THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COACH'S LEADERSHIP STYLES AND TEAM COHESION IN IRAN FOOTBALL CLUBS PROFESSIONAL LEAGUE

RAMZANINEZHAD, R.; KESHTAN M. H. The relationship between coach's leadership styles and teamcohesion in iran football clubs professional league. Brazilian Journal Biomotricity, v. 3, n. 2, p. 111-120,2009. The present study examined relationship between coach's leadership styles and team cohesion in Iranfootball clubs professional league (2006-2007). Athletes (n=264) from 12 football teams completed theperceived version of the leadership scale for sport (LSS) and the group environment questionnaire (GEQ).Both questionnaires were administered at the end of season. Result indicated that increases in athletes’perceptions of team cohesion was positively correlated with perceptions of their coach exhibiting higherlevels of training and instruction, social support, positive feedback, democratic behavior and lower levels ofautocratic behaviors. A Comparison of coach’s leadership styles demonstrated that football coachesexhibited higher in training and instruction and lower in democratic behavior. ANOVA with repeatedmeasures and Tukey post hoc test revealed that successful football teams tend to be more cohesive andtheir coaches exhibited higher levels of democratic and social support behavior. Overall, the findings supportthe significant relationship between team cohesion and leadership behavior, and highlight theinterdependence in team sports, which can significantly affect the need for team cohesion that contributes toteam success.