WHEN broken down to its most basic form a coach is often defined as someone in charge of training an athlete or team. Sounds a simple job when described as such but stakeholders in sport are very aware of how far beyond this definition the role of a coach can sometimes extend.
Coaches are oftentimes seen as teachers, mentors and guides to the athletes with whom they are charged…gatekeepers of personal and interpersonal development. Particularly in the age of social consciousness, diversity and inclusion, it is not only required for coaches to have the necessary technical and tactical qualifications for the on-field discussions but also to be equipped with the right training for the off-field, sociocultural discussions that may arise occasionally. One such topic that finds commonplace within coaching conversations be intentionally or unintentionally is that of body image.
The rhetoric of being the right size, shape, weight or build to play a particular sport is one that is recited repeatedly by coaches, trainers, parents, sporting organisations and the media. Indeed, research has shown that weight and shape commentary and evaluation is most discussed by coaches of both aesthetic (e.g. gymnastics) and non-aesthetic (e.g. cricket) female sport (Coppola et al. 2014).
Very much in our own Trinbagonian culture, we have a habit of starting conversations both sport and non-sport related with commentary on size or weight. Can you think of a conversation where you may have heard, “Look how fat you got,” “life treating you good, look at size,” or “Any skinnier and you’ll disappear!”
But how do we define body image? Traditionally we would suggest it’s “how an individual evaluates their body and the degree of importance that one places on that body,” (Sabiston et al., 2020). However, body image is a multidimensional construct, and we must include in our considerations cognitions, affect, perceptions, behaviours as well as sociocultural experiences of embodiment (Cash and Smolak, 2011). For example, what is a positive body image in one culture or country may be frowned upon in another. Additionally, body image and the ideals of that image change over time…the body image of western women in the 1950s and 60s are vastly different to that of western women in 2021.
But what influence do coaches really have on an athlete’s body image? According to Petrie and Greenleaf (2012) coaches are key agents in the development of body ideals, importance of body function and appearance, and weight-related pressures in athletes. Furthering to this the role of coaches in the transmission of weight and body-related attitudes and pressures is particularly recognized among female athletes. Coaches are identified as the most prominent social agents within the sport environment, whereas parents, peers, and the media are often identified as the most important body image agents peripheral to sport (Beckner & Record, 2016).
You might be thinking at this point “Alex isn’t obvious that coaches have to discuss body weight, size etc?” and yo
