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Abstract
This social-historical approach, using Gutmann's theory, examines the professionalisation of the coaching occupation over a period of 50 years starting by the end of the nineteenth century. Through a review and analysis of authentic literature of this epoch, the goal is to explain how the coaching profession was formulated, and to identify the sociological connections that characterised the professionalisation of coaches in Hungary, a country outside of Anglo-Saxon cultural and linguistic boundaries, but one that exhibited significant sporting power in the past. Because sport during the twentieth century became increasingly globalised, this review of the coaching profession will also consider trends in other countries, especially those related to the formulation of the profession in ways that transcended particular territories and boundaries. Accordingly, this study has an international focus.
Notes on Contributors
Ilona Bodnár is a Historian and sociologist and lecturer at the University of Pécs. In her social-historic approach to sport, she conducts research independently related to gender in sport, competencies in sporting roles, specifically coaching.
Szilvia Perényi is an Assistant professor at University of Debrecen, Department of Sporteconomics and Management. She is involved in research in relation to sport in society, sport participation, gender in sport, spectator behaviour and additionally policy, funding and management of sport.
Notes
1. Guttmann, From Ritual to Record.
2. Wilensky, ‘The Professionalization of Everyone', 137–58.
3. Pope and Nauright, Routledge Companion to Sports History; Mansfield et al., ‘Sociology’, 99–113.
4. Terret, ‘France’, 425–427.
5. Phillips, From Sidelines to Centre Field’; Grün, ‘La difficile émergence de la profession d’entraîneur de football en France (1890–1950)’, 45–62; Roger and Terret, European athletics; Vincent, ‘Les ambiguïtés identitaires du rugby français de 1958 à 1968: secrets et traditions de la famille rugbystique’.
6. Ibid., From sidelines to centre field.
7. Keys, ‘International Relations’, 249.
8. Leech and Short, Style in Fiction; Mwihaki, ‘Meaning as Use: A Functional view of Semantics and Pragmatics’, 127–29. The English term ‘trainer-train’ [tréner-treníroz] in the sport context was originally rooted in reference to ‘teaching of skills or enhancing the performance of animals, specifically horses’. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/trainer. For the purpose of distinction the term ‘coach’ that refers to ‘a person who teaches and trains an athlete or the members of a sports team’. Mussabini, Britain’s greatest running coach, also featured in the movie ‘Chariot of fire’, adamantly wanted to be called as a ‘coach’ and not referred to be by the ‘usual terminology’ as a ‘trainer’ (Jenkins, Sports Science Handbook, 163).
9. In 1931 the ‘National Sport, the daily national sport newspaper founded in 1903, had announced a contest for developing Hungarian versions of the English sport terms. One of the winners of the contest was the term ‘edző’ which replaced the ‘coach’ term, and was accepted slowly in both professional and public Hungarian discourses (Bánhidi, A Magyar Sportnyelv Története és Jelene, 149–52). A year following the contest the term ‘edzés’, standing for the ‘event of practice’ was also accepted as part of the verified terms.
10. McNab, ‘Chariots of Fire into the Twenty-first Century’, 2–5.
11. Misángyi, Az Újkori Atlétika Története, 259.
12. Ibid., 259; Lucas, ‘The First Great International Track Meet’.
13. New York Times, ‘American Clean Sweep’ (PDF). 22 September 1895.
14. McNab, ‘Chariots of Fire into the Twenty-first Century’, 2–5.
15. Gems, et al., Sports in American History from Colonization to Globalization, 149, 372.
16. Ibid., Sports in American History from Colonization to Globalization, 158.
17. Misángyi, Az Újkori Atlétika Története, 33, 56–57, 167–169.
18. Zeidler, ‘Ember Képét Hordó Majom Forma Lajhár’, 85–86.
19. Park ‘Science, Service, and Professionalization’, 1691.
20. Park ‘Physiologist, Physicians, and Physical Educators’, 1641.
21. Dyreson, ‘America’s Athletic Missionaries’, 1896–1912’.
22. Mussabini, The Complete Athletic Trainer, 240.
23. Déván, A Modern Atlétika, 37.
24. Hungarian Athletic Club [Magyar Atlétikai Club, (MAC)], fhe first Hungarian athletic club founded in 1875 by Earl Miksa Esterházy and Lajos Molnár. MAC organised the first national championship in athletics and played a fundamental role in expanding new sports in Hungary (Pluhár, A Magyarországi Sportegyesületek Története, 1942).
