ABSTRACT
Sport psychology interventions may target several levels, including the individual, the team, and the organisation. In this chapter we argue that practitioners in their efforts to be of service for youth athletes should widen their focus, look beyond the psychological skills of the individual athletes, and include the optimisation of a team’s or club’s organisational culture in their mission. Drawing on research from a holistic and ecological approach to talent development, this chapter demonstrates that a strong and coherent organisational culture of a youth club or team is a key factor in successful athlete development. Further, this chapter indicates how a supportive organisational culture can, and must, be deliberately developed and maintained by the coach and management through cultural leadership. Based on cultural leadership guidelines we provide an example from the authors’ applied practice, namely the building of a culture for goal directedness in a youth soccer academy.
