Managing the Complexity: An Ethnographic Approach to Understanding Noticing Within Orchestration

Abstract

Sport coaching is an inherently complex endeavor. To manage this complexity, some coaches engage in orchestration to plan, organize, monitor, and respond to the dynamic sport environment. Using an ethnographic approach, the current research aimed to understand how a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II female basketball coach orchestrated the complex and relational nature of coaching over the course of a sport season and with particular attention to how noticing occurred and informed orchestration. A combination of formal and informal coach and player interviews, observation and field notes, and audio reflections of the coach was carried out over the course of the season. The authors used a realist tale to illustrate the complexity of the coaching experience and how the coach used noticing and relational schemas to navigate ambiguity, the micropolitical landscape, and interpersonal relationships to steer the team toward personal growth and high performance.