Sports Coaching Review

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Sports coaching science in Brazil

Renato Francisco Rodrigues Marques, Myrian Nunomura & Rafael Pombo

Menezes

To cite this article: Renato Francisco Rodrigues Marques, Myrian Nunomura & Rafael
Pombo Menezes (2016): Sports coaching science in Brazil, Sports Coaching Review, DOI:
10.1080/21640629.2016.1198453

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/21640629.2016.1198453

Published online: 06 Jul 2016.

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 Sports Coaching Review, 2016
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/21640629.2016.1198453

GUEST EDITORIAL

Sports coaching science in Brazil

Introduction
Although the study of sports coaching in Brazil is not a new phenomenon, it has recently
witnessed a not insignificant upsurge. Subsequently, this special issue of Sports Coaching
Review is a welcome opportunity for some Brazilian researchers to present their work on
coaching and coach education. Brazil is a large country, with sizeable cultural diversity
and socio-economic inequality, which results in considerable heterogeneity among sports
practice contexts. Subsequently, a sociocultural approach to the study of coaching offers
much promise as an area of scholarly investigation. This is because it holds the potential
to better understand the different contexts within which sports practice is located; differ-
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ences that include the cultural features of various regions or groups complete with their
competencies, preferences and goals. A principal challenge for Brazilian scholars then is
to describe and understand this diversity. The subsequent aim of this special issue is to
offer an overview of sports coaching studies in Brazil; presenting research in terms of its
current condition and future trajectory.

Coaching as a more holistic and social practice

The past 15  years has witnessed a considerable growth in coaching research (Tozetto
et al., 2015) from a number of diverse theoretical and empirical perspectives (Gilbert &
Trudel, 2004). Such work was initially built on functionalist notions (Cushion & Jones,
2014), considering knowledge as something neutral, clean and sequential; to be sim-
ply given by the teacher or coach and unproblematically absorbed by athletes (Potrac &
Cassidy, 2006). From such a viewpoint, coaches were viewed as mere technicians involved
in the transfer of knowledge (Cassidy, Jones, & Potrac, 2009). This perspective adopted
a largely rationalistic bio-scientific epistemology based on physiological, psychological,
biomechanical and nutritional knowledge (Jones, 2007; Potrac, Brewer, Jones, Armour,
& Hoff, 2000). In more recent times, has been made that because sport is a plural and
heterogeneous phenomenon present in several kinds of social environments (Marques,
2015), it needs to be analysed through a sociological lens (Cushion & Jones, 2006; Jones
& Turner, 2006). Here, sports coaching has been portrayed as complex, interdisciplinary
and collective (Potrac et al., 2000), constantly shaped by, whilst also shaping, the culture
which houses it (Bourdieu, 1988). It is a practice which is both seemingly common, while
also manifestly different depending on the culture, expectations and social positions of
the agents involved (Bourdieu, 1978).
Following such a premise, such an approach to coaching recognises the importance of
cultural and social relationships within the process (Cassidy et al., 2009). Subsequently,
the coach is viewed as a person with multiple dimensions operating within given struc-
tural constraints in a dynamic social environment. Coaching, in turn, is considered to

