Cailie S. McGuire

Competition for playing time (i.e. positional competition) is a commonly occurring phenomenon on interdependent sport teams. Yet the relationship between positional competition and other group dynamics in sports teams has been underexplored. One such group dynamic is social identity, which has been theoretically but not empirically linked to positional competition. The primary purpose of this study was to explore whether positional competition predicted social identity. A secondary purpose was to evaluate whether this prediction was moderated by starting status. A sample of 181 Canadian university student-athletes completed measures of positional competition and social identity. Positional competition dimensions predicted between 22% and 36% of the variance of social identity dimensions. The positional competition dimension pushed by teammates emerged as the only significant predictor of all three dimensions of social identity. The dimensions of coach recognition, self-awareness, and pushing teammates also emerged as significant positive predictors of ingroup affect. Moderation analysis revealed that, for nonstarters only, push by teammates positively predicted ingroup ties, and effort to improve positively predicted cognitive centrality. For starters only, coach recognition positively predicted ingroup ties and affect. These findings provide empirical support for the theoretical connection between positional competition and social identity. Dimensions focused on task-related perceptions of positional competition showed the most consistent positive associations with social identity, although the pattern between starters and nonstarters warrants further attention. The findings deepen our theoretical and practical understanding of how competition for playing time and social identity are linked, while highlighting future research avenues specific to status-based influences.

Coaches help shape sport environments and athlete experiences. However, many coach development programs do not adequately teach the knowledge and skills necessary for holistic athlete development. Accordingly, a positive youth development program, the 1616 Program (1616), was created to foster developmentally rich opportunities for youth ice hockey players. To overcome many current coach development program shortcomings, 1616 includes a coach-specific segment grounded in coaching effectiveness, leadership, and behavior change literature. We explored the coach segment’s impact using a mixed-method convergent parallel design with coaches across North America. In total, 36 coaches ( n = 3 females; M _age = 43.8 years; SD = 5.33 years) with an average of 10.1 years ( SD = 8.04) of coaching experience completed questionnaires. We interviewed nine coaches ( n = 1 female; M _age = 43.0 years; SD = 8.04 years) with an average of 8.5 years ( SD = 3.73) of coaching experience. Results suggest that coaches felt that athlete personal assets improved while describing improvements in their own behavior change markers, efficacy beliefs, and interpersonal and leadership skills. Despite noting areas for improvement, coaches who completed the 1616 Program generally improved their self-perception, experienced more positive athlete interactions, and appreciated the high-quality program design and delivery.

Despite the prevalence of injury and positional competition (PC) in sport, the ways in which injury influences athletes’ experiences with PC has yet to be investigated. The purpose of this study was to explore (a) how injury influences athletes’ PC experiences and (b) how injury and PC together influence individual- and team-level outcomes. A two-phase qualitative approach was adopted situated within the Canadian interuniversity football context. In Phase 1, 12 athletes participated in semistructured interviews. The findings from these interviews were then discussed in focus group interviews with eight additional athletes (Phase 2). Data were analyzed through a critical realist lens. Three major themes were identified: (a) competing while injured—a perceived unavoidable reality of PC , (b) player status is a key feature of athletes’ injury and PC experiences , and (c) a double-edged sword—injury creates and takes away playing time opportunities. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Adolescence is a developmental period marked by heightened engagement with questions of identity and belonging, which can create significant challenges for young people’s mental health and social functioning. Sport is a key context in which these identity-related challenges are negotiated, with the potential to foster a meaningful sense of social identity. However, sport environments can also involve social exclusion, bullying, and other adverse group dynamics. As a result, the quality of the social environment, and the strength of the social identity it affords, depends critically on how leaders shape and manage that environment. Guided by the social identity approach to leadership, the present study examined whether identity leadership enacted by coaches and peer leaders supports adolescents’ positive functioning, operationalised as well-being and commitment to their team, by strengthening their identification with the team. Using data from 3,540 athletes aged 12 to 17 across 11 countries, we found that identity leadership from both coaches and peer leaders was positively associated with team identification, which in turn was linked to better mental health and stronger team commitment. These associations were largely consistent across countries, age groups, and genders. Taken together, the findings highlight that adolescent development is fundamentally a process of social identity development and identify identity leadership as a robust lever for supporting healthy adolescent development.

Leadership that helps young people cultivate a shared sense of “us” is likely to be especially important for supporting healthy adolescent development. Yet research in this area has progressed slowly, in part because, until recently, no validated tool existed to assess identity leadership in youth populations. Addressing this gap, Butalia et al. (2024) developed the coach-referent Identity Leadership Inventory for Youth (ILI-Y) and provided initial validation in a UK sample of youth athletes. The present study builds on this work by evaluating the ILI-Y’s validity and reliability across a broader set of culturally diverse countries. Crucially, it also extends the measure by validating a parallel version designed to assess identity leadership among leaders within the team (e.g., captains).We drew on cross-sectional data from 4,095 adolescent athletes aged 12–17 years (M = 14.51, SD = 1.64) across 13 countries. Results supported a four-factor structure consistent with the identity leadership framework, along with strong evidence for internal consistency, measurement invariance, and discriminant, criterion, and incremental validity. These results held for both the coach and captain versions. Together, these findings advance identity leadership research and offer a developmentally appropriate, cross-culturally validated tool for assessing and supporting leadership in youth sport, with potential applications in other youth contexts.

Despite trust being associated with a range of favorable outcomes across high-performing team contexts (e.g., enhanced satisfaction, performance), efforts to investigate the meaning of trust in sport remain limited. The purpose of this study was to explore (a) how athletes experience trust, (b) why it is needed within sport teams (e.g., beneficial outcomes), and (c) the mechanisms of trust development. Canadian U Sports athletes (N = 13) were recruited to participate in individual semistructured interviews, which were analyzed using a critical realist approach to reflexive thematic analysis. Athletes positioned vulnerability as an important consideration for trust, which was influenced by precursors (i.e., motive and risk) and facilitators (i.e., one’s willingness to trust, perceptions of trustworthiness, and environmental affordances). Based on the outcome of trusting another person (i.e., individual- and team-level benefits or drawbacks), the relationship was either reinforced or undermined. Both theoretical and practical advancements to the field are provided.

The underrepresentation of female research participants, women, and girls has been highlighted as an issue of concern within a variety of research areas and disciplines across academia. More specifically, this lack of visibility has contributed to widening knowledge gaps regarding these populations while also perpetuating and strengthening existing inequities. Given these concerns, the purpose of this review was to explore whether similar imbalances could exist within the sport psychology literature and, if so, what future research projects might be completed to rectify these issues. To do so, all articles (n = 3,005) published between the years of 2011 and 2021 in five journals of sport psychology were assessed. Following an analysis of the relevant studies collected, it was found that more articles including all boys, men, and male athletes (n = 343) were published within this time frame compared with articles including exclusively girls, women, and female athletes (n = 155). Additionally, it also appeared that research working with girls, women, and female athletes was lacking: (a) in recreational sport, (b) at both young and older ages, and (c) within team sport contexts. Further, most of the studies assessed often conflated participant sex- and gender-descriptive terminology. As such, it is highly encouraged that researchers in sport psychology make greater strides to conduct purposeful and targeted research focusing on girls, women, and female athlete participants and their specific issues over the coming years.