Developing sport team captains as formal leaders

Abstract

Within the context of sport, team captains are often relied on to fulfill formal leadership roles. However, there is a lack of empirically-informed resources to help sport coaches develop team captains. To address this research-to-practice gap, the Developing Sport Team Captains as Formal Leaders model is presented. Specifically, five key processes are discussed: fostering a team culture of leadership; determining the role(s) of team captains; identifying and selecting team captains; developing and supporting team captains; and evaluating and reinforcing team captains. By effectively developing team captains as formal leaders, team captains are equipped to provide leadership in sport and are more likely to transfer leadership skills to other life domains.

Keywords:

• Coaches
• coaching education
• leadership
• sport captains
• youth sport