Children and adolescents are in their own way to build personality, as biological, psychological and social characteristics. As known, there is a native, hereditary and congenital patrimony of endowments, attitudes and dispositions, individually connoted, but also the experiences and the solicitations that children receive have an important influence on personality. In this path, they are vulnerable to stimuli from the environment and the experiences with significant peers and adults. In addition to the family, school and other educational centers, like sport and recreational facilities, have an important role in strengthening and supporting balanced development of young people and their health and well being. Among the factors that support the balanced development of children and adolescents, one of the most important is self-esteem. Self-esteem can be defined as the self assessment of one's value as a person (Orth & Robins, 2013). This evaluation has an important function for the psychological well-being and it is strategic to respond in a functional way to society. High self-esteem is associated with satisfacting interpersonal relationships, such as safety and closeness (Murray, 2005), appropriate coping strategies (Birndorf & al., 2005). On the contrary, low self-esteem is linked to depression and anxiety disorders (Liu & al, 2014; Michalak & al, 2011; Trzesniewski & al., 2003), to a sense of loneliness (Vanhalst & al., 2013) and to disorders in nutrition (De la Rie & al., 2007). In the development of self esteem in children and adolescents, the environment (home, school, sport, etc.) gives a profound contribute. An important role in improving self esteem is the acceptance by someone at home, school or other significant places (Hosogi & al., 2012). It is important to take into consideration the role of a specific environment, the sport facilities where numerous young people are enrolled in recreational or competitive sport programs under the supervision of a coach. The coaches, though their leadership behavior, can have an important impact on athletes’ psychological well being and, in particular, self-esteem (Chelladurai, 1990; Reinboth, Duda, & Ntoumanis; Serpa, 1999; Smith & Smoll, 1996). The role of the coach has not only a technical aspect but also an interpersonal one. It includes supporting and motivating athletes but also knowing strenghts and limitations to produce the best possible performance. A large body of studies have been shown the influence of coach to young people’s perceived competence and skill (Balaguer, Duda, Atienza, & Mayo, 2002; Black & Weiss, 1992; Horn, 1985; Sarrazin, Guillet, & Cury, 2001), self-esteem (Smith & Smoll, 1990; Smoll, Smith, Barnett, & Everett, 1993) and motivation (Amorose & Horn, 2001; Hollembeak & Amorose, 2005; Mageau & Vallerand, 2003). The researches by Donnelly (1993) and Jowett & Cockerill (2003) showed the positive and/or destructive influence that coaches may have on athletes’ psychological wellbeing. As said by Nazarudin and others (2009), “successful coaches are not only well versed in the skills of their sport: they also teach and model the skills needed for successful living in society”. Our study focuses on coaches and their leadership behavior. Our purpose is to identify the relationship between leadership style of the coaches and players’ self esteem level. At the time of writing the abstract, the team is collecting data that will be analyzed in time for the conference.

Sample The study comprises of about 80 athletes, aged 9 to 25 years. Athletes were trained by 27 coaches. The volunteer participants are members of sport clubs and have different degree of competence and experience in competitions. Parents or legal guardians of the children signed an informed consensus form and processing of personal data, also authorizing the use of data anonymously and aggregated within the research program. Measures - The Leadership Scale for Sports (LSS) (Chelladurai & Saleh, 1978) is a questionnaire made up of 40 items that are divided into 5 subscales: Training and Instruction, Democratic Behaviour, Autocratic Behaviour, Social Support, and Positive Feedback. Training and Instruction refers to the the coach that is focused on improving the performance of athlete's and that gives instructions about techniques and tactics. Democratic Behaviour is based on a coach that involves athletes in important decisions concerning the team and the strategies. Autocratic Behaviour is associated to a coach having and independent decision making and authority. Social Support is related to the coach's concern for the well being of athletes, with a positive interpersonal relationships. Finally, when the coach gives rewards for good performance and reinforce athletes, it is called Positive Feedback. - Multidimensional Self-Esteem Test by Bracken (1992), composed of 150 total items, divided into 6 scales of 25 items, not independent. The scales concern: interpersonal relationships (the participant evaluates his social relationships with adults and peers), control over the environment (the own ability to govern the events of life), emotional management (the ability to know how to manage the emotions, especially unpleasant ones), scholastic success (success and failure at school), family life (how relationships in the family are perceived, the degree in which one feels loved and valued), body experience (the relationship with one's own body, its appearance, physical and sporting abilities). The set of questionnaires was administrated online, via a google form. All the respondents provided their consent to participate to the research after being informed about the purpose, the privacy policy and the limited data set.

The aim of this study is to verify if there’s a correlation between leadership style of the coaches and players’ self esteem level. If data confirm this hypothesis, it’s our intention to continue with further studies to expand the sample and sports disciplines in order to have a more significant statistical result. The study could support coaches in adapting their coaching styles to foster the self esteem of adolescent athletes, improving also performance. Furthermore, if relation is confirmed, it will be important to extend this study to physical activity teachers’ in school.

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