The professionalisation of sports coaching and the changing face of volunteerism

This poster explores the changing landscape of professionalism in the field of sports coaching. It is articulated in response to the dearth of literature and empirical research, exploring processes of contemporary practice in the field. The persistent lack of awareness of practice in situ has created a professional context in which new meanings around discourses inhabiting the transitions towards professionalism are becoming increasingly rigid and inflexible, even though individual sports may have differing experiences. Policies projected by UK governmental bodies have exacerbated this situation through imposing reforms that have sought to homogenise coaching practice, in the process glossing over difference and flouting cultural diversity.