Seeking conceptual clarity in the study of elite

Seeking conceptual clarity in the study of elite professional coaches and managers in rugby union and association football Alex Blackett University of Lincoln ICCE, Durban, September 2013 FACULTY OF HEALTH, LIFE AND SOCIAL SCIENCES SCHOOL OF SPORT AND EXERCISE SCIENCE

Introduction At the start of the English 2013/14 season 89/92 professional association football (soccer) and 22/24 professional rugby union teams’ head coaches possess tenure as a professional competitive player in their respective sports. • Idiosyncratic learning pathway (Werthner & Trudel, 2009) • Meilke (2007) 60% - EPL, MLB, NBA, NFL • Apprenticeship (Cushion, Armour & Jones, 2003) • Stages of developmental sport experiences model (Erickson, Cote & Fraser. Thomas, 2007) SCHOOL OF SPORT AND EXERCISE SCIENCE ablackett@lincoln. ac. uk +44 (0) 1522 837 061 @alex_blackett

Research Questions 1. What are the differences between a ‘coach’, ‘head coach’, ‘manager’ and ‘director’ in professional soccer and rugby union at the elite performance level? (Côté, Young, North & Duffy, 2007; Turner, Nelson & Potrac, 2012) 2. How is coaching knowledge acquired? 3. What forms of coaching knowledge are valued? SCHOOL OF SPORT AND EXERCISE SCIENCE ablackett@lincoln. ac. uk +44 (0) 1522 837 061 @alex_blackett

Literature’s samples - coach/agency centric Recognition of the structural constraining/enabling influences surrounding coach’s development. Cushion & Jones (2002, 2012) Cushion et al (2003, 2010) Light & Evans (2012) Taylor & Garrett (2012) Turner, Nelson & Potrac (2012) SCHOOL OF SPORT AND EXERCISE SCIENCE ablackett@lincoln. ac. uk +44 (0) 1522 837 061 @alex_blackett

Theoretical Sample - Employers 1. Managing Director – Oliver 2. Head of Player & Coaching Development - Darrell 5. First Team Manager – Shaun 6. Chief Executive & Performance Director – Kirk 3. Director of Football Operations – Eric 7. Director of Rugby – Keith 8. Chief Executive - Tony 4. Chief Executive - Samuel 9. Director of Rugby – Ron SCHOOL OF SPORT AND EXERCISE SCIENCE ablackett@lincoln. ac. uk +44 (0) 1522 837 061 @alex_blackett

Results What is the difference between a ‘coach’, ‘head coach’, ‘manager’ and ‘director of rugby’? Roles and responsibilities Director of Rugby (Do. R)/Manager – Head Coach 1. Philosophy 2. On field results accountability 3. Recruitment of staff 4. Team selection 5. Performance plan and review 6. Budget expenditure Coach 1. Athlete development SCHOOL OF SPORT AND EXERCISE SCIENCE ablackett@lincoln. ac. uk +44 (0) 1522 837 061 @alex_blackett

Role dynamics No, no we are not going to Erm they’ve got to fit in with. . . we have who a playing take someone just says our culture, erm you know philosophy. . . we’ll hoof it up the pitch. . . again it’s a small world we know who works hard and football must be attractive . . . we have got a playing who is there just purely for the because we we are think in the is style which money and will work a little as entertainment business. . . important for the club. . . possible. They’ve got to have that same yeah so that’s what we would . . . so that’s how they culture that we have. are ask. . . asked to coach. . . Club Board Players, Academy & Rest of Club Head Coach Samuel (First Team Manager, Shaun (Chief Exec, Premiership Rugby Club) Eric (Director of Football League One) Operations, Championship) Coaches SCHOOL OF SPORT AND EXERCISE SCIENCE ablackett@lincoln. ac. uk +44 (0) 1522 837 061 @alex_blackett

Leadership Figurehead Have ‘the’ vision Again it’s that leadership. . . leadership, it’s the ability to get the vision. . . It’s that ability to enrol people you know, to have a vision. . . Oliver (MD Premier League Football Club) Implement ‘the’ vision SCHOOL OF SPORT AND EXERCISE SCIENCE ablackett@lincoln. ac. uk +44 (0) 1522 837 061 @alex_blackett

