How coaches establish trust in team sports? : a qualitative research on coaching leadership

ABSTRACT Havia Tuire, 2017. How coaches establish trust in team sports? A qualitative research on coaching leadership. Master’s Thesis in Sport and Exercise Psychology. Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences. University of Jyväskylä. 70p. There has been a significant amount of research dedicated to understanding the interpersonal relationships in sports from various viewpoints. The current literature identifies the concept of trust and knowing the individuals within team crucial in coaching context. However, there is very limited research on how to foster trust in teams in elite level coaching context, especially in Finland topic is poorly covered. Hence, this study aimed to describe the coaching philosophies and the specific methods used to establish trust in coach-athlete relationship and within team environment of four coaches (1 female, 3 male) in elite level sports in Finland (floorball=1, football=1, ice hockey=1 and ringette=1). The data was collected using a semi-structured interview as the data collection method. Coaching experience of participants ranged from 20 to 45 years. An interpretative thematic analysis with both inductive and deductive reasoning was utilized in the analysis of the data. The data was transcribed and further coded through Atlas.ti software, (version 7.1). The results revealed a comprehensive picture of the factors that describe trust in the whole sport team and the organisation, and which can be linked together under an umbrella of trustful environment. The coaches agreed that the true core of trust is captured in every day coaching actions by supporting individuals, on and off the field, and getting to know them as individuals, as well as involving them in different ways and encouraging them to see mistakes as a part of learning process. In conclusion, this study provided new information regarding practical methods and principles about how to establish trust in coach-athlete relationship and within teams. The findings may be beneficial in coaching education, in teams and on a broader perspective also within individual level of sports. The findings support similar previous research and thus speaks to the worthy pursuit of establishing trust in teams which in turn may benefit not only individual wellbeing and motivation but also team performance outcomes.