“Why Did I Really Want to Coach? To Help Girls”:

A Foucauldian Feminist Analysis High-Performance Female Rugby Union Coaches’ Experiences

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate women coaches’ experiences in high-performance rugby union. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with four women who had experience coaching at the representative, university, and/or international level. Informed by a Foucauldian feminism, the analysis revealed how disciplinary power, the formation of dominant knowledges, and the pervasiveness of surveillance operated in a deeply masculine environment of high-performance rugby. This study provides an in-depth examination of femininity, masculinity, and what it means to be a woman leader in the world of high-performance rugby union.