"Good Athletes Have Fun": a Foucauldian reading of university coaches' uses of fun. Issue 1 (2nd January 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Avner, Zoe; Denison, Jim; Markula, Pirkko
• Is Part Of: Sports coaching review. Volume 8:Issue 1(2019)
• Page Start: 43
• Page End: 61
• Publication Date: 2019-01-02
• Subjects: Fun -- Foucault -- coaching; Coaching (Athletics) -- Periodicals; 796.07705
• DOI: 10.1080/21640629.2017.1400757
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2164-0629

Abstract

Abstract: Fun is deeply ingrained in the ways we talk about and understand sport: Having fun is what makes sport positive and healthy. Drawing on a Foucauldian perspective, we problematize how fun, a psychological construct, informs coaches' practices. Interviews with 10 varsity coaches from a Canadian university indicated that the coaches used fun to overcome the 'grind' of physical skill training. In addition, fun was used to develop and naturalize a need for athletes' positive psychological traits and skills. In their training contexts, thus, the coaches clearly employed fun to reinforce their use of a number of dominant disciplinary training practices. As a result, instead of operating as a positive force for athlete engagement, the incorporation of fun further legitimized and perpetuated coaches' 'normal' training practices.