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Community colleges enroll between 11 and 12 million students annually, of which over 50,000 participate in intercollegiate athletics (National Junior College Athletic Association [NJCAA], 2018). For athletic teams this is a significant number of student-athletes who will receive instruction, mentoring, and direction from coaches. This qualitative study examined changes in leadership style when coaching pre-millennial versus millennial students, recruitment practices, the influence of technology, goal setting with pre-millennial and millennial student athletes, and communication with parents. The results of this study indicated there was no predominant leadership style among the 10 NJCAA cross country and track coaches interviewed. Coaches’ identification of their primary leadership style was mixed. Three indicated their leadership style was holistic, two described their style as democratic, three indicated they used a combination of holistic and democratic leadership, and two stated they used an autocratic style. Coaches stated that recruiting has changed significantly in the last decade due to advances in technology and parental influence. Eight out the 10 interviewed coaches stated they have adapted their coaching styles due to generational change. Technology has influenced all aspects of their jobs including recruiting, coaching practices, and communication with athletes and parents. Goal setting has become more focused on the individual. Parents play a key role in the recruiting process for millennial student athletes. This study demonstrated that NJCAA cross country and track coaches have had to adjust their leadership and coaching styles to successfully coach millennials. |
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