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.
Show moreOrganizations and authors
Publication type
Publication format
Article
Parent publication type
Journal
Article type
Original article
Audience
ScientificPeer-reviewed
Peer-ReviewedMINEDU's publication type classification code
A1 Journal article (refereed), original researchPublication channel information
Publisher
Volume
12
Issue
1
Pages
33-41
ISSN
Publication forum
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