The purpose of the study was to examine the preferred leadership changes across the season for injured and non-injured student-athletes. Participants for this study consisted of 33 female fall volleyball (n = 14) and soccer (n = 19) varsity student-athletes. Leadership coaching style preferences were measured using the Leadership Scale for Sport (Preference version). The Leadership Scale for Sport measures five coaching dimensions: Training and Instruction, Democratic Behavior, Autocratic Behavior, Social Support and Positive Feedback. A supplemental questionnaire was used to determine if a student-athlete sustained an injury during their competitive season. The Leadership Scale for Sport was administered during preseason, midseason, and postseason. The supplemental questionnaire was administered during midseason and postseason. Separate 3 (time) × 2 (injury status) mixed analysis of variance (ANOVA) procedures were conducted to evaluate differences in leadership coaching style preference across the season for injured (n = 18) and non-injured student-athletes (n = 15). A two-way ANOVA (Injury Status x Coaching Style) was carried out from the postseason data to assess the difference in coaching style preference between injured and non-injured student-athletes. The study found significant changes for Training and Instruction; Democratic; Autocratic; and Positive Feedback across the season. The study also showed that Training and Instruction and Positive Feedback were the most preferred leadership styles of coaching across a season while Autocratic remained the least preferred. Injured student-athletes preferred both Positive Feedback and Training and Instruction to the other styles of coaching compared to the non-injured student-athletes who preferred Positive Feedback. Injured and non-injured athletes both least preferred Autocratic Behavior. Further research is needed to examine if there is a leadership preference change across a season depending on wins and loses. More studies are also needed to examine coaching style preference change of injured athletes and if type and duration of the injury reflects the preference.

A coach holds responsibility as a parent does at home, or a teacher in the classroom. The consideration of young athletes' preferences of their coach can aid in the development of life skills, positive development, and retention of youth in sport; which are only some of the outcomes and benefits from experiences gained throughout sport programs (Carson & Gould, 2010). Previous research has mainly focused on high school aged athletes (14+). However, the highest rates of sport participation, variety, and dropout are found at younger ages (Canadian Heritage, 2013). This research was designed to address this gap. One hundred and sixteen (86 female, 49 male) youth sport athletes (age range 10-14 years) across 19 different sports completed a modified Leadership for Sports Scale (LSS) questionnaire. The LSS assesses five factors of preferred coach behaviour - Positive Feedback, Teaching and Instruction, Autocratic Behaviour, Democratic Behaviour, and Social Support. Furthermore, seventeen athletes (11 Boys, 6 Girls, M(age)= 11.65) participated in semi-structured interviews using the Coaching Behaviour Assessment Scale (CBAS). Results showed that there was no significant difference between genders on preferences, and no relationship between preferences and age. There was a significant difference between sport type where individual sport had a significantly higher preference for Democratic Behaviour than team sport athletes (t (114) = 2.72, p

This study sought to gain a better understanding of the communication behaviors between coaches and male and female athletes. Four focus groups (male coach and male athletes, male coach and female athlete, female coach and male athletes, and female coach and female athletes) were used to assess athletes' perceptions of their past coaches' communication behavior compared to their preferred coach communication behaviors. Coding of the focus groups revealed that although females prefer to talk to their coaches about topics related to running, they also wanted to talk about more personal topics. However, for females to talk about personal topics they needed to feel comfortable with their coaches, which was dependent on the coaches' characteristics. Conversely, males desired to talk to their coaches about more serious topics, such as their training and competition, as well as other professional runners' training and competition. Although males desired to more often talk about serious topics, they also recognized there were times when joking around and being less serious with their coaches was appropriate and necessary. In short, men preferred to talk 'shop' more than women did. Based on these results, suggestions for coaches are discussed.