Athlete-Centred Coaching in University Sport:

A Foucauldian Analysis

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate how, and to what extent, athlete-centred coaching practices were utilized in a university sport context. This project was informed by sociocultural coaching research that has demonstrated the potential negative consequences of disciplinary coaching approaches and in what ways, if at all, an athlete-centred coaching approach can address some of these concerns. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight varsity head coaches and then analyzed through a Foucualdian lens. The findings suggested that the successful delivery of athlete-centred coaching in university sport is made difficult by ingrained power relations and forms of knowledge which have traditionally made the coach the primary decision maker.