Swedish elite athletics coaches’ professional development in practices of organized coaches’ meetings

Figures & data

Figure 1. The media and spaces in which sayings, doings, and relating exist, from Kemmis et al. (2014, p. 34)

Table 1. Elite coaches’ financial support level

Support level	Female coaches	Male coaches
Level A	0	7
Level B	1	5
Level C	0	1
Level D	0	3
Total	1	16

Table 2. Example of analysis guided by sayings, doings and relatings

Content from the meetings	Sayings	Doings	Relatings	Codes	Changes of the practice
Meeting #2 “The meetings are not intended to discuss each other’s training philosophy or methods, but to discuss and learn from each other.”	Main focus on collaboration to share experience	The coaches agreed to encourage more coaches to participate	Coaches collaborated over discipline boundaries	Collaboration	Collaboration created awareness of the importance of community
Meeting #14 “We have talked about who are elite coaches. If you have had an athlete for a few years then you are an elite coach, but when that athlete ends you are not an elite coach. I think that’s wrong. The insecurity is stressful. It is the hardest thing, that results determine how much you get paid.”	Main focus on their role as a coach and their conditions to be able to coach	The coaches encourage different kinds of meeting practices to enable coaches to participate based on their prerequisites	The coaches noticed that their different economic conditions influenced them to attend meetings.	Inequality	Sharing experience created awareness of inequality and complexity

Table 3. Examples of coach meetings that identified as turning points

Meeting	Date/Year	Turning Point	Action
Coach meeting 2	November, 2015	Only a few coaches talked during the meeting sessions. Most of the coaches were quiet and only listened to others’ reflections.	In the meetings, the coaches were taught a reflection method so that everyone got the opportunity to speak, reflect, and participate in discussions
Coach meeting 5	April, 2016	The number of coaches who participated in each meeting varied, as there was difficulty finding a time for the meetings when all coaches could participate.	The coaches decided to initiate an annual coaching conference, announced well in advance so that everyone could participate
Coach meeting 8	November, 2016	The coaches came to consensus that they needed formal education. They agreed to participate in a higher education course specific to their needs called “Sustainable Sport”.	In collaboration with University of Gothenburg, the coaches could apply to a higher education course (3hec) – “Sustainability in Elite Sport”, which was designed for high performance coaches.

Table 4. How the practice architectures prefigure practices around coaching development

The practices of the coach meeting	Practice architectures of the coach meeting
Examples of sayings in the sematic space The coaches said they felt lonely and pressured to do well, but they inspired each other. They expressed that it would be more beneficial to collaborate more even though they occasionally competed against each other. Their shared language facilitated dilemmas of critical experience as coaches. The coaches shared language and attitudes made it possible to reflect on how arrangements in the sematic space constrain coaches from getting the best out of their athletes.	Examples of cultural-discursive arrangements The discourses that appeared related to the different coaching perspectives such as coaching competence, coaching traditions, and collaboration. The arrangements of the practice also involved discourses related to requirements, expectations, and education for elite coaches
Examples of doings in the activity The coaches gathered in a conference room at the training facility. They sat around a rectangular table. The coaches used a whiteboard if needed. Reflections from the meetings enabled a joint coaching conference and university course. Regular conference meetings were arranged. The coaching group were also split into smaller groups and used the same room with a whiteboard.	Examples of material-economic arrangements Time and place prefigured the meetings. The meetings at restaurant constrained their possibility to speak in a quiet environment. The coaches’ employment rate also prefigured the practice as the conditions for coaches’ participation were unequal.
Examples of relatings in the social space The coaches related to the conditions in which they worked. They related to their joint coaching community, athletes, clubs and federations. Coaches discussing with other coaches gave them valuable knowledge, and there were no explicit hierarchy regarding age, experience, or completion level. The coaches agreed on most topics, however, they sometime felt difficulties sharing information as they were competitors.	Examples of social-political arrangements The coaches communicated over boundaries of different training group practices. The coaches felt that they all belong in the elite coaching community irrespective of level or experience. Other practices in the athletic community constrained the coaches to participate, as rules limited who could participate.

Kemmis, S., Wilkinson, J., Edwards-Groves, C., Hardy, I., Grootenboer, P., & Bristol, L. (2014). Changing practices, changing education. Singapore: Springer.

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