Understanding the staff cancer through the perceived experiences of varsity male soccer players

ABSTRACT

Informal roles can be beneficial or detrimental to sport performance. Researchers have identified negative informal roles within sports and organisational contexts; however, exploration of these roles has been limited to athletes within sports research or staff members within organisational research. To our knowledge, negative informal roles occupied by a staff member on a sports team have not been studied. The purpose of the current research was to develop an introductory understanding of a negative informal staff role on a sports team, henceforth referred to as the staff cancer. Working within a critical realist framework, we utilised photo elicitations and arts-based conversational interviews to augment comfort and interview seven former varsity male soccer players concerning their perceived experiences of the staff cancer. Two overarching themes representing the characteristics and consequences of the staff cancer were developed using an interpretive/inductive thematic analysis. Four subthemes represent the characteristics theme, including passionate, insecure, controlling, and poor communicator, while five subthemes represent the consequences theme, including poor mental health, team divide, team unification, diminished performance, and increased attrition. The results are presented through a composite vignette to safeguard participant confidentially. This manuscript makes a valuable contribution towards understanding some of the characteristics and consequences of the staff cancer, showcases clarity regarding the application of critical realism, and highlights how combining methods can be used to augment participant comfort when discussing sensitive topics, such as coaches’ and athletes’ power hierarchies.

KEYWORDS:

• Informal roles
• cancerous staff
• critical realism
• arts-based conversational interview
• composite vignette

Acknowledgments

We greatly appreciate the participation of the seven athletes who willingly shared their experiences with the research team, as well as both reviewers for their feedback on this manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Cole E. Giffin

Cole E. Giffin is a PhD student in the Human Kinetics program at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. His background is in sports psychology, receiving both his BA and MHK from Laurentian University. His research interests include negative roles operating within sports organizations and athlete mental health.

Robert J. Schinke

Robert J. Schinke is the Canada Research Chair in Multicultural Sport and Physical Activity and a Full Professor in the School of Human Kinetics, at Laurentian University, in Canada. He is also the President of the International Society of Sport Psychology and a Past President of the Association for Applied Sport Psychology.

Thierry R. F. Middleton

Thierry R. F. Middleton is a PhD Candidate in the Human Studies program at Laurentian University. Thierry is also a former varsity swimmer and current swim coach. His current research involves using a variety of qualitative methodologies to explore how sport can become a more inclusive and socially just context.

Gretchen Kerr

Gretchen Kerr is a Full Professor in the Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education and Vice-Dean, Programs and Innovation in the School of Graduate Studies at the University of Toronto. Her research focuses on the psychosocial health of young people in elite sport, maltreatment in sport, and strategies to realize the promise of sport for health and fulfilment.

Michel Lariviére

Michel Lariviére is a Full Professor and Clinical Psychologist. He is a Professor in the School of Human Kinetics at Laurentian University, has an active research program in occupational mental health, and works in private practice as a clinical and consulting psychologist.

George Kpazaï

George Kpazaï is an Associate Professor in the School of Human Kinetics at Laurentian University. His research interests include physical education and health intervention, university pedagogy, and critical thinking in the psychomotor domain.

Brennan Petersen

Brennan Petersen is a PhD student in the Human Kinetics program at Laurentian University. His current research focuses on the social effects of mental health stigma in sport. Other research interests include group dynamics and group roles.