Abstract
Purpose. The first purpose of this case study was to determine the importance of the National Standards for Sport Coaches' (NSSC; NASPE, 2006) 8 leadership competencies as perceived by leaders of high-performing teams. The second purpose was to describe how leaders of high-performing teams exhibit the 8 leadership competencies as part of the leadership role. Methodology. The methodology used in this case study was descriptive research. Purposive sites were selected to yield the most information and to have the greatest impact on the development of knowledge. A purposeful sampling lies in selecting information-rich cases for study in depth. The 6 academies from San Diego, California, were strategically selected based on the organizations' high performance with their travel baseball teams' win-loss percentage and the number of tournaments won. The 6 academies matched the purpose of the design. Findings. Based on the perceptions of the 6 leaders of baseball academies, 8 findings illustrated the significance of the NSSC. The significance of the leaders' philosophy and ethics described the organizational practices and culture of the organization. Conclusions. The leaders' use of the NSSC was described as "holistic" or "interchangeable" within their organization. In all 6 cases, the leadership styles were consistent with each group focusing on a value-centered approach for teaching youth athletes. The use of transformational leadership practices was exhibited and demonstrated significance toward developing high-performing teams within an organization. Recommendations. Researchers should consider studying the parents' perceptions aligning with the leaders' perceptions in developing high-performing teams. Determining if a correlation exists between team performance and parental impact can provide practitioners with knowledge of future practices for leaders. A similar study should be performed using another leadership behavior framework and research instrument. Further empirical research on leadership behavior would be useful for developing high-performing teams in various settings.