The professionalization of the role of the coach: transforming the last bastion of the Scandinavian welfare-sport model

Abstract

Coaching in Scandinavia is characterized by tensions between voluntary ideals and increased demands for professionalization. This paper examines the origins and content of such demands, how voluntary run and governed football clubs translate them into practices, and the impact of professionalization on the coach role. Within an organizational perspective, our analysis is framed by institutional theory and a translation perspective and draw on data from interviews with representatives of Norwegian football clubs. The results show how demands for professionalization are translated into (new) practices in football clubs and lead to (more) professionalization of the coach role. In a ‘top-down’ trajectory, professionalization is characterized by bureaucratization driven by a need to satisfy the Norwegian Football Federation and Norwegian Elite Football. In a ‘bottom-up’ trajectory, professionalization is characterized by individualization driven by pressures from members to tailor-make the club’s service offer. In a ‘trickle-sideways’ trajectory, professionalization is characterized by marketization driven by the establishment of private football academies that exert pressure on football clubs to adapt to a more customer-oriented membership base. In conclusion, this examination highlights the multidimensional character of the professionalization of the coach role and emphasizes the need for further research on the broader ramifications of professionalization in contexts characterized by voluntary ideals.