Abstract
The mainstream media has been increasingly describing Millenials, and particularly, athletes, as entitled often deeming them as a plague and a curse. Within the psychology literature, entitlement has been defined as "the expectation of special privileges over others and special exemptions from normal social demands" (Raskin & Terry, 1988, p. 890). However, in the academic sport community, entitlement is a neglected topic. This research aims to understand entitlement in softball as well as its impact on team functioning from a coach's perspective. A qualitative, phenomenological approach was used to conduct the research. Eight participants from the United States and Canada who currently hold or have held a head coaching position in softball at a junior college, college, or university level were asked to discuss their experiences coaching athletes who they believe have high perceptions of entitlement as well as the impact they believe these athletes have had on team functioning. Softball coaches described the characteristics of those athletes that they felt had high perceptions of entitlement as lacking in work ethic, expecting rewards, feeling superior, uncompromising, mentally weak, and difficult to coach. Consequently, the impact on the team was primarily negative and disruptive to the team's chemistry. Coaches used strong words such as "cancer" and "poison" to describe the impact of these players on the team. The findings of this research project show that entitlement exists in softball and the effects of athletes holding such perceptions can be extremely disruptive.
