Understanding the characteristics and consequences of the Toxic Sports Staff Member (TSSM) through the stories of male soccer players

Abstract

The current study examined the characteristics and consequences of the toxic sports staff member (TSSM) through the stories of elite-level male soccer players. The stories of seven participants were collected through a conversational interview that followed an art-based activity (i.e., mandala drawings) and were analyzed using an inductive thematic analysis. Six themes related to the characteristics of the TSSM were introduced, they were: passionate, insecure, controlling, rigid to own viewpoints, poor communicator, and selfish. Further, six consequences of the TSSM were introduced, they were: increased negative and decreased positive affective states, lack of player development, creation of a destructive environment, increased team unity, decreased performance, and loss of players. Understanding the characteristics and consequences of the TSSM provides a starting point for understanding negative staff roles within sports. Further, sporting organizations may use the results as a way of identifying and controlling for negative roles within their team.