To be – or not to be invited?

• Official reports and policy documents state that the sport will give young people the power and influence. A considerable number of initiatives have been taken to increase their means of influence (RF 2005, 2011). Though this initiatives  have research about young people's influence within the sport been scarce. A lot of attention has been given to youth participating in the sports movement (Rowe & Champion 2000; Butcher et al. 2002; Sarrazin et al. 2002; Franzén & Peterson 2004) and youths rights and opportunities to participate (MacPhail et al. 2003; Svender et al., 2012) while questions regarding young people’s opportunity to make their voices heard have been ignored.The aim of the study is to explore young coaches’ possibilities and experiences of influence in the Swedish sports movement with a focus on young people's own voices to influence and have power.The specific questions are as follows: (i) which young coaches are believed to be capable of having an influence? ii) what means of influence experience young coaches that they have.Previous research show that young people’s voices have received less attention and young people have no influence in many of the context in which they find themselves (Evans 2007, p 693). This is also valid in a Swedish context. For example research show that the annual general meeting is regarded as an important arena for exerting influence, as is being a club committee member; however, it has been hard attracting young coaches to these arenas (Redelius 2005; Trondman 2005).The sports movement can be seen as a cultural and social practice where certain values, norms, and actions are more evident than others. In order to understand actions and strategies based on the individual–group relationship and the social context they find themselves in, we are supported by the theories and concepts of Bourdieu.Bourdieu (1990) describes how the social world consists, on the one hand, of objective structures that also exist outside symbolic systems, such as languages and myths, which depend on the agents’ consciousness and desires, and, on the other hand, symbolic structures, the origin of which forms a function of perceptions, ideas, and actions that the individuals construct. The socially constructed symbol systems act as classification schemes for the social world, which means that the structures are perceived as natural.Based on Bourdieu’s theories, certain social contexts can be regarded as social fields, among them, sport, which is characterized by having its own logic and defining its own rules, rules that everyone within the field must abide by and that often are obvious and taken for granted (Bourdieu 1988, 1997; Munk & Lind 2004).Using Bourdieu’s theories makes it possible to penetrate the value structures and patterns of behavior in a social practice that the agents are partly unaware of. The starting point is, therefore, that the sports movement is a social field in which the experiences the agents have incorporated, together with the objective structures, determine who is allowed to enter and influence the field. MethodologyThe data in this study consists of focus group interviews with young coaches. Ten focus group interviews were conducted with thirty-seven participants, of which twenty were women and seventeen were men. When selecting respondents, a geographical spread, a variety of sports, and both male and female participants were sought.Focus group interviews have been chosen with the aim of acquiring a deeper understanding of what the encounter between the young coach’s experiences and ideas and the social conditions that regulate the sports movement (Denzin & Lincoln 1998). The interviews were semi-structured and based on four areas: their personal narratives, their leadership experience, the leadership position, and influence. The interviews were recorded and transcribed afterwards. By means of qualitative text analysis, the statements have been examined based on the aims of the study and have subsequently been interpreted with the theoretical reference framework as the starting point.DiscussionThe results show that if young coaches are to have influence, it is required that both their habitus and capital ‘match’ the social context into which they are entering. Bourdieu believes that power breeds power. One way of maintaining power, which appears successful for those who have a position within a field, is not to change the accepted way of working and, with that, exclude the young coaches from challenging in the battle for positions. Holding a committee post becomes a self-generating system, which means that symbolic capital is assigned to those who are on the committee and already have capital.The results show that the means of influence increases if one goes on a course, has the support of a club member, or has a position of responsibility within the club. Without the support of important people or going on a course, the room for action is limited. Another strategy that appears favorable in order to increase one’s capital and improve one’s position is to be a member of the youth section or the like. The environment is conducive to the young coaches being molded, the club’s culture being inscribed in the body, and certain actions becoming self-evident.  

Ämnesord

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Hälsovetenskap -- Idrottsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Health Sciences -- Sport and Fitness Sciences (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Utbildningsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Educational Sciences (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Influence young coaches Bourdieu

Idrottsvetenskap

Sport Science

Samhällsvetenskap/Humaniora

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

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