The purpose of this research was to explore how psychological climate and team cohesion mediate the relationship between leadership styles and team performance among student athletes. The study involved 300 athletes from various sports disciplines who completed standardized questionnaires assessing leadership styles, psychological climate, team cohesion, and team performance. Statistical analysis was conducted using Macro PROCESS software version 4. Findings revealed significant positive correlations between leadership style and psychological climate (r = 0.46, p < 0.001), team cohesion (r = 0.39, p < 0.001), and team performance (r = 0.34, p < 0.001). Additionally, psychological climate was positively correlated with team cohesion (r = 0.48, p < 0.001) and team performance (r = 0.41, p < 0.001). Mediation analysis indicated that both psychological climate and team cohesion fully mediated the relationship between leadership style and team performance, with a significant indirect effect of 0.26 (95% CI [.18, .34]). When these mediators were considered, the direct effect of leadership on performance was not significant (β = 0.08, p = 0.12), suggesting that leadership impacts performance primarily through psychosocial mechanisms rather than direct influence. These results highlight the critical role of effective leadership in fostering a positive psychological climate, which subsequently enhances team cohesion and performance, underscoring the need for coaches, sports managers, and sport psychologists to implement strategies that cultivate supportive environments and cohesive team dynamics.