A theoretical exploration of the relationship between the expectations of sports coaches and the physical and emotional health of athletes

Abstract

There are many examples where athletes in their pursuit of excellence have been exposed to forms of abuse by coaches or parents. Of the various types of abuse which is defined as inappropriate practice of one person on another, this paper presents an approach to an understanding of why athletes may be subjected to physical, emotional and nutritional abuse. One perception of athlete behaviour is categorised through a normal curve that shows the relationship between overconforming behaviour (positive deviance) to underconforming behaviour (negative deviance). The former is associated with cheating where an athlete breaks established rules to gain an advantage while the latter is linked with excessive training and commitment. The excessive behaviour is the focus here, and how coaches or parents or friends may unwittingly encourage this approach for sporting success. One theory of social deviance is appropriate for explaining some aspects of negative deviance but positive deviance is perhaps understood more effectively through the concept of the sport ethic. The sport ethic provides an insight as to why athletes are motivated to take risks and play through pain and make huge sacrifices for the sake of the sport. While negative deviance can be controlled to an extent, positive deviance is more difficult especially when the sport ethic includes values exemplifying extreme dietary and training regimes which are perceived as the price to be paid for gaining success in the sports world. There are many examples where athletes in their pursuit of excellence have been exposed to forms of abuse by coaches or parents. Of the various types of abuse which is defined as inappropriate practice of one person on another, this paper presents an approach to an understanding of why athletes may be subjected to physical, emotional and nutritional abuse. One perception of athlete behaviour is categorised through a normal curve that shows the relationship between overconforming behaviour (positive deviance) to underconforming behaviour (negative deviance). The former is associated with cheating where an athlete breaks established rules to gain an advantage while the latter is linked with excessive training and commitment. The excessive behaviour is the focus here, and how coaches or parents or friends may unwittingly encourage this approach for sporting success. One theory of social deviance is appropriate for explaining some aspects of negative deviance but positive deviance is perhaps understood more effectively through the concept of the sport ethic. The sport ethic provides an insight as to why athletes are motivated to take risks and play through pain and make huge sacrifices for the sake of the sport. While negative deviance can be controlled to an extent, positive deviance is more difficult especially when the sport ethic includes values exemplifying extreme dietary and training regimes which are perceived as the price to be paid for gaining success in the sports world.