Lukas Linnér

Career profiles of athlete–coach relationships: Descriptions and interpretations

The aim of this study was to explore athlete–coach relationships from an athletic career perspective with the objectives: (a) to create individual career profiles of athlete–coach relationships, (b) to illustrate the career profiles describing athletes’ subjective experiences of working with all the coaches involved in their careers, and (c) to summarize athletes’ views on the dynamics of athlete–coach relationships in the course of their careers. Two case studies using narrative interviews with one team and one individual sport athlete (both Swedish) were made. The Narrative Oriented Inquiry model was used to guide the data collection, treatment, and interpretation. The results representing over 20 relationships in total are presented as individual career profiles of athlete–coach relationships followed by interpretive narratives exploring more in detail the different athlete–coach relationships throughout their careers. Poems summarizing the athletes’ perceived dynamics of their relationships with coaches are then presented using only the athletes own words.