Understanding (disrupted) participation in community sports clubs: Situated wellbeing, social practices and affinities and atmospheres

Participation in sport is viewed as a key means of improving health and wellbeing in many countries, but the processes constituting participation in community sports clubs remain poorly understood. Although studies have considered the wellbeing implications of non-competitive and individual sporting activity, further theoretical and empirical work is required to understand (both sporting and non-sporting) participation in community sports clubs. In this article we consider the contribution of approaches to social practice, situated wellbeing and affinities and atmospheres to advance our understanding. Using the example of community cricket clubs in England and Wales, we consider the potential of such approaches and the implications of disruptions brought about by the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) crisis. In conclusion, we argue that in a period characterised by political, social and economic turmoil, being able to provide detailed, place specific accounts of the important relations and practices existing in and through community sports clubs is a crucial activity for social scientists

The enactment of setting policy in secondary school physical education

© 2020, © 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. The micro-level enactment of educational policy has received little attention in the physical education [PE] literature, particularly as it relates to setting policy. This study employs enactment theory to provide original insights into the ways in which setting policy was enacted by PE teachers in three mixed-gender secondary schools in England. The work of Stephen Ball and colleagues is used to examine the distinct and combined influence of the situated, material, professional and external dimensions of context on setting policy and practices in PE in these three schools. Data were generated through in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 15 PE teachers who were responsible for delivering the Year 9 PE curriculum. Our findings highlight notable variation in the ways in which setting policy was translated and enacted in PE in these three schools and the multiple factors shaping decisions about groupings and, in turn, teaching and learning for students in different sets. This study also provides novel findings regarding the dynamic interplay between the external dimensions of context (i.e. neoliberal policy making and pressures and supports from the local education authority [LEA] and the school inspectorate) and the internal dimensions of context (i.e. school-based traditions, school demographics, and support and resourcing for PE) in policy enactment. Attention is drawn to equity issues inherent in, and arising from, the varied enactment of setting policy in PE. The paper concludes by arguing for greater scholarly engagement with policy enactment, grouping strategies and constructions of ability in PE

Critically Understanding and Engaging with the (Micro)Political Dimensions of Coaches’ Work in an Advanced Undergraduate Coaching Course

In this chapter, we provide an overview of “why” and “how” we have chosen to integrate elements of Social Inquiry (SI) and Project-Based Learning (PBL) to facilitate university student-coaches’ active engagement with the (micro)political dimensions of coaching. We begin by briefly defining the concept of (micro)politics and outline why we believe this topic should occupy a more prominent place in coach education curricula than it has to date. We then introduce a hybrid approach joining PBL and SI, and describe how their combination has utility for enhancing the critical thinking and professional judgment of student-coaches. Following this, we describe how we have utilized this approach with student-coaches in a final-year undergraduate coaching module. While we believe this hybrid approach has many merits, we acknowledge that it is just one way, among many, to facilitate learning

Fear, anger, and loneliness: Emotional pain and referee attrition in English grassroots football

This interpretive study provides original insights into the socioemotional experiences that contributed to referee attrition in English grassroots football. Data were generated using an online survey (n = 251) and in-depth interviews (n = 20) with former referees. Using complementary symbolic interactionist and relational conceptualizations of identity, social interaction, and emotional pain, the analysis addressed the participants’ interpretations of their problematic encounters with the various significant others (e.g., coaches, managers, players, spectators, and administrators) that comprised their respective social networks in grassroots football. Importantly, the participants described several emotionally painful issues related to match day environments, disciplinary proceedings, and deployment and development processes that simultaneously coexisted alongside and exacerbated one another. The findings present important implications for those individuals and governing bodies who are responsible for referee retention

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

Coach education has been the subject of increasing investigation in recent years. While such inquiry has provided important insights into coaches’ engagements with various forms of coach education provision, coach educators’ perspectives have remained curiously absent from the literature base. This study provides rich insights into the ways in which four Football Association (FA) coach educators interpreted their everyday workplace relationships with various significant others (e.g., their line managers, colleagues, and coach learners). In-depth, cyclic interviews were utilised to generate the data. The transcripts were iteratively analysed using symbolic interactionist and dramaturgical theorisations of social life. The analysis highlighted how the participants’ interactions and identity management were influenced by their understandings of others’ expectations of acceptable workplace performance, as well as their own career related aspirations. Here, the participants demonstrated a nuanced ability to ‘read’ and ‘write’ themselves into the micropolitical and uncertain terrain of coach education work. It is hoped that this study highlights the utility of symbolic interactionist and dramaturgical theories to the critical examination of coach education work and, relatedly, how such inquiry could be used to assist in the preparation and on-going professional development of coach educators

Maintaining Professional Face: Deceptive Impression Management in Community Sport Coaching

This article breaks new ground in the sociology of sports work through its novel exploration of workplace deception and the associated development of an original typology of deceptive impression management. Analysis of data collected from a two-phased research design, comprising online interviews and survey responses from 102 participants, revealed that community sport coaches employed deceptive impression management to display emotional control, an ideal practice of their work, and to feign expert knowledge. These types of deceptive impression management consisted of disguising disdain, flattering insincerely, camouflaging alternative approaches, covering-up mistakes, hiding a lack of expected knowledge, and reporting favourable metrics. Drawing on theories of dramaturgical analysis (Goffman, 1959, 1967, 1974) and emotional labour (Hochschild, 1979, 1983) as used in constructing a professional image, we examine how the coaches used deception to cope with challenging work circumstances that endanger projecting a professional appearance. The present article not only advances our sociological understanding of sports work but raises important questions for the preparation, development, and support of sports workers

Realist evaluation of the Football Association’s Post Graduate Diploma (PG Dip) in Coach Development

Recent studies have provided important initial insights into the relational and micropolitical dimensions of coach educators’ and coach developers’ work. However, there remains a paucity of inquiry addressing how sporting organisations prepare these members of their workforce to achieve desired goals and objectives. This research uses realist evaluation and normalisation process theory to examine a bespoke ‘reality grounded’ learning initiative that targeted the professional judgements and decision making of experienced coach developers. This rigorous, longitudinal, and theoretically informed approach allowed for the generation of rich, causal, explanations of ‘what has worked within this learning initiative, for whom, and under what circumstances’. Specifically, the study provides original and significant insights into the interconnections between (a) new ways of thinking, organising and acting, (b) already existing, socially patterned, knowledge and practices, and (c) positive and sustainable changes in everyday professional practice; something that has been largely absent in the wider coach education literature base to date. The research concludes that the programme entails more a transfer of knowledge from tutors to coach developers. Importantly, this intervention also aided (a) the development of a coach developer community, (b) facilitated the exchange of information and ideas between peers and, ultimately, (c) impacted on coach development practices and behaviours