%0 Journal Article
%T Exploring the skill of recruiting in the Australian Football League
%A Aisling Bailey
%A Clare MacMahon
%A Juanita Weissensteiner
%A Morag Croser
%J International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching
%@ 2048-397X
%D 2019
%R 10.1177/1747954118809775
%X The present study was designed to explore the skill of recruiting in the professional Australian Football League, with a particular interest in the approach to decision making and information processing. The research design utilised semi-structured interviews and a survey instrument. A total of 12 participants comprised of 11 active head recruiters representing 11 Australian Football League Clubs, and one former expert Australian Football League recruiter undertook semi-structured, in-depth interviews to provide insight into recruitment decision making. Additionally, all participants completed a survey determining preferences for intuitive and deliberative decision-making styles. A model created represents the identification of four influential factors in the recruitment approach including (a) recruiter background; (b) recruiter attributes; (c) recruiter understanding of team needs and (d) recruiter¨Ccoach relationship. In particular, recruiters revealed that the style of decision making they use is influenced by the relationship with the head coach. Recruiting as a stand-alone position is not well understood. This work shows that both intuition and deliberation are used, the extent to which appears to be influenced by the recruiter¨Ccoach relationship. This work offers a strong base to further explore recruiting and talent identification in professional sport, and, particularly, how relationships influence decision style and performance
%K Decision making
%K expertise
%K implicit knowledge
%K talent identification
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1747954118809775