Date on Master's Thesis/Doctoral Dissertation

12-2025

Document Type

Doctoral Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph. D.

Department

Educational Leadership, Evaluation and Organizational Development

Degree Program

Educational Leadership and Organizational Development, PhD

Committee Chair

Hancock, Meg

Committee Member

Greenwell, T. Christopher

Committee Member

Hums, Mary

Committee Member

Shuck, Brad

Author's Keywords

High-performance support staff; perceived organizational support; organizational support theory; professional soccer; workload and emotional labor; qualitative research

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore perceived organizational support among high-performance support staff (HPSS) within professional soccer organizations. Specifically, this study examined how HPSS define organizational support, identified factors that shape their perceptions, explored organizational challenges they experience, and analyzed how those challenges intersect with their perceptions of support. Organizational Support Theory (OST) and its central construct, Perceived Organizational Support (POS), served as the theoretical framework guiding this study. OST assumes employees form global beliefs about the extent to which their organization values their contributions and cares about their well-being. To address the study’s purpose, a basic interpretive qualitative approach was utilized. Five HPSS members representing various professional soccer organizations participated in semi-structured interviews. Participants held roles in athletic training, performance, operations, and medical support. Data were analyzed through an inductive coding process that identified major patterns and themes. Results of the study revealed that HPSS defines organizational support as both relational and structural, represented through three main themes: Support Means Being Heard, Trusted to Decide, and Leadership Presence. Participants emphasized that support was not limited to formal policies or tangible resources but was most powerfully experienced through day-to-day communication, autonomy, and visible leadership engagement. Findings also revealed that misalignment between policy and practice weakened perceptions of trust and organizational care. The results of this study extend Organizational Support Theory by highlighting relational visibility, autonomy, and authentic leadership presence as core antecedents of perceived organizational support within elite sport settings. Practically, the findings provide recommendations for professional sport organizations to enhance communication, strengthen leadership engagement, and ensure alignment between organizational values and daily operations. This study contributes to the limited research on HPSS and underscores the importance of intentional, relationally grounded support systems in sustaining staff well-being and organizational success.

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