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From a Junior Coach to the Senior Ranks: Relational Transition From a Collaborative Autoethnographic Perspective

Year of publication

2025

Authors

Nikander, Jaakko A.O.; Ryba, Tatiana V.

Abstract

Coaches are key people influencing athletes’ careers and their development, especially when athletes approach the junior-tosenior transition. Junior-to-senior mobility also includes transitioning into a new psychosocial environment, including changes in cultural narratives and expectations for both an athlete and their coach. The purpose of this study was to contribute knowledge about a sports coach’s career development and transitions by theorizing a relational co-construction of transitions from the junior level to the senior level. The cultural transition model was used as a conceptual framework to explore the temporality of the first author’s (Jakob) relational transition. To coproduce Jakob’s story, a collaborative autoethnographic approach was utilized. A photo-elicitation method and cyclical interviewing were used to generate the data followed by a thematic narrative analysis. The results indicated that the dominant narratives of elite sport and relation to the athlete shaped Jakob’s subject position, from which he projected his future career as a coach during the transition. Central to relational transition is the understanding that the meaning (re)construction and negotiation of cultural practices occur through interactions with repositioning. The subjective repositioning of both the athlete and the coach can impact the dynamics and outcomes of the transition process.
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Organizations and authors

University of Jyväskylä

Nikander Aku Orcid -palvelun logo

Ryba Tatiana Orcid -palvelun logo

Publication type

Publication format

Article

Parent publication type

Journal

Article type

Original article

Audience

Scientific

Peer-reviewed

Peer-Reviewed

MINEDU's publication type classification code

A1 Journal article (refereed), original research

Publication channel information

Volume

12

Issue

1

Pages

33-41

​Publication forum

83035

Open access

Open access in the publisher’s service

No

Self-archived

Yes

Other information

Fields of science

Sport and fitness sciences; Psychology

Keywords

[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object]

Publication country

United States

Internationality of the publisher

International

Language

English

International co-publication

No

Co-publication with a company

No

DOI

10.1123/iscj.2023-0062

The publication is included in the Ministry of Education and Culture’s Publication data collection

Yes