ABSTRACT
Relationships are an essential part of life; they are extremely valuable and enriching, and have the capacity to make people feel good, wanted, needed, and appreciated. In sport, the coach-athlete relationship is a purposeful type of relationship at the heart of coaching (Jowett, 2017) whereby both members are required to work together, investing time, effort, and energy to make their partnership effective and in turn successful. While the positive effects of good quality coach-athlete relationships have been evidenced (Davis et al., 2013; Felton & Jowett, 2013a), the impacts of relationships when considered next to potentially negative interpersonal concepts such as power and conflict are not well understood (e.g., Wachsmuth et al., 2017). This chapter explores the role of the relationship in ensuring coaches’ and athletes’ safety, health, and wellbeing. When relationships are purposeful and when coaches and athletes have each other’s best interest at heart, their relationships and its members function for the greater good. The greater good transform into positive power that propels them into achieving performance success and experiencing personal satisfaction. The chapter will offer guidelines and recommendations for actively developing and maintaining relationships that are purposeful even in the presence of situations of conflict and power.