Credibility/ Respect Experience Knowledge Results They [qualifications] don’t really stack up a Oh Christ yeah you have had to have played lot of the time. There a lot of guys who the game I would have thought. have got level three or four coaching certificates that can’t coach you know. I’ve At what level? employed a bloke who’s done RFU coaching assessor, top of the food chain I don’t think it’s about, I would think that you with all of the qualifications, even got a would have had to play first team rugby, erm Welsh RFU senior coaches badge and I put you would have had to have played first him in front of our forwards […] and had to team rugby in the national divisions, I think. give him the bullet after two months. [. . . ] He just couldn’t cope with it and the lads saw Ron (Director of Rugby Nation League) through him straight away. (Ron) SCHOOL OF SPORT AND EXERCISE SCIENCE ablackett@lincoln. ac. uk +44 (0) 1522 837 061 @alex_blackett

Theoretical Discussion (Bourdieu, 1977) • Coaches = arbiters of taste when identifying playing talent (Christensen, 2009) • Arbiters of taste = the club hierarchy – Board members act as ‘cultural custodians’ of club values when making managerial appointments with the candidate being required to embody the club values = Hexis – Managerial and coach appointments largely remain within the field and in-house which perpetuates a fast-tracking culture of appointing elite athletes to elite coaching positions = Doxa → Symbolic Violence (ethnic minorities & women? ) (the norm) → (discriminates) SCHOOL OF SPORT AND EXERCISE SCIENCE ablackett@lincoln. ac. uk +44 (0) 1522 837 061 @alex_blackett

Theoretical Discussion (Bourdieu, 1977) • Why are elite athletes considered pertinent candidates for direct entry into elite managerial/coaching positions? – Cultural capital developed through playing career = credibility & informal and non-formal coaching knowledge acquired – Symbolic capital earned from playing and coaching tenure = respect – Tacit and implicit knowledge gained over a competitive playing career comprises towards a coach’s disposition = habitus Informal and non-formal forms of knowledge valued over formal. SCHOOL OF SPORT AND EXERCISE SCIENCE ablackett@lincoln. ac. uk +44 (0) 1522 837 061 @alex_blackett

1. Coaches’ level of symbolic and cultural capital initially high when first appointed 2 Credibility/Respect + 1 3 2. Increase in symbolic and cultural capital during practice equates to extended tenure of post - 3. Decrease in capital results in dismissal 0 6 12 18 Coaching Tenure (weeks/months? ) Figure 1. Head coaches’ capital gain/loss during coaching tenure SCHOOL OF SPORT AND EXERCISE SCIENCE ablackett@lincoln. ac. uk +44 (0) 1522 837 061 @alex_blackett

Selected References Bourdieu, P. (1977) Outline of a Theory of Practice. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge. Becker, A. J. (2009) It’s not what they do, it’s how they do it: athlete experiences of great coaching. International Journal of Sports Sciences, 4(1), 93 -119. Côté, J. , Young, B. W. , Duffy, P. and North, J. (2007) Towards a definition of excellence in sport coaching. International Journal of Coaching Science, 1, 3 -17. Christensen, M. K. (2009) “An eye for talent”: talent identification and “practical sense” of top-level soccer coaches. Sociology of Sport Journal, 26, 365 -382. Potrac, P. , Jones, R. , Armour, K. (2009) ‘It’s all about getting respect’: the coaching behaviours of an expert English soccer coach. Sport, Education & Society, 7(2), 183202. Mielke, D. (2009) Coaching experience, playing experience and coaching tenure. International Journal of Sports Science and Coaching, 2(2), 105 -108. Werthner, P. , & Trudel, P. (2009) Investigating the idiosyncratic paths of elite Canadian coaches. International Journal of Sports Science and Coaching, 4(3), 433 -449. SCHOOL OF SPORT AND EXERCISE SCIENCE ablackett@lincoln. ac. uk +44 (0) 1522 837 061 @alex_blackett

Thank you for listening. SCHOOL OF SPORT AND EXERCISE SCIENCE ablackett@lincoln. ac. uk +44 (0) 1522 837 061 @alex_blackett

Grounded Theory Iterative Process Codes, Memos & Concepts Theoretical Sensitivity Constant Comparison Data Literature Theoretical Saturation Fit, Work, Relevance & Modifiability Theoretical Sampling Substantive Theory Figure 2. The grounded theory process (Weed, 2009). SCHOOL OF SPORT AND EXERCISE SCIENCE ablackett@lincoln. ac. uk +44 (0) 1522 837 061 @alex_blackett