Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka elittränares syn på Athlete leadership (AL) inom lagidrott, hur det kan påverka individen, laget samt hur utvecklingen kring detta sker. AL definieras som en eller flera idrottare som innehar en formell eller informell ledarskapsroll inom ett lag och påverkar lagmedlemmarna att uppnå ett gemensamt mål (Loughhead, 2017). Deltagarna i studien var fem manliga huvudtränare inom elitdamfotbollen med en ålder mellan 30–52 år. Denna studie var kvalitativ och deltagarna intervjuades utifrån ett semistrukturerat förhållningssätt. En tematisk analys gjordes där fem huvudteman med ett till tre tillhörande subteman framkom. Det framkom att AL har en positiv effekt på lagsammanhållning, förmåga att vända negativa trender och på individens välmående. Fanns det en samsyn mellan Ahtlete leaders och tränaren så underlättade det arbetet för tränaren och belastningen av jobbet upplevdes som lägre för tränaren. Utvecklingen av AL sker främst i form av uttalade förväntningar från tränaren till spelare samt i individuella samtal med återkoppling på ledarskapet. Fynden går i linje med tidigare forskning och stärker dessa. Det finns ett behov av resurser för att kunna optimera utvecklingen av AL. Ett specifikt verktyg riktat mot AL bör tas fram för att kunna studera ämnet bättre. Det krävs forskning från flera olika synvinklar både kvalitativt och kvantitativt då AL forskningen fortfarande är i sin linda. Nyckelord: Athlete leadership (AL), Påverkan, Utveckling / The purpose of this study was to investigate elite coaches' view of Athlete leadership (AL) in team sports, how it can influence the individual, the team and how the development around this takes place. AL is defined as one or more athletes who hold a formal or informal leadership role within a team and influence team members to achieve a common goal (Loughhead, 2017). The participants in the study were five male head coaches in elite women's soccer with ages ranging from 30–52 years. This study was qualitative and the participants were interviewed based on a semi-structured approach. A thematic analysis was done where five main themes with one to three associated subthemes emerged. It emerged that AL has a positive effect on team cohesion, ability to reverse negative trends and on individual well-being. If there was a consensus between the Ahtlete leaders and the coach, it made the work easier for the coach and the workload was felt to be lower for the coach. The development of AL takes place primarily in the form of stated expectations from the coach to players and in individual conversations with feedback around the leadership. The findings are in line with and strengthen previous research. There is a need for resources to be able to optimize the development of AL. A specific tool aimed at AL should be developed to be able to study the subject better. Research is required from several different points of view both qualitatively and quantitatively as AL research is still in its infancy. Keywords: Athlete leadership (AL), Effect, Development

With billions of sports fans all over the globe, athletes have a considerable platform to advocate for the environment and catalyse behaviour change. The purpose of this paper was to explore the role of leadership in athlete environmental activism. Furthermore, this study aimed to add to the existing literature on pro-environmental behaviour change by investigating the interventions performed by nature-based athletes when encouraging their fans to adopt pro-environmental behaviours. In this paper, a qualitative research design was employed and semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten individuals who were identified as fans of nature-based athletes. The collected data was analysed using deductive thematic analysis, based on the leadership theory of Charismatic Leadership (CL) and the pro-environmental behaviour change theory of Value-Belief-Norm (VBN) Theory. The results indicated that all but one of the Charismatic Leadership Behaviours described in theory were performed by nature-based athletes, the exception being “setting goals with moral overtones.” Moreover, the study deduced that all VBN Interventions detailed in the academic literature were made by nature-based athletes when encouraging pro-environmental behaviour. The analysis process also revealed two additional findings: nature-based athletes mainly communicate their activism through social media and nature-based athletes’ fans want their favoured athletes to incorporate pushing for systemic change in their activism, in addition to encouraging individual behaviour change. Finally, a model was proposed that synthesises the theories of CL Behaviours and VBN Interventions, based on the findings of this study. This study contributes to the literature on pro-environmental behaviour change under the VBN framework and Charismatic Leadership. Additionally, this paper explores the role of leadership in athlete activism and athlete environmental activism, two topics which have not been extensively researched.

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