A process map of flourishing between the coach and athlete in Canadian university sport

ABSTRACT

Flourishing is a conceptualisation of mental health that considers an individual’s emotional, psychological, and social well-being. Research has indicated that coaches and student-athletes may impact each other’s flourishing, but the process through which this may happen is unclear. The purpose of this study was to investigate how coaches and athletes can flourish together in the sport domain. Ten student-athletes, six coaches, three former student-athletes who coached at the university level, two administrators, one athletic therapist, and one sport psychology consultant participated in individual semi-structured interviews (N total = 23). Following analytic approach, a process map was generated outlining how coaches and student-athletes can flourish together in the context of sport. The process map includes four predictions, beginning with the creation of shared goals between student-athletes and coaches. (i) Once shared goals were established, student-athletes had to learn about and engage with available resources, while coaches provided and taught about the resources to promote goal-oriented growth for student-athletes. (ii) If growth was realised, student-athletes and coaches experienced indicators of flourishing. (iii) Moving from shared goals to indicators of flourishing was facilitated by the quality of the coach-athlete relationship and other personal, relational, and environmental factors. (iv) Coaches and student-athletes who experienced indicators of flourishing would be more likely repeat this process. This process map provides a starting point for understanding how coaches and student-athletes can flourish together in sport, and may provide insight into mental health promotion in other sport domains and relationships.

KEYWORDS:

• Mental health
• well-being
• growth
• goals
• dual-career

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplemental data

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/2159676X.2022.2127859

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by funding in the form of an Alberta Graduate Excellence Scholarship held by Kurtis Pankow.

Notes on contributors

Kurtis Pankow

Kurtis Pankow is a PhD graduate from the Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation at the University of Alberta. His work examines mental health protection and promotion among athletes and coaches, with a particular focus on the mental health construct of flourishing. This work was completed as part of his doctoral research. He is now a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Psychiatry at Queen’s University (Canada).

A. D. Mosewich

Amber D. Mosewich is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada. Her research focuses on stress, coping, and emotion in sport. A key directive of her work is to understand the psychological skills and resources necessary to facilitate successful, healthy, and positive sport experiences and how best to foster their development.

T-L. F. McHugh

Tara-Leigh F. McHugh is a Professor in the Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation at the University of Alberta. Her research is broadly focused on enhancing the sport, physical activity, and body image experiences of youth. Through qualitative and collaborative research approaches her research provides an in-depth exploration of the psychosocial aspects of such experiences.

N. L. Holt

Nicholas L. Holt is a Professor in the Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation at the University of Alberta. Dr. Holt leads the Child & Adolescent Sport & Activity (CASA) lab. His research examines psychosocial aspects of sport and physical activity participation among children, adolescents, and their families.