25. Neptune Rowing Club [Neptun Evezős Egyesület]. The first Hungarian rowing club established in 1862 with the name of National Rowing Club, which became more ’social’ rowing focused by time. Young men eager to participate in compeitions founded their own new club with the name of Neptun in 1884.
26. Földes et al., A Magyar Sport Története, 142.
27. Charles R. Harding Professional Sculling Champion of England, also trained the New Zealander Tom Sullivan (rower) (The Evening Post Newspaper. September 11, 1895, July 14, 1896) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_R_Harding
28. Pekár, ‘Race Hajóban’, 5. ‘Angol tréner a Neptun-nál', 11.
29. English trainer at the Neptun Club. (Herkules, 8. 1891. p.11). Reference to Harding's involvement in Hungary was not available in the literature in English only in Hungarian (the Authors)
30. The Neptun Rowing Club with the directions of the new English coach (Harding) among others also won the most prestigious competition of the region the ‘Vienna Regatta’ ‘The Golden Four’ of Neptun club, of which Pekár Gyula was also a member, won 23 out of the possible 25 titles of the season of 1892. (‘Az evezés saisonja’, Herkules, 10. 1893. 9. 71.).
31. As a response to the successes of the Neptun Club the rivalry National Rowing Club hired W. A. Barry, the brother of the five times Sculling World Champion, Ernest J. Barry (‘Az evezés saisonja’, Herkules, 10. 1893. 9. 71.)
32. The best known and most versatile all round sportsman of this epoch is Ferenc Gillemot (1875–1916), who participates in cycling, athletics, rowing and football, but also tried swimming, wrestling and winter sports. In his capacity of a professional rowing coach, he failed the code of conduct for amateurism in football in 1905. Later, he became an officially hired for MAC’s football team (Syposs, ‘A Sport Sokoldalú Egyénisége’, 37–45).
33. Hajós Alfréd (1878–1955) the first Olympic Champion of Hungary won his gold medal in swimming at the first Modern Olymic Games in 1896. He was also an excellent football player, then a football referee, and in 1906 the head coach of the national football team.
34. Hajós, Így lettem olimpiai bajnok, 36–37.
35. Ibid., 36.
36. Tamedly, Úszás, 33–34.
37. Zombory ‘A training’, 145.
38. Pekár ‘Race Hajóban’, 4–6.
39. Zombory, ‘A training’, 145.
40. Phillips, From sidelines to centre field.
41. Tamedly, Úszás, 33–34.
42. Pekár, ‘Race Hajóban’, 6.
43. Mangan, ‘Prologue: Middle-class Revolutionaries’.
44. Gerentsér, ‘A Trénerkérdésről’, 113–115.
45. The Sport Newspaper [Sporthírlap] reported about conceptual changes regarding the trainer profession on its front page ‘English trouble – Hungarian joy’ (‘Angol Baj – Magyar Öröm’, Sporthírlap, 1913).
46. Budapest’s biggest athletic clubs: BEAC (Budapesti Egyetemi Atletikai Club [Budapest University Athletic Club]), MAC (Magyar Atlétikai Club [Hungarian Athletic Club]), MAFC (Műegyetemi Atlétikai és Football Club [University of Engineering Athletic and Football Club), MTK (Magyar Testgyakorlók Köre), FTC (Ferencvárosi Torna Club) (‘Angol Baj – Magyar Öröm’, Sporthírlap, 1913.
47. As a consequence of the Peace Agreement, ‘Trity of Trianon’ Hungary has also lost 72% of its territory, and 31% of the ethnic Hungarian population (Macartney, Hungary and her Successors, 1937). As 5 of the 10 most populated cities were also cut out of the boarders the societal field of sport was also fundamentally affected. Not only new championship structures were needed to be developed, but it also required new approaches to the planning and implementation of the coaches’ training programs.
48. Romsics, Hungary in the twentieth century, 127–216.
49. Ibid.
50. Krasovec, 75 Éves a TF, 212.
51. Vadas (‘A Vidék Testnevelési Feladatai’, 1930, 960) The congress took place in Szeged between November 22–23, 1930. The content of the congress was published in the journal of National Physical Education Council [Országos Testnevelési Tanács (OTT)] named The Physical Education [Testnevelés, 1930. 3.(12)]. A conference similar to the one organised in Boston (1889), where the physical educaotrs and the school doctors discussed the role of physical activity in the prevention of health, was onganised only in 1934 in Hungary.
52. Lyle, Sports coaching Concepts, 35–38.
53. Ghimessy, ‘A Magyar Versenyz? Sportolók Statisztikája’, 1935.
54. Imre Schlosser (1889–1959) was the first internationally recognised footballer of Hungary, 13 times Hungarian Champion, and 75 times member of the national team. As a coach he worked in Sweden, Poland and Austria.
