Negotiating the coaching landscape: Experiences of Black men and women coaches in the United Kingdom

Rankin-Wright, A.J.; Hylton, K.; Norman, L.

Abstract

The current article provides a critical examination of the racialised and gendered processes that reinforce disparities in sport coaching by exploring the experiences of Black men and women coaches in the United Kingdom. The findings are based on in-depth qualitative interviews with coaches from two national governing bodies of sport. Using a Critical Race Theory approach and Black feminist lens, the coaches’ narratives illuminate the complex, multifaceted and dynamic ways in which ‘race’, ethnicity and gender are experienced and negotiated by sport coaches. The coaches’ reflections are discussed under three themes: negotiating identities; privilege and blind spots; and systemic discrimination. The narratives from the coaches’ experiences emphasise the need for key stakeholders in sport to recognise the intersectional, structural and relational experiences that facilitate, as well as constrain, the progression of Black coaches in order to challenge racialised and gendered inequalities.

Citation

Rankin-Wright, A., Hylton, K., & Norman, L. (2019). Negotiating the coaching landscape: Experiences of Black men and women coaches in the United Kingdom. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 54(5), 603-621. https://doi.org/10.1177/1012690217724879

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jul 14, 2017
• Online Publication Date: Aug 29, 2017
• Publication Date: Aug 1, 2019
• Deposit Date: Aug 24, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 24, 2018
• Journal: International Review for the Sociology of Sport
• Print ISSN: 1012-6902
• Electronic ISSN: 1461-7218
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 54
• Issue: 5
• Pages: 603-621
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1012690217724879
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1321884
• Related Public URLs: http://eprints.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/3920/