“It’s not about sport, it’s about you”: An interpretative phenomenological analysis of mentoring elite athletes

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Highlights

  • Mentors adopted a person-centred approach to provide holistic support.

  • Trust, empathy, emotional intelligence and genuineness were core mentor attributes.

  • Effective mentoring relationships developed organically and empowered athletes.

  • Athletes believed that mentoring had on-field and off-field benefits.

  • Both mentors and mentees perceived improvements in well-being.

Abstract

Objective

The need to support the well-being of elite athletes in a holistic manner is becoming increasingly evident with the rise of reported mental health issues in this context. Surprisingly, mentoring as a support mechanism for athlete well-being has yet to be explored. The purpose of this exploratory study was to develop a contextualized perspective of the experience of mentoring within sport, and investigate whether athletes perceived benefits to their well-being as a consequence of engaging in mentoring.

Design and methodology

An interpretative phenomenological analysis was adopted (IPA; Smith, Flowers, & Larkin, 2009). Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight mentors and three athlete-mentees, who had been mentored for at least 6 months.

Results

Data analysis of participant narratives were conceptualized into five high-order themes: (1) role; (2) attributes; (3) experience and training; (4) relationship structure; and (5) agenda. Higher-order themes were embedded into three superordinate themes: critical elements of mentoring, effective relationships, and perceived benefits to psychological well-being.

Conclusion

Identified themes paralleled the dimensions in Ryff’s (1989) model of psychological well-being (PWB). Collectively, these findings advance the limited literature on the experience of athlete mentoring and highlight it as a potential mechanism for the development of holistic athlete well-being.

Introduction

Mentoring is a social support mechanism that is grounded in assisting individual development (Ragins & Kram, 2007). Defined as one person helping another to make significant transitions in that individual’s knowledge, work, or thinking (Clutterbuck, 2001), mentoring represents a collaborative social relationship between a mentor and mentee (Karcher & Hansen, 2013; Linney, 1999), in which the mentor acts as a wise and trusted advisor, a confidant (Baker & Maguire, 2005), and a role model (Kram, 1985). The mentoring relationship is facilitated by the mentor’s encouragement, emotional support, and guidance (Eby, Rhodes, & Allen, 2008; Hon & Shorr, 1998), and is influenced by the level of respect, trust, and genuine connection shared in the dyad (Howe, 1995). A strong mentoring relationship that is tailored to meet the unique needs and goals of the mentee is essential for positive mentee outcomes (Clutterbuck & Lane, 2004).

Presently, there are two approaches to mentoring: the sponsorship model (i.e., protégé model) and the developmental model. Predominantly adopted by researchers in the United States, the sponsorship model involves directive and one-way learning (i.e., the protégé learns from the more senior mentor, and is promoted in relevant contexts), and emphasizes the effective use of the mentor’s influence and power (Clutterbuck, 2001). Organizations who endorse the sponsorship model typically assign the mentor-mentee pairs, which usually have a short duration (Clutterbuck & Lane, 2004). In contrast, the developmental mentoring model is popular among European, Australian, and Canadian researchers, who posit the promotion of a mutual relationship between mentor and mentee. Here, a developmental mentor holds power that is irrelevant to the relationship, and less focus is placed on the status gap (Clutterbuck, 2001). Rather, greater focus is place on the experience gap such that the mentor acts as role model (Clutterbuck & Lane, 2004). Individuals in developmental mentoring relationships reportedly experienced mutual respect, and perceived that the relationship was strengthened by the similarities shared between members (Clutterbuck & Lane, 2004). Critically, developmental mentoring enables the mentor and mentee to identify key learning opportunities for the mentee, and devise strategies for the mentee to advance her/his knowledge (Clutterbuck, 2001).

