The impact of a coaching/sporting culture on one coach's identity: how narrative became a useful tool in reconstructing coaching ideologies

Abstract

In this research, the use of narrative accounts is investigated as the catalyst for the evolution of one coach's identity. Unable to sustain a coaching identity that was deemed to be appropriate by my coaching mentors, I (Author 1) disengaged from the swimming culture. This was due in part to the expression of power within the mentor–mentee relationship embedded in the coach development pathway, as well as within the wider sporting culture. By utilizing a narrative approach; writing and deconstructing my own narratives in relation to coach identity development within the mentor–mentee relationship, I developed an alternative approach. I established a sustainable coaching identity that demonstrated evidence-based judgement and reflective consideration of actions rather than the obtuse reproduction of mentor coach practice. This research suggests that the use of narrative as an integral element in coach education can be powerful in terms of deconstructing cultural ideologies and in the construction of a sustainable coaching identity. The combination of these two components is powerful in terms of enabling a coaching identity to evolve. It is therefore suggested that the development of a sustainable mentor–mentee relationship is inextricably linked with the expression of narrative and the critical reflection on the same.