Mentoring and coaching in sports: An integrative approach for fostering sport team cohesion

Abstract

This paper aims to investigate mentoring and coaching, two recognized techniques in Human Resource Management (HRM) for the development process of individuals within the sport field. Adopting an integrative approach, where both techniques have been simultaneously considered, we argue that coaching thanks to mentoring can be more oriented and effective in fostering cohesion in sport teams achieving high levels of performance. This theoretical and explorative research is conducted through a deep review of the literature on the topic in the sport context in order to evidence how mentoring main functions can significantly support coaching in the direction of cohesion goal for sport teams. Thus, this paper aims to provide a broader investigation of mentoring within sport coaching trying to develop the existent literature on both phenomena in sports.