Implementation of a leadership development program with a varsity basketball team 

Megan E. Kalbfleisch, Mason B. Sheppard, Todd M. Loughead

Historically, coaches have been viewed as the primary source of leadership on a team. However, athletes offer a critical source of leadership as well. Athlete leadership is defined as an athlete occupying a formal or informal leadership role within a team, while influencing team members to achieve a common goal. The notion that multiple athletes on a team provide leadership is inherent within the definition and demonstrates the need for all members on a team to develop leadership behaviours. Thus, leadership development expands the collective capacity of team members to engage effectively in leadership roles and group processes. The purpose of the current study was to implement an athlete leadership development program with a varsity women’s basketball team. A total of 11 athletes participated in four, 1-hour sessions during the 2023 season, focusing on 10 different leadership behaviours and four group dynamics constructs. All participants completed inventories that measured leadership behaviours and group dynamics variables (e.g., cohesion, communication, athlete satisfaction, peer motivational climate). A paired samples t-test was conducted to determine whether there were changes from pre- to post- intervention. Overall, there were significant differences for seven of the ten athlete leadership behaviours, and two of the four group dynamic constructs. Specifically, the leadership behaviours of training and instruction (p=.001), democratic behaviour (p=.018), individual consideration (p=.050), inspirational motivation (p<.001), intellectual stimulation (p=.042), acceptance of group goals (p=.036), and high-performance expectations (p=.002). The group dynamics constructs of attraction to group task (p=.029) and group integration task (p<.001) showed significant differences.