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Sport captains fulfill vital leadership functions on their teams that contribute to team success, climate, and performance. Coaches and athletes have recognized the importance of athlete leaders and, through role differentiation theory, various leadership classifications have been established. The purpose of this study was to expand upon these classifications to identify specific duties and roles of captains. Eleven Division I collegiate coaches representing seven sports participated in semi-structured interviews. Five roles emerged from thematic analysis of the data that conceptually aligned with previously established leadership classifications. Two roles (i.e., technical responsibility and ambassador) were associated with task and external leadership classifications while three roles (i.e., leadership, team unity, and integrity) were associated with social and motivational leadership classifications. Furthermore, associated responsibilities identified for each role were defined, extending previous literature on the four-fold leadership classification system. These descriptions of specific captain roles can be useful for informing coach education in terms of developing and managing captains, ultimately influencing overall team performance.
Within the context of sport, team captains are relied on to fulfill a critical leadership role, serving as a team liaison and acting as an extension of the coach. The importance of having an effective leader has been recognized by both coaches and athletes (e.g., Dupuis, Bloom, & Loughead, 2006). Effective leadership, which is imperative for the overall success of a team, is defined as "a behavioral process in which an individual influences another individual or group to accomplish a set of shared goals" (Voelker, Gould, & Crawford, 2011, p. 47). As such, team captains are often responsible for duties and task behaviors related to improving team climate, norms, and functioning (Dupuis et al., 2006). While literature on leadership within organizational settings is readily available, research on team captain leadership within the context of sport is still evolving (Fransen, Vanbeselaere, De Cuyper, Vande Broek, & Beon, 2014; Voelker et al., 2011). Further, much of the research on sport team captains which does exist is understood through the perspectives of the athlete (Dupuis et al., 2006; Voelker et al., 2011). Therefore, grounded in a role differentiation perspective (Bales, 1958; Lewis, 1972; Rees & Segal, 1984), research that clarifies the roles of the team captain, from the coaches who select and manage team captains, is...