55. Schlosser, Schlosser Imre és a Magyar Futball 35 Esztendeje, 59–61.
56. Ibid., 89–90.
57. Grün who focused on the emergence and development of football’s coaching between 1890 and 1950 in France. Grün, ‘La difficile émergence de la profession d’entraîneur de football en France (1890–1950)’, 47–49.
58. Phillips, From sidelines to centre field.
59. Schlosser, Schlosser Imre és a Magyar Futball 35 Esztendeje, 126.
60. Ibid.
61. Phillips, From sidelines to centre field.
62. Földessy, A Magyar Futball és a Magyar Labdarúgók Szövetsége, 649.
63. Tóth (Potya) István (1891–1945) was a coach of teams in Firenze, Triest, and Milano (Internazionale).
64. Mike, ‘Magyarország Sportegyesületei 1941-ben’, 200.
65. Bodor, ‘A Jó Tréner’, 163.
66. Ibid., 165.
67. Ibid.
68. Déván, A Modern Atlétika, 36.
69. Somfay, Atlétika és Tréningje, 50–51.
70. Somfay (1929) called the Scandinavian method ‘naturalistic’ as the national environment and climate was fundamental in the development of local lifestyle and the training opportunities. As Hungary was not characteristically urbanised at this time like the American society and had its own characteristics to its environmental and climate, the Scandinavan methods were not directly applicable in Hungary.
71. Déván, A Modern Atlétika, 36.
72. Mussabini, The Complete Athletic Trainer, 138.
73. Roos, ‘Profession’.
74. Varga, A sport. Kultúrfilozófiai Tanulmány.
75. Ibid., 44.
76. Fleuriel and Vincent, ‘A profound mutation’.
77. Doros, A Versenysport Etikai és Lélektani Problémái, 99.
78. Varga, A sport. Kultúrfilozófiai Tanulmány, 3.
79. Sipos, ‘Média, Medialitás és a Külpolitikai Gondolkodás Alakulása’.
80. Anderson, Imagined Communities. Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalis.
81. As a consequence of the political role of Hungary in the World War I, Hungary was sanctioned by the Trianon Peace Treaty (1919) in which it lost two-thirds of its territories and one-third of its population. All these territories were attached to countries surrounding Hungary.
82. Arnaud, ‘Sport and International Relations before 1918’.
83. Komjádi Béla (1892–1933), water polo player and coach, established the water polo team of III.TVE with absolutely no resources; with dedicated hard work made his team to become a powerful opponent to the well-established FTC (Gyarmati, Aranykor. A Magyar Vízilabdázás Története, 2001). As the head coach of the national team, after the unfortunate and unpredictable defeat in the 1928 Games in Amsterdam, he led his team to victory four years later in Los Angeles. An untiring organiser, active far beyond the responsibilities of a trainer, built a swimming pool, organised competitions, developed programs for swimming lessons and nurtured the grass-roots of the sport. He created jobs for other trainers, assisted sports leaders on a volunteer basis with all concerns of athletes and the sport itself. ‘Uncle Komi’, as he was nicknamed by all, was only a part time coach, as he quit his company-based tenured employment made his living as a sports journalist. His whole life was a sacrifice for sports; he was ascetic and a fanatic of sport who lived for 41 years: He was the general of sports, but he considered himself one of the soldiers. He tirelessly worked for others; he never asked anything for himself. He never reaped the benefits of his immeasurable popularity. He was born poor, he lived poor, and he died poor (Pánczél, 1934, 329).
84. Pánczél, A Magyar Vízipóló Története, 326–327.
85. As the peace treaty was ‘raw and humiliating in its forms, radical in its general terms, exaggerated in its proportions, insensible in its implementation, underestimated in its effects and for this reason for several aspects it was outspokenly harmful. It is absolutely no wonder that the peace treaty was adjudicated by the Hungarian society and the political elite and attempts were made for its revision’ (Zeidler, A Revíziós Gondolat, 160.)
86. Arnaud, ‘Sport – A Means of National Representation’, 11; Zeidler, A Revíziós Gondolat, 183.
87. Dobrovits, ‘Magyarország Egyesületeinek Statisztikája’, 28.
88. Dobrovits, ‘Társadalmi Szervezetek’, 415.
89. Mike, ‘Magyarország Sportlétesítményei’, 204–205.
90. Mike, ‘Magyarország Sportegyesületei 1941-ben’, 197.
91. Eichberg, ‘Body Culture’, 171.