In this paper, we investigate how elite coaches reflect on their practice and interact with each other, as part of their informal professional development. We use observations of 14 coach meetings, over a period of two years, where coaches came together to share their experiences of coaching elite athletics, and to discuss ways for continuous…

One central issue in sports is the role of informal learning in organized child and youth sport in contrast to learning in the school context of physical education (PE). In Scandinavia, the model for organizing sports include an independent sports organization that organizes child and youth training on many levels, including the grassroots level…

Background: Referees, parents and coaches are vital for co-creating the educational practice of competitive games in youth sport and influencing young players' behaviour, learning and socialisation within the game. Coaches and parents influence players in different ways in competitive games and their behaviour can be viewed as role-modelling…

Background: Movement learning has been thoroughly investigated in the area of motor learning research. Although existing studies have contributed to a substantial understanding of motor learning, many have been criticized for their reliance on experimental designs where learning is decontextualized, simplified, and investigated in laboratory…

Contemporary learning and development models have identified parkour-style training as a vehicle for athlete enrichment. However, perceptions of team-sport coaches and their receptiveness to such models of athlete enrichment have not been investigated and remain unclear. To explore how parkour-style training could be integrated into athlete…

Background: Pedagogical research on career is encouraged to not limit sport learning to athletic skills, coaching effectiveness and coach-athlete relationships, but to also focus on learning in a multidimensional sense in the context of an athlete's individual and social biography. This article examines an elite athlete's career path as a body…

The aim of this study was to examine the challenges of being either a parent--coach or a child--athlete of a coach within the context of Swedish youth sport. Conceptually, this paper draws on educational and sociological theories regarding changing perspectives in child-rearing. The results are based on data gathered from interviews with…

The article analyzes experience of professional training of future specialists in physical culture and sports in higher educational establishments of Norway and Sweden. Research papers dealing with practice of realization of professional training of specialists in physical culture and sports abroad have been analyzed. Topicality of the research of…

Sport is often described as a field containing competitive and hierarchy shaping activities. However, in Sweden and elsewhere, this field is also permeated by democratic principles where, for example, everybody has the right to participate in children's and youth sports regardless of gender, ethnicity or physical ability. In Sweden, there are…

In this article, we explore the pedagogies of (de)liberation promoted in the sports-based intervention Midnight Football (MF), carried out in a suburban and socio-economically disadvantaged residential area in Sweden. Based on interviews with coaches and managers and on-site observations, we examine how socio-pedagogical rationalities and…

An increased interest in health, diet, and physical activity exist among young people, in this study termed 'fitness hype'. Viewing the body and health as commodities can be understood as part of a healthism discourse. In this study, we explored how Swedish high school students perceive and negotiate the trend regarding exercise, diet and body…

Although coach burnout has been studied for 30 years, what measure to use in this context has not yet been problematized. This study focuses on evaluating convergent and discriminant validity of three coach burnout measures by using multi-trait/multi-method analysis (CT-C[M-1]) model. We choose Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), the two dimensional…

According to the cultural sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, gaining access to a social space or a position within a social space requires a specific capital. For teachers, this is normally indicated by a valid teaching certificate with relevant subject knowledge. However, when no qualified teachers are available, which is the case for the subject of…

Background: International studies have revealed that young people engage in sports because of friends, the enjoyment of participation, and the ability to feel healthy. Furthermore, it is often argued that sports should be characterized as joyful and provide both recreational and elite investment. In Sweden, many children participate in club sports…

This paper is based on analyses of ideas about girls and boys in sports as they are presented in textbooks used in coaching education programmes in Sweden. Specifically, it explores gender in relation to descriptions of girls' and boys' bodies and bodily development during puberty. Texts construct gender differences. Masculinity is shaped around…