Cultural connections and cultural ceilings: exploring the experiences of Aboriginal Australian sport coaches

Abstract

Sport researchers have begun to appreciate the perspectives and experiences of Aboriginal athletes in various global communities, yet little is known about Aboriginal sport coaches. Considering sport can play a positive social, psychological, and physical role in the lives of Aboriginal people, it is problematic that there is a dearth of academic literature exploring the narratives of Aboriginal coaches. This is one of the first studies to specifically explore Aboriginal Australian peoples’ experiences in sport coaching roles. Using a socio-ecological framework to frame our discussions, we share the insights of 28 Aboriginal Australian sport coaches from a variety of team and individual sports as they describe an array of factors that facilitated and impeded their sport coaching journeys. By shedding light on these narratives this paper performs two main tasks. First, taking a qualitative approach, it gives agency and voice to Aboriginal people, long-neglected in academic sports scholarship. Second, it provides insights for coaches, athletes, academics, policy-makers, and sporting organisations interested in enhancing opportunities and developing pathways for Aboriginal people in sport coaching roles.

Keywords:

• Aboriginal sport
• coaching
• socio-ecological theory
• mentoring
• racism

Notes

1. When using the phrase Indigenous, Aboriginal, or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, we recognise the variances between First Nations populations within and across countries around the globe and that there is no official definition of ‘Indigenous’ peoples (United Nations, n.d.). We also acknowledge that ‘Aboriginal people’ is a colonial term that has been viewed as restrictive and potentially insufficient to wholly capture the multiplicity and uniqueness of Indigenous cultures in Australia. Finally, while the phrase Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples links to apposite terminology within Australia, our coaches all identified as Aboriginal people from mainland Australia, rather than Torres Strait Islanders. For this reason, we use the term Aboriginal throughout this paper based on recommendations from the lead author’s univeristy:

http://www.westernsydney.edu.au/oatsiee/aboriginal_and_torres_strait_islander_employment_and_engagement/workplace_relations.

2. https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/sports/home/news/featured_stories/aboriginal_and_torres_strait_islander_sports_coaching_forum.

3. http://nsw.netball.com.au/coaching/day-of-learning-for-future-indigenous-coaches/.

4. A Reconciliation Action Plan is ‘a framework for organisations to realise their vision for reconciliation.’ Many sporting organisations have generated RAP documentation to implement and measure planned actions that build respectful relationships and create opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations within Australia (all from http://www.reconciliation.org.au/raphub/about/). Here is an example: http://netball.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/NetballAutralia_RAP.pdf.

5. http://www.lloydmcdermott.com.au/.

6. http://www.healthinfonet.ecu.edu.au/key-resources/programmes-projects?pid=1662.

7. http://nsw.netball.com.au/coaching/day-of-learning-for-future-indigenous-coaches/.

8. http://www.aboriginalsportcircle.ca/en/programmes/coaches.html.