Exploring youth sport coaches’ perceptions of intended outcomes of leadership behaviours

Youth sport coaches play an important role in shaping the sport experience and positive development of youth athletes. One salient approach to examining how the interpersonal behaviours of coaches influence young athletes has been through the lens of leadership theories. However, there is limited understanding surrounding the underlying processes associated with coach leadership behaviours, such as how and why behaviours are applied. This study sought to examine why do youth sport coaches use specific leadership behaviours and what are their intended outcomes when using these behaviours? Eleven coaches (Mage = 42.3, SD = 14.5) were recruited from competitive youth soccer and volleyball clubs (athletes’ Mage = 15.8, SD = 1.9). Coaches participated in a video-stimulated recall interview, during which coaches reflected upon their own coaching behaviours and provided insight into the application of leadership behaviours in youth sport. Findings of the study revealed that contrasting leadership behaviours (e.g. transformational vs. transactional) are associated with distinctive coach objectives (promoting confidence vs. establishing respect). This study can serve to facilitate knowledge mobilization by strengthening our understanding of coaches’ intentions for the implementation of leadership behaviours in a real-world setting.