Athlete Learning in Elite Sport
A Cultural Framework
Routledge Research in Sports Coaching Series

Elite athletes lead a particular way of life, which creates significant learning and shapes their selves. This is the first sociological-pedagogical text to conceptualise athlete learning in elite sport and across athletic careers. It outlines theories of learning and argues for a cultural perspective capturing contextual influence, temporal changes, individual dispositions, and subjectivity.

Presented in three parts?landscaping elite sport and theorising athlete learning; showcasing athletes? learning in elite sport; and informing research and practice?the book features nine international, multi-contextual, and multi-experience case studies of athlete careers, experiences, and learning across individual and team sports such as boxing, rugby, basketball, hockey, and gymnastics.

This is fascinating reading for students, researchers, and practitioners in sport organisations, sports coaching, coach education, and sport sociology and pedagogy.

Introduction, Part I: Landscaping Elite Sport and Theorising Athlete Learning, 1. Contemporary Elite Sport Landscape, 2. Existing Theories of Learning, 3. Cultural Perspective of Learning, Part II: Showcasing Athletes’ Learning in Elite Sport, 4.Maintaining a dual career horizon in women’s artistic gymnastics: A case of a female gymnast, 5. Learning through boxing: A case of a male boxer, 6. Learning through a semi-professional career and deselection: A case of a male ice hockey player, 7. Career learning in youth elite biathlon: A case of a male biathlete, 8. Learning through rugby, migration and a professional career: A case of a male rugby player, 9. Aging in professional sport: A case of a professional male basketball player, 10. The implications of sport attire and culture on Muslim women’s participation in elite boxing: A case of a female boxer, 11. The experience of an international female rugby player, 12. An auto-ethnographic account of one athlete’s journey to reconciling gender diversity through elite boxing: A case of a gender non-binary boxer, Part III: Informing Research and Practice, 13. Insights and Implications for Research and Practice, 14. Final Reflections

Natalie Barker-Ruchti is Associate Professor at the School of Health Sciences, Division of Sport, University of Örebro, Sweden. Prior to this appointment, and during the time of writing this book, Natalie was Associate Professor at the Department of Food and Nutrition and Sport Science at the University of Gothenburg. Her research focuses on coaches and coaching and on athletes and athlete learning. Examining specific elite sport contexts, coaching practices, and athletes’ experiences, Natalie’s research offers insight into the influence sport and coaches have on athletes’ performance, selves, and lives.