© 2016 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group

 2    Guest Editorial

involve countless interactions between and among coaches, players, activities and other
interested parties, all shaping the context within which individual athletes train and per-
form (Matthews, Fleming, & Jones, 2013). As stated by Cassidy et al. (2009), coaching
involves knowledge and consideration of the subject matter knowledge, of pedagogy, of
self and of context. It is a view that has gathered credence, so much so that the focus of
research for many coaching scholars now lies on the complex micro-interactive educa-
tional relationships between a coach and athlete (Jones, Armour, & Potrac, 2002). This
is a relationship founded on both implicit and explicit interactions where teaching and
learning is not easily separated (Barker-Ruchti, Rynne, Lee, & Barker, 2014; Jones, 2007;
Wikeley & Bullock, 2006). Because of this, each sporting and related coaching practice
consists of a distinct learning culture (Barker-Ruchti & Schubring, 2016; Barker-Ruchti,
Barker, Rynne, & Lee, 2016). In other words, each act or enactment of coaching is influ-
enced by a specific sociocultural context which incorporates the habitus of many social
agents (Penney & McMahon, 2016).
Thinking about coaching through the sociocultural lens involves reflecting, not only
about what coaches do but also why and how they coach as they do (Gilbourne, Marshall,
& Knowles, 2013; Potrac et al., 2000). Such considerations demand a contextual insight
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which takes into account both elements of structure and agency and, in particular, how
that agency can be expanded towards sporting ends. For many, sports coaches are not
only responsible for directing practice and training sessions, but also for the general
education and well-being of athletes. In this respect, it has been argued that they also
act as quasi-teachers, counsellors and coordinators (Penney, 2006; Potrac et al., 2000).
Consequently, coaches need to be able to recognise how individual differences, such as
gender, ethnicity, socio-economic status and age (among others), can shape the athlete
as a person and as a performer (Matthews et al., 2013). In other words, to consider the
coaching role as a broader more holistic one than often portrayed (Cassidy et al., 2009),
coaching thus, has come to be perceived as more than just “sports teaching”; rather, the
coach is now seen as a guide through complex sociocultural learning-related processes
(Cushion, Armour, & Jones, 2006; Matthews et al., 2013).

Sports coaching: the Brazilian context

In Brazil, sport practices are a legal right, guaranteed to all citizens as indicated in the
National Constitution. It is a condition which, due to the large cultural diversity and ine-
quality within the country, gives rise to a great plurality of meaning and contexts.
In this respect, the Brazilian Ministry of Sports recognises four kinds of sport streams
(Brasil, 1998a):
(a) Educational sport – practised within educational systems, thus taking issue with
selectivity and over-competitiveness, whilst aiming to develop the whole person
for better citizenship.
(b) Participation sport – operated on a voluntary basis, with the goal to integrate sports
into a lifestyle; it also focuses on health promotion and environmental preservation.
(c) Performance sport – the emphasis here lies on achieving positive competitive
results and integrate people and communities inside the country and abroad. This
can be organised and practised on a professional or non-professional basis.
(d) Development sport: aquisition of sports knowledge that allows technical compe-
tence in sports intervention. The aim is to promote the qualitative and quantitative
improvement of sports practice in recreational, competitive and high level contexts.
 Sports Coaching Review   3

