Political socialization and the coach-created educational environment of competitive games: the case of grassroots youth soccer in Sweden

Figures & data

Table 1. The analysis process.

Phase I	Step 1	Step 2	Step 3
Identifying coaching approaches	Coaching situations	Socio-political actions	Coaching approaches
Phase II	Step 4	Step 5
Identifying consequences and corroborating the findings	Political socialization and education consequences	The socio-political coaching approach typology

Table 2. Agonistic and antagonistic coaching situations.

Coaching situation	Social logic	Learning logic
Agonistic	Rule following, friendliness, referee respect and acknowledgement, inclusion and participation on equal terms.	Encouragement and joy, player influence and participation, mutual communication, focus on own team, encouragement, positive feedback, cooperation and hard work.
Antagonistic	Rule breaking and bending the rules, hostility, referee disrespect and promotion of own interests, exclusion and participation on unequal terms.	Self-sufficiency, control and demand, opponent and referee focus, punishment, intimidation, blame and disappointment.

Table 3. Coaches’ socio-political coaching approach typology.

Coaching approach	Social norms	Learning norms	Principles and consequences
Growth - include all and focus on the process	Focus on own group, promote ‘do your best’, be supportive and encouraging, act peacefully and patiently, use a positive glad voice, develop all individuals, follow the rules, show compassion and care.	Praise good performances, communicate what is good, what should be developed and how, use mistakes for learning, provide perspectives and proposals, encourage continued attempts, let players play in different positions.	Socialization principle: include, communicate and work together for the well-being of all individuals in the group. Socialization consequences: collective work and support, inclusion and belonging to a community, safe, peaceful and respectful forms of social organization, responsibility for the well-being of the group, for a permissive and safe social environment, acknowledgement and equality. Education principle: patient and long-term education for all. Education consequences: everybody has an opportunity to learn everything, players develop a critical and constructive attitude, the strengths of the group and each player is developed, process, patient work and long-term solutions become standard practice.
Collective - act consistently with the team	Treat individuals equally, control body movements, never comment on referee decisions, use the same social behaviour.	Distribute equal amount of playing time, communicate with the players during the game and address the whole team, praise collective work.
Situational - adjusting to the situation	Act in relation to the situation, support the referee, communicate through dialogue.	Offer equal amount of playing time, instruct and communicate informatively and briefly at the right moment, support the players for/in action.
Individual - adjusting to the individual	Use the names of individuals, guide emotionally instable individuals, react to obviously wrong referee decisions and dangerous incidents.	Adjust playing time for each individual, encourage desirable behaviour, give players instructions after and before player action, give individualized feedback and instructions.
Selective - optimizing the team and focusing on the results	Optimize the strength of the group, question referee decisions, show anger and disappointment, treat individuals unequal.	Allocate more playing time for the best players, instruct, make decisions and direct players’ actions, instruct the players to minimize risks.	Socialization principle: exclude undesirable individuals, instruct and strive for the superiority of the homogenous few. Socialization consequences: individual value varies due to ability, homogenous individuals are included and those not meeting the criteria are excluded, rules and social conventions become means for own interests, formal leaders become decision-makers and members of the group obey orders and deliver what is asked for. Education principle: reactive and short-term education for the selected ones. Education consequences: exclusive education for some players who learn parts of the education programme, the players let others think for them, short-term results and outcomes become standard practice.
Calculated - act strategically to win	Use resources optimally and strategically, treat individuals as tools, let individuals take care of themselves, act as an ‘extra referee’.	Let less skilled players substitute each other, use start players and fixed positions, decide who should take the free kick etc., focus on the game, own player’s and the tactics, instruct the players before they act in a situation.
Confrontational- assaulting to win	Use powerful body movements and angry voices, treat opponents unfairly and the referee as an object, allow individuals to act unjustly, focus on opponents and referee, use powerful reactions, use whatever necessary means to win, blame others.	Substitute non-contributing players, publicly blame players, adjust coaching to the scoring result, make decisions for the players, command and tell them what to do, when and how.