The next logical step? An examination of elite athletes' transitions into post-athletic high-performance coaching roles

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingBook chapterResearchpeer-review

This chapter explores the career trajectory between athlete and coach has been regarded by the athletes themselves, fellow coaches and senior sports club directors to not only be a logical progression but one that is seamless. It offers an account of a group of men’s rugby union and football players based in the United Kingdom who negotiated a ‘fast-tracked’ career trajectory into a post-athletic high-performance coaching role. A proceeding theoretical sensitivity phase overviewed coach development studies and the sociological theories that had been utilised in them. Post-positivist theoretical frameworks devised by Erving Goffman, Pierre Bourdieu and Michel Foucault were found to have been frequently drawn upon to theorise and conceptualise a range of social mechanisms affecting coach efficacy, behaviour and learning for coaches situated across participatory, development and performance contexts. Theorisation of the social processes enacted by academy directors in this instance aligned more to Foucauldian disciplinary concepts of control, surveillance, normativity and docility.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationAthlete Transitions into Retirement : Experiences in Elite Sport and Options for Effective Support
EditorsDeborah Agnew
Number of pages16
Place of PublicationNew York
PublisherRoutledge
Publication date13 Aug 2021
Pages129-144
Chapter10
ISBN (Print)9780367432867, 9781032047768
ISBN (Electronic)9781003020189
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 13 Aug 2021

    Research areas

  • Faculty of Science - Elite athletes, Career transition, High-performance coaching, Post-athletic career, Coaching qualifications, Coach pathways

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