“You can stay now, you are trusted”: navigating qualitative fieldwork in sport coaching

Simpson, H., Edwards, Christian ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4170-6475, Vinson, Don ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3116-4828 and Cale, Andrew (2024) “You can stay now, you are trusted”: navigating qualitative fieldwork in sport coaching. Sports Coaching Review. pp. 1-23. ISSN eISSN: 2164-0637; pISSN: 2164-0629

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Abstract

The study tells my story [Harley-Jean] as an ethnographic researcher, addressing the complexities within qualitative coaching fieldwork. I story how, during a season-long ethnographic study on basketball coaches’ decision-making, I negotiated the space as a researcher and became an integral and trusted member of their coaching context. Drawing on my arts-based reflective diary, I reflect on how I navigated my interactions with the coaches and negotiated the research space. My story contains three central plots: (1) “Who is [Harley-Jean]?” highlights how I started my journey in my selected research field. (2) “Passing Coach’s test” illustrates how I presented my worth within the Basketball context and negotiated trust, and (3) “You are trusted now, you can stay” captures how I became a trusted member of the team. The stories artfully convey the interactions and messiness of negotiating the position of a researcher and how building trusting relationships is central to high-quality fieldwork.

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