4 roles (1%) 3 roles (4%) 1 role (37%) 2 roles (15%) 0 roles (44%) Towards a new athlete leadership classification: Using Social Network Analysis to investigate the leadership role of the team captain Fransen, K. 1 , Van Puyenbroeck, S. 1 , Loughead, T. M. 2 , Vanbeselaere, N. 1 , De Cuyper, B. 1 , Vande Broek, G. 1 , & Boen, F. 1 1 Department of Kinesiology, KU Leuven, Belgium; 2 Department of Kinesiology, University of Windsor, Canada STUDY 1 4451 participants Methods: Social Network Analysis Conclusions # leadership roles provided by the team captain: [email protected] In many teams, the team captain is not perceived as the best leader. Other players within the team take the lead, both on and off the field. Teams are characterized by shared leadership! The coach, the captain, and the informal leaders take the lead together. These findings question the selection criteria used to assign the function of team captain. Coaches should pay more attention to identify and improve the leadership qualities of their captain and other leaders in the team! This research was supported by a PhD Fellowship (Aspirant) of the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO). Acknowledgements Players (# = 3193) Soccer (589) Basketball (1959) Volleyball (1287) Handball (116) Netball (118) Hockey (127) Ice hockey (72) Rugby (84) Water polo (99) Very similar results regardless of… Sport Male/Female teams Level Player/Coach Task leader Social leader External leader Motivational leader Very weak leader Weak leader Moderate leader Strong leader Very strong leader 1. Name player 0 1 2 3 4 2. Name player 0 1 2 3 4 3. Name player 0 1 2 3 4 4. Name player 0 1 2 3 4 5. Name player 0 1 2 3 4 6. Name player 0 1 2 3 4 7. Name player 0 1 2 3 4 8. Name player 0 1 2 3 4 9. Name player 0 1 2 3 4 10. Name player 0 1 2 3 4 11. Name player 0 1 2 3 4 12. Name player 0 1 2 3 4 13. My coach 0 1 2 3 4 Please indicate for each of your teammates how well you perceive their general leadership qualities? STUDY 2: General leadership quality 0 1 2 3 4 General leadership Task leadership Motivational leadership Social leadership External leadership All-round leadership Indegree centrality Team captain Athlete leader Coach 25 teams (N = 308) Soccer Basketball High level Handball Female team Male team High level Low level Volleyball Low level Coaches (# = 1258) STUDY 2 21 teams (N = 267) STUDY 3 Player 5 Team Captain Player 1 Player 4 Player 2 Player 3 Player 10 Player 8 Player 7 Task leader Coach Player 6 Player 9 Player 11 Player 8 Player 6 Player 10 Player 5 Team Captain Coach Player 7 Player 1 Player 9 Player 4 Social leader Player 11 Social leader Player 2 STUDY 3: Role-specific leadership quality 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 Task leadership Motivational leadership Social leadership External leadership All-round leadership Number of teams (N = 21) Best leader Second best leader Third best leader Other Indegree centrality = Average received leadership rating of all other players Team gender Level of competition Sport