Ice Hockey Coaches’ Perceptions of Athlete Leadership

The purpose of this study was to identify ice hockey coaches’ perceptions of the factors influencing athlete leadership. Semi-structured open-ended interviews were conducted with six high performance ice hockey coaches of elite 16- to 20-year-old athletes. The results indicated how coaches selected and developed their athlete leaders, how they fostered the coach-athlete leader relationship and the responsibilities of their athlete leaders. These results provide coaches with new information on how to identify and develop their athlete leaders, as well as how to cultivate positive relationships with them.