychological needs were analyzed.Design: Twenty-five football and handball coaches were randomly assigned to two groups. Fifteen coaches made up the experimental group that carried out the training leadership program, while 10 coaches made up the control group, carrying out no training whatsoever. A total of 248 football and handball players participated in this study; 136 were led by coaches who participated in the training program, and 112 by coaches who did not participate in the program.Results: The results of this study indicate that coaches' self-perception is positively influenced after having received training in the variables of authentic leadership, perceived justice, competence, overall self-efficacy, and collective efficacy. Players whose coaches were part of the program perceive them as being more competent as coaches.Conclusions: The effects of an authentic sports leadership training program are effective for coaches and players alike.

Women in sports leadership: A systematic narrative review

Gender inequity in sport organisation boards, particularly in decision-making positions, remains a significant issue. Considerable research exists on the topic yet attempts to integrate non-academic perspectives on this literature are relatively limited. We present a systematic narrative review, constructed in conjunction with the work of a ‘reflective panel’ which included sport, business and academic professionals from Europe and North America. The panel helped to inform the search strategy and reflected upon the narrative produced. In total, 154 peer-reviewed articles, book chapters and grey literature publications were included. The resultant narrative is presented according to several scales of abstraction; macro-scale studies of global/national trends; meso-scale studies of processes (re)producing gender inequity; and microscopic studies of lived experiences of gender inequity. There is consensus in the literature that, globally, women continue to be under-represented in leadership positions. Patriarchal selection practices and organisational cultures reinforce this inequity, despite evidence that men in leadership roles recognise the problem. While gender equity policies exist, actions to pursue gender equity are more limited. Patriarchal language, gendered stereotypes and person-profiling still persist, resulting in specific emotional and practical challenges for women in sports leadership positions. The reflective panel recognised an over-representation of studies from a liberal ‘Western’ tradition that conceptualises gender inequity in a specific socio-cultural and political way. Studies also often overlook the effects of the intersectionality. Finally, we suggest areas for further research, including a need to understand the electoral procedures of sports organisations beyond ‘formal’ channels, to better understand women’s lived experiences of inequity and to investigate the experiences of women who either step down or are not appointed to leadership positions.

The Representation of Women in USA Sports, Sports Administrative, and Team Sports Leadership

Woods (2016, p. 311) stated “For centuries, sports participated in assigning a limited role to women by excluding them from participation and resisting efforts to include them.” Women have had to struggle when it comes to sport leadership positions. Women are not usually found in higher level jobs in sport, but they tend to have positions in lower management or lower profile positions. This study is a compilation of research into how people within collegiate athletics in the United States feel about women’s employment status in the field. A pilot interview was created and administered to three women: an athletic director, an athlete, and a professor at Florida A &M University. A surveywas created and administered to 30 subjects that have careers in sport leadership positions. The questions were divided into five categories consisting of representation, coaching, equal pay, and team sports. The survey showed that there are mixed feelings in the profession. Two-thirds of the subjects thought that there was a lack of female leadership within team sports. A little over half of the subjects thought that men were more successful in the areas of leadership, coaching, equal pay, representation, and team sports. By identifying the issues that women are facing when heading into this profession, the researchers identified what actions need to take place in order to resolve the problems discovered. In turn, this would create more opportunities and more qualified female candidates for positions in sports administration and team sports leadership in the United States.