Trust and Distrust in Community Sports Work: Tales From the “Shop Floor”

Abstract

This study addressed the issue of interpersonal trust and distrust in the (sporting) workplace. Data were generated through cyclical, in-depth interviews with 12 community sports coaches. The interview transcripts were subjected to emic and etic readings, with Hardin and Cook’s theorization of (dis)trust and Goffman’s dramaturgical writings providing the primary heuristic devices. Our analysis produced three interconnected themes. These were a) how the participants’ decision to (dis)trust contextual others was based on their perceptions of encapsulated interests, b) those strategies that the participants employed to judge the trustworthiness of colleagues, and c) how the participants’ workplace bonds with coworkers differed according to their perceived trustworthiness. Importantly, this study revealed how interpersonal (dis)trust for these individuals was informed by the pursuit of various professional interests, uncertainty regarding continued employment and career progression, and was subject to ongoing strategic interaction and reflection. Based on these findings, we believe there is much to gain from the micro-level exploration of “how” and “why” sports workers seek to negotiate and manage workplace relationships.

Uncertainty, shame and consumption: negotiating occupational and non-work identities in community sports coaching

“…This study not only challenges the idealism that has traditionally surrounded the use of sport and physical activity to achieve a multitude of desired policy outcomes, but also the unidimensional representations of identity that have characterised the study of sports workers (Hickey & Roderick, 2017). In doing so, we believe this study can provide a stimulus for further examinations of the multi-layered, relational, and inherently human dimensions of sports work and identity management and their connection to neoliberal policies, practices, and values (Gale et al, 2019;. Such inquiry has much to offer if our accounts of social life are to better recognise how 'actors "do" the social world and collectively determine the fate of their peers' (Crossley, 2011, p. 21).…”

“…Community sports coaches are employed to deliver initiatives where sport and physical activity are used to achieve a variety health, education, and social policy outcomes (Cronin & Armour, 2015;Gale et al, 2019). These include, for example, tackling obesity and promoting healthy lifestyles, reducing crime and developing pro-social behaviour, overcoming social isolation and exclusion, promoting psychological wellbeing, and raising educational aspirations and attainment (Ives et al, 2016).…”

“…Costas-Batlle et al, 2017;Thorpe & Reinhart, 2013). However, little attention has been given to the micro-level experiences of those people undertaking this work, inclusive of the everyday challenges, dilemmas, contradictions, and emotions that they experience inside and outside of the workplace (Gale et al, 2019). By considering the entwinement of the participants' professional and personal worlds (and social selves), we illuminate some of the interdependencies between different spheres of their respective lives and, importantly, the consequences that these had for them (Hickey & Roderick, 2017).…”

The Career Experiences of Football Association Coach Educators: Lessons in Micropolitical Literacy and Action

“…Through these writing practices, we were able 'reflect on, to alter, [and] to reconsider' our interpretation of the research findings (Madden, 2010, p. 156). Indeed, writing supported the sharing of new reading material and theoretical understandings, as well as providing the opportunity to air, debate and refine our conceptual sense-making (Gale et al, 2019).…”

Exploring Mental Health and Illness in the UK Sports Coaching Workforce

“…Although much less common and developed [ 2 , 25 , 26 ], the existing sociological studies of sport have examined—often indirectly—some keys aspects of sports coaches’ mental health. These include the impact of enacting government community sport policy on wellbeing [ 27 , 28 , 29 ], the centrality of emotions and social relations to coaching practice [ 30 , 31 , 32 ], the use of self-coping strategies such as alcohol consumption to manage experiences of depression [ 33 ], notions of care and caring practices in coaching work [ 34 , 35 ], and the management of personal lives with occupational demands in female high-performance sports coaches [ 36 ].…”