TY - JOUR
T1 - Coaching Across Borders
T2 - Lessons From Finnish High-Performance Ice Hockey Coaches
AU - Bespomoshchnov, Vladislav A.
AU - Mallett, Clifford J.
AU - Saarinen, Mika
AU - Vähälummukka, Mika
AU - Arvaja, Markus
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2025 Human Kinetics, Inc.
PY - 2025/1
Y1 - 2025/1
N2 - Sport coaching has become globalized. Finnish ice hockey is an example of this globalization of a coaching workforce. Indeed, the success of Finnish ice hockey teams in the international arena has been fueling the demand for coaches and players from this country worldwide. Yet, despite the increasing trends of migration of the workforce in sports, there is limited research that is conducted on the experiences of foreign coaches. Thus, in this study, we aimed to expand our understanding of the work of high-performance coaches in the globalized sports context. A case study design was adopted. The participants were 14 Finnish high-performance head coaches with transnational career experiences across 11 nations. Qualitative data were collected via semistructured interviews. Reflexive thematic analysis guided how the authors made sense of these data. Three major themes were (a) preparation practices, (b) acculturation, and (c) emerging learning experiences. The findings provide helpful insights for (a) coach developers when preparing practitioners to work in different cultural settings, (b) club administrators to further inform their decisions when recruiting and working with foreign coaches, and (c) sports’ governing bodies to develop policies to support coaches’ acculturation in the new country.
AB - Sport coaching has become globalized. Finnish ice hockey is an example of this globalization of a coaching workforce. Indeed, the success of Finnish ice hockey teams in the international arena has been fueling the demand for coaches and players from this country worldwide. Yet, despite the increasing trends of migration of the workforce in sports, there is limited research that is conducted on the experiences of foreign coaches. Thus, in this study, we aimed to expand our understanding of the work of high-performance coaches in the globalized sports context. A case study design was adopted. The participants were 14 Finnish high-performance head coaches with transnational career experiences across 11 nations. Qualitative data were collected via semistructured interviews. Reflexive thematic analysis guided how the authors made sense of these data. Three major themes were (a) preparation practices, (b) acculturation, and (c) emerging learning experiences. The findings provide helpful insights for (a) coach developers when preparing practitioners to work in different cultural settings, (b) club administrators to further inform their decisions when recruiting and working with foreign coaches, and (c) sports’ governing bodies to develop policies to support coaches’ acculturation in the new country.
KW - acculturation
KW - coach migration
KW - cultural psychology
KW - elite sport
KW - leadership
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85214410643&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1123/iscj.2023-0098
DO - 10.1123/iscj.2023-0098
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85214410643
SN - 2328-918X
VL - 12
SP - 104
EP - 115
JO - International Sport Coaching Journal
JF - International Sport Coaching Journal
IS - 1
ER -