A review of the developmental mentoring literature suggests that mentors possess a broad array of qualities and attributes. These individuals commonly demonstrate empathy and authenticity (Clutterbuck & Lane, 2004; Darwin, 2000), care for the mentee and offer support (Hagenow & McCrea, 1994), invest their time, provide knowledge, and teach skills (Barnett, 1995), and perceive themselves as helpers (Clutterbuck, 2001). A critical characteristic for mentors is adaptability so that they can handle the uniqueness of each mentee and their needs (Eby, et al., 2008). Moreover, mentors can create safe spaces for mentees to identify knowledge gaps (Clutterbuck & Lane, 2004), and encourage open dialogue to facilitate growth in the mentoring relationship. The result of this openness is positive personal development and enhanced well-being, such that mentees experience an alignment between positive mentoring outcomes and heightened psychological well-being (PWB; Cannister, 1999). Additional mentoring benefits for mentees include experiencing greater self-esteem (DuBois & Silverthorn, 2005), more social relationships (Reinboth, Duda, & Ntoumanis, 2004), greater emotional well-being and a positive identity (Rhodes, 2005), increased autonomy (Kipp & Weiss, 2013), positive career progressions (Dulebohn, Bommer, Liden, Brouer, & Ferris, 2012), greater networking opportunities (Bower, 2011), improved coping strategies (Devenport & Lane, 2009a,b), and reductions in stress and increased career satisfaction (Allen, Eby, Poteet, Lents, & Lima, 2007). Importantly, mentors also derived benefits from mentoring, including gaining satisfaction from helping others (Allen, Eby, Poteet, Lentz, & Lima, 2007), and experiencing increased work productivity and work commitment (Chun, Sosik, & Yun, 2012).

Whilst much of the extent mentoring research was conducted in non-sporting contexts (e.g., business, education, health sectors), there is some evidence pertaining to mentoring in sport. For instance, coaches who received mentoring reportedly progressed their sport science knowledge (Reade, Rodgers, & Spriggs, 2008) and adopted similar life philosophies, values, and imitated behaviors that positively influenced the mentees lives (Bloom, Durand-Bush, Schinke, & Salmela, 1998). Early-career coaches also experienced overall professional development as a consequence of receiving mentoring (Erickson, Côté, & Fraser-Thomas, 2007). In the UK, the implementation of coach development officers, who provided mentoring to sporting coaches, was deemed a valuable service that directly contributed to coach development (North, 2008). In spite of these positive findings associated with mentoring and sport coaching, less is known on the benefits of developmental mentoring for athletes.

In their qualitative study of athlete coping skills, Devonport and Lane (2009b) utilized mentoring to underpin a coping skills intervention for junior netballers. Based on developmental mentoring frameworks, Devonport and Lane (2009b) reported that the athletes experienced a variety of benefits following the mentoring sessions including goal identification, increased confidence, and improved coping competencies. In reflecting upon the contribution of the mentors to athlete’s development, Devonport and Lane (2009a) acknowledged that the mentors “were pivotal in motivating, supporting and challenging participants [i.e., athlete mentees] to complete and reflect upon activities provided in the coping intervention” (p. 171). Here, the findings point towards the valuable contribution of mentors when attempting to improve athlete coping strategies.

It is well-established that during their sporting careers, athletes can typically access an array of support services including career assistance programs (Ryan, 2015), sport psychologists (Petitpas, Giges, & Danish, 1999), and most recently athlete welfare and development consultants (Stansen & Chambers, 2017). The provision of these athlete support services enables athletes to successfully navigate the various psychological, psychosocial, and athletic transitions they encounter during their sporting career, as outlined by the holistic athlete career model (Wylleman, Reints, & De Knop, 2013). Supporting evidence illustrates the multitude of benefits to athletes who engage with the services. For example, athletes who received career counselling advice were better prepared for sporting retirement (Stambulova & Ryba, 2013), and those who received flexible, person-centric psychology consultancy reportedly experienced a range of personal and professional improvements (Sharp & Hodge, 2014).

Despite these documented benefits, other investigations of these supporting roles (i.e., family, coaches, career and education programs, sport consultants) revealed contrary findings; some programs did not offer adequate support (Fortunato & Marchant, 1999), had hidden agendas (Ryan, 2015), came with preconceived perceptions related to athlete support (Fortunato & Marchant, 1999), and lacked emotional closeness between athletes and service providers (Jowett & Cockerill, 2003). When athlete issues are related to mental health and or well-being, other evidence suggests that certain athletes may avoid seeking support due to associated stigma. For instance, athletes who are unfamiliar with psychological support services (Martin, Lavelle, Kellmann, & Page, 2004), and athletes who are younger and male may also possess a stigma towards seeking sport psychology consulting (Martin, 2005). The recent ISSP position stand highlights the culture of sport as a key contributor; athletes may be less inclined to seek assistance because they do not want to show weakness (Schinke, Stambulova, Si, & Moore, 2017). A telling recommendation in this position stand is the need to devise strategies and interventions that counter these challenges.

