“I want to do well for myself as well!”: Constructing coaching careers in elite women’s football

Abstract

There is a limited understanding of career development of sport coaches, especially from the subjective perspective focused on personal meaning and evaluation of this life project in sport. We drew on career construction theory and narrative methodology to explore football coaches' career development, adaptability resources, and the meanings they assigned to their journeys. Ten women's football (soccer) coaches (2 women) aged 23-60 in England took part in narrative interviews which we analysed using thematic narrative analysis. Our analysis indicated that early immersion into the football narrative context most often resulted in low career exploration and a strong commitment to coaching as an attempt to keep the footballing identity narrative 'going'. Whilst the majority of coaches had a full-time occupation elsewhere, they self-identified as professional coaches and approached coaching with a career orientation animated by a desire to progress to a full-time coaching position. The coaches were resourceful and active career agents in crafting their careers in football; however, most of them expressed little concern or curiosity for other careers aside professional coaching, leaving them vulnerable to psychological distress if unable to realise their career ambition.The findings illustrate the seductive nature of football with the narrative context providing coaches with a cherished sense of identity but also bringing a permanent sense of insecurity and costs to their lives outside of the game.

Women coaches at top level: Looking back through the maze

“…This idea challenges previous literature suggesting that coaches follow linear models of career development, symbolizing career progression as a ladder and implying an advancement through normative career steps. 30 In that sense, the findings align with evidence suggesting that women survive more than thrive in the current sports system. 9,49,50 Hence, this study reinforces the need to study women coaches’ careers from viewpoints adapted to their reality and not from traditional career models developed from a male perspective.…”

“…The predominant assumption is based on linear stage-based career models in which coaches are typically former athletes who progress to high-performance contexts through the accumulation of experience and knowledge and/or thanks to personal characteristics associated with excellence. 29,30 A second trend, however, questions the applicability of linear models in high-performance coaches. 31–34 In particular, this second trend suggests that linear models ‘ignore individual backgrounds, sociocultural and contextual differences, and significant life events’, 34 (p.118) hence, more holistic perspectives that illustrate the complexity of individual career development are needed.…”

Women Rugby Union Coaches’ Experiences of Formal Coach Education in Ireland and the United Kingdom: A Qualitative Study

“…There has been an increasing desire over recent years that scholarly analyses further investigate the role of a coach as a result of it becoming ever more professionalized across Western Europe, North America and Australasia in particular Taylor & Garrett, 2010). As part of this burgeoning field of study, there has been an emphasis to focus on the pathways of coaches so that a greater appreciation of how coaching efficacy is developed (Blackett et al, 2018;Dehghansai et al, 2020;Ronkainen et al, 2020;Sherwin et al, 2017). Much of this research has been claimed to be "gender blind" (Sisjord et al, 2020, p. 3), however, by placing attention on the actions and perceptions of coaches who are men.…”

The Philosophical Underpinning of Athlete Lifestyle Support: An Existential-Humanistic Perspective

“…The creation of composite vignettes allowed for deeply personal moments of player experiences and applied support to be presented. Further, it allowed for the protection of participant's ethical right for anonymity whilst maintaining a commitment to representing their words as well as experiences and their meaning as accurately as possible (Ronkainen, Sleeman & Richardson, 2019).…”