Coaching Cultures

Coaches are amongst the most visible figures in sport today but little is known about the history of their profession.

This book examines the history of coaching from the early nineteenth to the late twentieth century. It uses a number of sports as case studies that includes: cricket, swimming, rugby union, athletics, football and tennis. The focus is largely English but international examples are used to illuminate the British context.

A number of themes are explored. Initially, in the 1800s, the coach was like an artisan who learned his skills on the job and coaching was similar to a craft. Early coaches were professionals but from the late nineteenth century an amateur elite governed British sport, who inhibited and in some sports banned coaching. As the twentieth century progressed, though, different sports at different stages began to embrace coaching as international competition intensified. In addition, the nature of coaching changed as a more scientific and managerial approach was applied. Finally, in football, the export of early British coaches is examined in light of the migration of international athletes and also as a process of ?knowledge transfer?.

This book was published as a special issue of Sport in History.

1. Introduction: Coaching Cultures Neil Carter 2. A ‘Strange . . ./ Absurd . . ./ and Somewhat Injurious Influence’? Cricket, Professional Coaching in the Public Schools and the ‘Gentleman Amateur’ Ethos Rob Light 3. London Swimming Professors: Victorian Craftsmen and Aquatic Entrepreneurs Dave Day 4. From Knox to Dyson: Coaching, Amateurism and British Athletics, 1912-1947 Neil Carter 5. Stigmatized, Marginalized, Celebrated: Developments in Lawn Tennis Coaching, 1870-1939 Robert J. Lake 6. Amateurism and the Rise of Managerialism: The Case of Rugby Union, 1871-1995 Tony Collins 7. The Athlete in the Making: The Scientific Study of American Athletic Performance, 1920-1932 Alison M. Wrynn 8. Football’s Engineers? British Football Coaches, Migration and Intercultural Transfer, c.1910 Matthew Taylor

Neil Carter is Senior Research Fellow at the International Centre of Sports History and Culture, De Montfort University, UK.