Playing by the (emotional) display rules: The everyday practices of coach educators

While the social and interactive complexity of coach education work has attracted increased scholarly attention, there is a paucity of work addressing the emotional display rules that feature in coach educators’ interactions with others. This article begins to address this lacuna by presenting novel insights into how the emotions that coach educators convey to their learners are shaped by identifiable display rules. Data were generated via 21 emotion diaries and 33 semi-structured interviews conducted with 4 coach educators. Using a phronetic iterative approach to data analysis, we identified that coach educators’ emotional performances were governed by four emotional display rules: (a) smile and be happy; (b) do not show any nerves or stage fright; (c) displays of anger are prohibited; and (d) strategic displays of disappointment are permitted. The identification of distinct feeling rules and impacts on the emotional labour work of coach educators makes an original contribution to the sociology of emotions in sport, understanding of coach educators’ work, and has significant practical implications regarding the preparation, support, and development of a pedagogically astute and cared-for coach education workforce.