Performance during performance: using Goffman to understand the behaviours of elite youth football coaches during games

The aim of this study was to investigate the social, contextual and situational factors that influence football coaches’ behaviour in competition. Twelve English youth professional coaches were observed over a five-month period using the Coach Analysis and Intervention System (CAIS). Two sets of interpretive interviews were subsequently utilized to identify the underlying processes and motivations for their behaviour. Using the work of Goffman as a lens to probe the data, it is suggested that coaching behaviour during games was largely performative, with the coaches’ behaviours dependent on social pressures and constraints. It is thus contended that the outcome was a form of ‘traditional coaching’ employed as impression management, as opposed to behaviours linked to pedagogical principles or the needs of athletes.