Wisconsin Sports Leadership Lab

Sports present a veritable lab for leading. The highest competitive levels are achieved and the most meaningful lessons are learned in concert with sound leadership. BIOS engages sports leadership research at multiple levels, including studies of administrators, executives, coaches, and athletes. Notably, the WCP, our original IRB sanctioned study, examines how coaches and leaders broker connections on and beyond their units. We center social capital theory in our research project, seeking advancements in relational, community-building approaches to leading.

BIOS also examines opportunity in and through sports. Who plays sports…and why? What are the major trends in participation? How can access to sports be cultivated in healthier, more equitable ways? With these types of pipeline questions, we draw from and extend research on youth sports, geographies of sport opportunity, and the life-stories of sport. Pipeline research contributes to deeper understandings of how we can support faster, stronger, healthier, more skilled and more diverse athletes in Wisconsin.