Athletes as ‘Cultural Architects’: A Qualitative Analysis of Elite Coaches` Perceptions of Highly Influential Soccer Players

The main purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of highly influential players
in elite soccer. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten elite coaches to determine
their perceptions of the characteristics, emergence and impact of highly influential players.
The interview guide was anchored in coaching literature and leadership theory, and after
exploring the interview data in this frame, we decided to label these athletes as cultural
architects. The results of the analysis revealed three general dimensions of cultural architects
in elite teams: a) Personal characteristics, which include elements related to their
achievements on the soccer pitch, mindset and collectively-orientation; b) Relationship to the
coach, which includes integrity and trust; and c) Intra-team facilitator which includes their
impact as a task-team and social-team influencer. The results represent original findings
identifying the characteristics of cultural architects in soccer, that are most likely transferable
to many other team sports.