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Elite sport can be stressful, which increases the risk for burnout symptoms to develop, especially when not balanced with sufficient recovery. To study the burnout–recovery process, eight elite soccer coaches were followed for 10 years. All eight were active elite coaches at the inception of this study and reported elevated emotional exhaustion scores on Maslach’s Burnout Inventory Educators Survey (MBI-ES). The coaches completed MBI-ES three additional times (year 3, 7, and 10), and they were also interviewed on the same occasions. At the 3-year follow-up, seven of the eight coaches reduced their exhaustion scores. The coach presenting with unchanged scores both at the 3 - and 7-year follow-up was the only one still coaching at the elite level. All coaches revealed during the interviews that they struggled to manage their work–life balance well; some worked too many hours, some experienced difficulty in managing conflicting role-demands, and some wrestled with external pressures. Their approach to recovery was, however, similar. Apart from moving away from coaching at the elite level, they unanimously mentioned that they changed their approach to coaching to make recovery possible. They achieved the latter by, for example, increasing control and delegating responsibility. According to our longitudinal results, burnout frequently regarded as an end-state can decrease over time, provided that decisive action is taken to change situational factors and personal demands. This frequently meant withdrawing from coaching, which in turn explains why coach retention remains a serious challenge for most organizations with teams/athletes competing at the elite level.

The present study examined levels of emotional exhaustion, a key symptom of burnout, in Swedish professional and semiprofessional sport coaches in comparison to the normative values specified in the Maslach Burnout Inventory manual, and to the clinical cutoffs developed by Kleijweg, Verbraak, and Van Dijk. The sample contained 318 Swedish coaches (Mage = 42.7 years, 12% female) working at least 50% full time away from both team (60%) and individual (40%) sports. Our study shows that, in general, coaches in this sample experience lower average levels of exhaustion than normative samples both regarding the Maslach Burnout Inventory and clinical cutoffs. Two groups of coaches did, however, stand out. Coaches living in single households as well as coaches working part time had higher risk of severe levels of emotional exhaustion. These results place coach exhaustion levels in relation to other occupations and highlight that in this sample, the coaching profession does not stand out as more emotionally exhausting than other occupations.

Dave's story is an important narrative that explores how caring for athletes may reflexively influence the personal and social lives of coaches. The narrative begins by revealing some of the ways that coaches may care for athletes and their wider wellbeing. For example, Dave uses basketball as a vehicle to support athletes' education. He also provides pastoral care to athletes with challenging family and social circumstances. This 'labour' can however be time consuming and emotionally intensive. Accordingly, caring for athletes can have significant negative consequences for coaches' own personal and social lives. Readers may recognise Dave's struggles to balance caring for athletes and a passion for sport, with his family commitments. To aid readers in such positions, Dave's story is analysed with reference to sociological literature on emotional labour and psychological literature on burnout. The combination of these literatures is novel, and provides theoretical explanations relevant to the wider coaching community. Practical suggestions for coaches who may find caring to be an exhausting form of labour are also included, as are future implications for coach researchers and educators. Thus, the chapter provides an important case study that can impact coach development and coaching practice.