The harsh ‘realities’ of the elite football environment have been described in literature. For instance, elite football contexts have been characterized by authoritarianism, hierarchical deference, and masculinity (Cushion & Jones, 2006). Additionally, the environment has been described as ‘calculating’, ‘competitive’, and ‘micro-political’ (Potrac et al., 2013). Such environments are potentially counterproductive to pedagogical practice, as recent coaching studies have argued for caring and nurturing coach-athlete relationships (e.g. Annerstedt and Eva-Carin, 2014). Accordingly, this paper explores the paradox of how coaches’ care in what appears to be an uncaring football world. It does so by problematizing the experiences of a case study strength and conditioning coach; ‘Dave’ (a pseudonym). Specifically, the presentation explores Dave’s naturally occurring reflective diaries, which document his unsuccessful attempts to care for an injured athlete during a very challenging Premier League season. The narrative presented argues that football coaching has much to gain from considering what coaches care about, and how they enact care? Moreover, the presentation posits that researchers should consider embracing Nodding’s (2005) ethic of care as a means to investigate coaching practice.
References
Annerstedt, C. & Eva-Carin, L., 2014. Caring as an important foundation in coaching for social sustainability: a case study of a successful Swedish coach inhigh-performance sport. Reflective Practice, 15(1), pp. 27-39.
Cushion, C. & Jones, R., 2006. Power, discourse and symbolic violence in professional youth soccer:the case of Albion FC. Sociology of Sport Journal, 23(2), pp. 142-161.
Noddings, N., 2005. The Challenge to care in schools: An Alternative Approach to Education. 2 ed. New York: Teachers College Press.
Potrac, P., Jones, R. L., Gilbourne, D. & Nelson, L., 2012. ‘Handshakes, BBQs, and bullets’: selfinterest, shame and regret in football coaching. Sports Coaching Review, 1(2), pp. 79-82.
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