The Pursuit of Work-Life Balance by High School Sport Practitioners in the Athletic Director-Head Coach Dual Role

With wide-reaching benefits afforded student-athletes through their participation and communities investing time and resources into the promotion of meaningful athletic programs, leaders within a high school athletic department face substantial expectations within their role. For those who decide to embrace a dual role of athletic director and head coach, the increased responsibilities facilitate greater levels of role conflict and role overload that can negatively impact the ability to achieve work-life balance within one’s personal life if not properly addressed. Therefore, the purpose of this research was to examine the strategies employed by these high school sport dual role practitioners for pursuing work-life balance. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 participants represented across school classification (i.e., 1A, 2A, 3A, and 4A) and sport coached, and a thematic analysis yielded three main themes (i.e., recognizing the challenge, setting boundaries, and incorporating family into work) that detail the efforts implemented for work-life balance. From a theoretical perspective, findings add further insight into the impact of role conflict and role overload on work-life balance, especially in the context of high school athletics, while practitioners in the athletic director-head coach dual role can use the perspectives shared by participants to ensure they are effectively balancing their professional and personal life amidst these role demands.