ABSTRACT
Leadership is a critical group process necessary for team functioning and success. Team success has been attributed, in part, to effective leadership from coaches, athletes, and management staff. Leaders steer the direction of the group, engage in on- and off-field decision-making, and foster an environment conducive to high performance. Sport, however, is a highly political, socially complex, ruthless and volatile, performance-driven environment, which lends itself to leaders engaging in less than desirable leadership behaviors. The relationship between coaches and athlete leaders is critical to leadership effectiveness and team functioning. Promoting effective leadership within teams often means distributing leadership across multiple people. Increasingly, the importance of effective athlete leaders is recognized as a critical contributor of team success. Athlete leadership roles are diverse; therefore, having a single captain may mean there are leadership voids within the team.