Although the existing evidence base for mentoring in sport is limited, the broader mentoring results are encouraging; being mentored appears to foster the development of mentee skills, knowledge, and well-being. Given that mentoring can operate outside the traditional sporting boundaries (i.e., mentors may not be directly involved in sport), it presents as an alternative mechanism to support athletes. For elite athletes, the prospect that they may perceive improvements in the PWB as a consequence of mentoring is worth exploring. Thus, developmental mentoring may be an important social support mechanism for elite athletes to foster enhanced PWB.

PWB (Ryff, 1989) is a theory laden (i.e., developmental, existential, humanistic, and clinical psychology) model of well-being, which focuses on optimal psychological, behavioral, and cognitive functioning for enduring flourishing throughout the lifespan. Within the eudaimonic well-being research, PWB is defined as “a multifaceted domain encompassing positive self-regard, mastery of the surrounding environment, quality relations with others, continued growth and development, purposeful living, and the capacity for self-determination” (Ryff & Keyes, 1995, p. 724). Building on Ryff’s (1989) seminal work, Lundqvist (2011) devised an integrated model of well-being that accounted for psychological well-being at both the global (e.g., self-acceptance) and contextual levels (i.e., self-acceptance as an athlete). In addition to PWB, social well-being also features in the integrated model, thereby highlighting the importance of an individual’s social functioning (e.g., social integration and the feeling of support). In the context of examining mentoring in sport, casting the spotlight on social functioning is crucial.

PWB, as illustrated by these six dimensions (Ryff’s, 1989), captures the holistic approach advocated within sport psychology and the various aforementioned athlete support services. In this context, PWB may protect against the negative effects resulting from athletic identity foreclosure (Ferguson, Kowalski, Mack, Wilson, & Crocker, 2012; Huta & Ryan, 2010); and assist athletes to balance competing demands. Within the extent athlete careers transition literature, there are also references to various PWB elements. For example, maintaining close social relationships assisted athlete with post-sport lives (Park, Lavallee, & Tod, 2013), engaging in educational and vocational developments resulted in improved perceived self-identity, life balance, self-confidence, and readiness for retirement (Park et al., 2013). In professional sport, athletes affiliated with a sporting club that promoted a holistic culture were more likely to pursue dual-careers, maintain greater life balance, and perform better (Pink, Saunders, & Stynes, 2015). Importantly, many of these PWB outcomes fall across the global and contextual level. As a broad framework for sport and exercise psychology researchers to investigate factors associated with well-being, Lundqvist’s (2011) integrated model of PWB provides a context-specific framework to underpin the exploration of the perceived benefits of mentoring.

Despite the promising findings associated with mentoring, the current literature documenting the experience of mentors and mentees in sport is thin, and the association with PWB almost non-existent. Based on the preceding reviewed literature, mentoring may serve as an essential social support mechanism to facilitate athlete PWB (Cannister, 1999). The current study employed a phenomenological methodology to explore the experiences of those engaged in mentoring in sport. Specifically, the study was guided by the following two research questions: What are the experiences of mentors and mentees in sport? What are the perceived benefits of mentoring on PWB?

Section snippets

Design

When devising the current investigation, the researchers employed a critical relativist perspective. Critical relativists hold the view that scientific endeavors occur in a socio-historical context, such that research may be affected as much by empirical and sociological factors. Related to this, critical relativists believe that there are numerous methods that can be utilized to attain multiple scientific objectives (Anderson, 1986). Indeed, critical relativists do not claim that their

Results

In total, five higher-order themes were identified: role; attributes; experience and training; relationship structure; and agenda. These higher order themes were absorbed into three superordinate themes: critical elements, effective relationships, and perceived benefits to psychological well-being. Consistent with contemporary IPA practice, a thematic map was created and is presented in Figure 1. The thematic map depicts how the critical elements of mentoring (i.e., the role, mentor attributes,

Discussion

The purpose of this study was to investigate the experiences of mentors and mentees in sport, and the perceived benefits of mentoring on PWB. Results revealed five higher-order themes that were nested within three superordinate themes: critical elements of mentoring (i.e., the role, mentor attributes, training and experience), effective relationships (i.e., structure, agenda), and perceived benefits to psychological well-being (see Figure 1). For the individuals in the present study, their

Conclusion

This study contributed to the elite athlete and mentoring literature by investigating the experiences of those who engaged in elite athlete mentoring, and whether mentoring may foster enhanced PWB. Overall, this study has shown that mentoring plays a pivotal role in protecting elite athletes from an all-encompassing sport life, in terms of their identities, lifestyles, values, and future visions. Although athletes were highly passionate about sport, it did not restrict their ability to explore

Conflicts of interest

The authors of this manuscript declare that there are no conflicts of interest associated with this research.

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