Although being enshrined in Federal Law 9.615/1998, this typology isn’t a consen-
sus among Brazilian scholars (Marques, 2015), but still drives the funding and man-
agement of sport policy in Brazil (Milistetd, Trudel, Mesquita, & Nascimento, 2014).
Similarly, sport coaching is a well-established legally regulated profession in Brazil (Brasil,
1998b). Indeed, since 1998, coaches are required to hold a Physical Education degree
irrespective of the contexts in which they work (Milistetd et al., 2014). This situation
approaches sports coaching education processes to the academic field, regarding some
particularities.
Since 2004, the national guidelines for Physical Education degree proposes two career
pathways: a) Physical Education teacher education major; b) bachelor’s degree focused
on three specific areas – health, leisure and sport performance (allows the bachelor in
Physical Education to work in all of them, except as Physical Education teacher in school).
This kind of formal education offers coaches knowledge of several theoretical frameworks
from different fields of knowledge. More specific and deeper formal education is also
offered by some sports federations (Milistetd et al., 2014; Nunomura, Oliveira, Roble,
& Carbinato, 2012), although some exceptions to this structure exist (e.g. that related to
football [see the article by Ricci, Moreira, Yoshimura and Pontoglio within this special
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issue]). Additionally, all coaches who were employed at least two years before the Law
9696/1998, and didn’t hold the Physical Education degree, just can work as sport coach if
conclude a preparatory course organised by the National Council of Physical Education
(CONFEF). A license is offered to act just in one single sport, that have already experienced
before the law (Almeida, Gutierrez, & Montagner, 2009).
Traditionally, investigations into sports coaching in Brazil have been undertaken by
scholars linked to sport pedagogy. This has involved such work concerned with teaching
interventions, exploring the more general sport experience, and the evaluation of sport
practices with different manifestations and meanings (Galatti, Reverdito, Scaglia, Paes,
& Seoane, 2014). Not unsurprisingly then, much of Brazilian coaching studies have been
rooted in the educational and human sciences. Hence, they have been largely founded on
the premise that sport/coaching is
(a) Complex (Menezes, 2012; Santana, 2005).
(b) A sociocultural phenomenon, structured in the interaction of cultural contexts and
the perceptions, meanings and singularities of the participants (habitus) (Marques,
2015; Marques, Almeida, & Gutierrez, 2007; Paes, 2001; Reverdito & Scaglia, 2009).
(c) An activity that demands principles – teaching sport for all; teaching well sport
for all; teaching more than sport; teaching to like and enjoy sport (Freire, 1998).
Considering that learning and culture are relational (Barker-Ruchti et al., 2016), and
that learning is an embodiment of culture, it is thus considered that sport pedagogy, and
hence coaching, must address the relationship between human, self and society (Potrac
et al., 2000). Echoing recent conceptualisations world-wide, this humanistic approach to
coaching studies is also evident in Brazil (i.e. the belief that coaching is, above all a social
practice). Consequently, although no doubt more work needs to be done, a common base
of understanding is increasingly in place.
As previously stated, this special issue of Sports Coaching Review aims to present some
coaching related studies developed by Brazilian researchers from the fields of education,
sport pedagogy and sociology of sport. The diversity of topics include;
(a) Coaching scenarios: from work in schools (Viotto Filho, 2016; Lima, Kiouranis, &
Marchi Júnior, 2016); in elite sport (Bortoleto & Schiavon, 2016; Gutierrez et al.,
2016; Oliveira, 2016); and in youth sport (Galatti et al., 2016; Hirama & Montagner,
 4    Guest Editorial

2016; Leonardo Filho, 2016; Reverdito et al., 2016).

(b) Coaching as a profession: here investigations explore the employment and legal
struggles embarked upon by coaches (Ricci et al., 2016); and the reasons for becom-
ing a coach (Carbinatto et al., 2016).
(c) Pedagogical perspectives: this covers procedures (Bortoleto & Schiavon, 2016; Lima,
et al., 2016; Oliveira, 2016; Galatti et al., 2016) and social relationships (Leonardo
Filho, 2016; Hirama & Montagner, 2016; Viotto Filho, 2016; Reverdito et al., 2016;
Nista-Piccolo & Sobreira, 2016) in relation to coaching.
(d) Coach learning: includes an examination of formal coach education (Milistetd
et al., 2016), and the influences of sociocultural profile and personal experience
on coach development (Gutierrez et al., 2016).
The range of approaches or topics related to sports coaching in Brazil does not end
with what we have presented here. Our hope was merely to show some of the diversity and
richness that surround the investigations in sports coaching in our country. We believe
that the invited authors provide insights, food for thought, and much inspiration for
further studies in the field. Furthermore, the authors reveal a contemporary perspective
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on this thematic taking into consideration coaching as a socio-cultural, complex and

educational practice.
Finally, we would like to thank the Editor-in-chief of Sports Coaching Review, Robyn
Jones, for the invitation to produce this special issue and for the opportunity to highlight
some of the on-going sports coaching research in Brazil. We hope you enjoy it.

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Renato Francisco Rodrigues Marques, Myrian Nunomura and

Rafael Pombo Menezes 
School of Physical Education and Sport of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo, Brazil
 http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7807-3494;  http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4842-641X