Sports coaching in risk society: No touch! No trust!

Abstract

This paper is informed by a UK based Economic and Social Research Council funded research project which developed and deployed a case-study approach to issues of touch between children and professionals in schools and childcare. Outcomes from these settings are referred to, but the focus here is shifted to touch in sports coaching and its distinctive contextual and institutional characteristics. We consider the broader context of no touch coaching practice, including relevant theoretical accounts, review policy which impacts on coaching activity and report on preliminary enquiries.1 1. This paper is essentially a ‘position piece’ that builds on previous work which provides the basis for our claims, and while preliminary enquiries are drawn upon, our claims here are provisional. Having recently secured a further grant for researching these issues in a sports coaching context, this work will be reported in full at a later stage. We argue that the disembodiment of practice has undermined the conception and experience of sports coaching and its contribution to educating and socialising young people.