COACHING LEADERSHIP BEHAVIORS IN SUCCESSFUL WOMEN'S COLLEGIATE ROWING PROGRAMS

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to define the coaching leadership behaviors of successful National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I women's rowing coaches. In defining these behaviors, the purpose was threefold: (1) to determine if any relationships exist between successful coaches, the athlete leadership preferences of their team, or the congruency between the leader behaviors with the preferred leader behaviors of the athletes, (2) to understand what these successful coaches believe contributes most to their actual leadership behaviors, and (3) to determine if there is a general consensus among the athletes concerning their coach's leader behaviors, regardless of position on the team. Participants consisted of 168 female collegiate rowers and coxswains and 22 coaches from NCAA Division I institutions. In addition to demographic questions, each coach was asked to complete the Leadership Scale for Sport (LSS) - Coaches' Version and each athlete was asked to complete both the LSS - Preference version and actual Behavior version. In addition to the questionnaire, five coaches were interviewed to supplement the data gathered. Athletes provided information via the surveys to assess their respective coach's leadership behaviors, while also providing information about their own preferred coaching leadership behaviors. Coaches provided a self-assessment of their own coaching leadership behaviors via the survey or via the survey and substantiated through the interview (if they participated in the interview process). The quantitative data were analyzed using a variety of descriptive and bivariate statistics. Demographically, the participants were quite similar, with little variation in age or race and no variation in gender (athletes). After analyzing the data, statistical significance was found using ANOVA for athletes' assessment of their respective coach's behavior based on their team position. Athletes in the 1st eights ranked the coaches higher in social supportive behaviors than did athletes in other boats. The qualitative data were analyzed using guidelines for phenomenological research. Four themes resulted from this data analysis - coaching knowledge, athlete management, shared values, and team engagement. Each of these themes is considered critical to leading successful women's collegiate rowing teams. Further research would prove helpful using a greater number of athletes and a stronger focus on qualitative methods to garner additional data.