ARCAA Contents & Abstracts, Volume 40, 2025

ISBN 978-0-89641-647-5
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    “I Just Hope That We Never Forget Her Legacy”: A Qualitative Examination of Coach Pat Summitt — Madeline Reagan, Hunter Porter, Jeffrey Graham, James Bemiller — Pat Summitt is known as one of the most successful and influential coaches of all time. ​ Despite Coach Summitt’s profound impact on women's basketball and the University of Tennessee, since her death in 2016 little empirical research has been conducted to explore her leadership from the perspective of her former players or colleagues. This study aims to add to the literature by examining her leadership through the lenses of transformational and servant leadership. Semi-structured interviews were used to identify key themes that illustrate Summitt's leadership qualities. Thematic analysis revealed three main themes: Visionary, Authentic, and Mentor. This study concludes that Summitt's success was not solely attributed to her coaching strategies, but also her ability to combine transformational and servant leadership effectively.​ The research suggests that understanding and implementing these leadership qualities can lead to success and offers a valuable resource for those looking to emulate her approach. Keywords: leadership, coaching, Pat Summitt, women’s sports, college athletics, qualitative research (1-30)

  • Addressing Perceptions of Favoritism in the High School Sport Athletic Director-Head Coach Dual Role — Tyler J. Ratts — Given the responsibilities of high school sport practitioners embracing the athletic director-head coach dual role, perceptions of favoritism toward the athletic program they lead can exist within others. When present, this necessitates intentional efforts aimed at minimizing these feelings. The purpose of this study was to detail how those in this dual role face favoritism perceptions, and the strategies implemented to address them and the effect on their program’s student-athletes. Through a sample of 15 participants representing school classification (i.e., 1A, 2A, 3A, and 4A) and sport coached, semi-structured interviews were conducted, with three main themes (i.e., recognizing the perception, minimizing the perception, and impact on their student-athletes) providing insight into how those in the athletic director-head coach dual role work to diminish the favoritism perceptions they face. Both theoretically and practically, findings contextualize the impact of workplace favoritism, while also guiding practitioners in navigating its presence when serving in this high school sport dual role. Keywords: workplace favoritism, role conflict, dual role, high school athletics, athletic director, head coach (31-62)

  • The Mindfulness Effect: Meditation in College Athletics — Alexa Schnittka, Hunter Porter, Denise Morawek, Jeffrey Graham — Research suggests that mindfulness meditation may benefit athletes. Potential benefits include an increase in sleep, athletic performance, and injury prevention. Additionally, meditation benefits provide a decrease in anxiety and depression. Although support for mindfulness meditation benefits has increased, they are still not widely implemented in collegiate athletics. The goal of this study was to ask Division I coaches about how they use or do not use mindfulness meditation practices with their teams. In addition, the study asked about potential barriers for implementation coaches may face for using mindfulness meditation exercises. The results indicated the coaches experienced barriers primarily coming from time constraints and limited resources. Time constraints indicated coaches wanting to optimize their contact with athletes and a lack of priority for taking time for mindfulness meditation. Limited resources were attributed to not being able to employ a full-time meditation coach and little collaboration with external meditation experts to implement meditation practices. This study gives implementation strategies and suggestions for coaches wanting to implement mindfulness into their pre-existing training regiments. Keywords: NCAA, coaching, mindfulness, meditation, well-being, mental health (63-95)

  • Quantitative Predictors of Playing Men’s College Basketball — Kristi Erdal — There has long been interest in predicting which athletes will succeed at the next level of any sport. In men’s basketball, empirical research has attempted to predict future performance in both National Basketball Association (NBA) players as well as National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) players; however, limited empirical analysis has assessed the predictors of playing college basketball at the different collegiate divisional levels (DI, DII, DIII, NAIA, Junior College). A dataset of 1012 high school and college basketball players was assembled from publicly available data to assess the predictive value of anthropometrics, high school basketball statistics, and extra basketball activities in the prediction of playing college basketball. These data showed that height, similar to the NBA, is a primary predictor of playing college basketball. Adding high school offensive basketball statistics increased the variance accounted for by 34.3%. Adding AAU/club participation increased the variance accounted for by 8.4%. DI play was better predicted by height and high school basketball statistics than were the other levels of college play. AAU/club participation was not a significant predictor of college play at any level. AAU/club participation was, however, related to reported injuries, consistent with the research on overuse injuries of year-long play. College coaches are making player selection decisions consistent with known advantages (height) and high school offensive statistics, perhaps as they are seen as representative of college team play, but less so on activities less representative of college team play or perhaps seen as duplicative, such as AAU/club basketball participation. (96-116)

  • Effect of Multiple Angle and Single Angle Video Observation on Quality of Movement in Novice Tennis Players Learning the Tennis Serve — Ronald L. Hager, David Barney, Tracy Bertagna, Karen Prusak, Iain Hunter — This study considered the effect of single angle video modeling and multiple angle video modeling on the quality of movement of the tennis serve in novice players. One hundred eleven college students (56 males) participated in the study. Participants were randomly selected into two groups (single angle, SA or multiple angle, MA). Subjects in the SA modeling group watched a video of a service demonstration from one angle. Subjects in the MA modeling group watched a video from each of 4 viewing angles alternately. Participants were asked to repeat their video observations once a day for five consecutive weeks. No feedback outside the video viewing was given to any participant. Improvement was assessed with a posttest after five weeks. Analyses revealed significant between group (F (1,109) = 7.205, p<. 01) and within group (F (1,109) = 499.23, p<. 001) differences. Between group differences indicate fewer deviations from the model in the MA group than the SA group. Significant within group differences between pretest and posttest trials, indicating improved performance, were noted in both groups. Improvements were greater in the MA modeling group. (117-133)

  • On the Same Pedal: Exploring the Dynamics and Experiences of Athletes in Tandem Para-Cycling — Irina Perfilova, Robin Hardin — This study explored the experiences of 12 elite-level cyclists (e.g., pilots and stokers) who compete in tandem para-cycling. Interview transcripts were analyzed within the framework of Social Interdependence Theory, and four elements of Social Interdependence Theory emerged from the data analysis: positive interdependence, individual accountability, promotive interaction, and social skills. The dimension of group processing, which involves reflective practices and collective evaluation of team performance, was not present. These findings provide areas for improving team dynamics and incorporating strategies to bond visually impaired athletes with their respective sighted guides. Understanding the perspectives and challenges faced by participants in tandem para-cycling is crucial for developing effective coaching strategies when pairing stokers with pilots to maximize team cohesion. This study underscores the significance of social interdependence in adaptive sports, aiming to empower coaches, athletes, and sports administrators to promote the inclusivity and competitive outcomes of tandem para-cycling. Keywords: tandem cycling, social interdependence theory, adaptive sport, Paralympics (134-167)


    • BOOK REVIEWS

  • Out of Bounds: When Parents Cross the Line in Player-Coach
    Relationship and Other Baskeball Experiences
    Reviewed by Rob McDermand (168-171)

  • Take Back the Game: How Money and Mania
    are Running Kids Sports—and Why It Matters
    Reviewed by Rob McDermand (172-175)

    A Call for Papers and Subscriptions (176-181)
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