Tenth International Conference on Sport & Society

Abstract

To determine how servant leadership is espoused by the Division I head coach in and out of the practice setting and how those behaviors affect student athlete growth towards self-actualization, 20 Division I women’s soccer student athletes and their head coach were interviewed and observed for four weeks during the Fall 2018 season. To corroborate the qualitative data, a survey gauging the degree to which student athletes felt their head coach espoused servant leader behavior, was also deployed to all student athletes within this particular Division I athletic department. Findings indicate the student athlete preference for a head coach that truly cares for them beyond their athletic identity, serving their needs as a person and not just a student athlete. In addition, findings also indicate that it is the head coach who creates an environment fostering peak experiences for the student athlete, allowing them to further identify their needs in and out of the practice setting. Ultimately, servant leadership in Division I athletics is demonstrated through an intricate process of head coach balance between harder and softer approaches, identity balance, and the accommodation of student athlete needs, impacting the student athlete’s overall university experience and their journey to personal fulfillment. Findings are presented as a cultural portrait, incorporating views of the participants and the observational impressions from the researcher in an effort to understand how the student athletes under study find growth and personal fulfillment through head coach servant leader behavior.