Beyond X's and O's: Characterizing Coach-Athlete Relationships in Sports-Related Young Adult Fiction

• In Event: 66.089 - Sheraton Roundtable Session 13 - Grand Centre
  In Roundtable Session: 66.089-7 - Literature as a Lens to the Future: Depictions of Education and Teaching in Children's and Young Adult Literature

Abstract

Scholarship on young adult literature (YAL) often examines depictions of youth or teachers in those stories. Sports-related YAL, however, tends to include another prominent character: athletic coaches. The prominence of coaches in the lives of youth, and the relative dearth of scholarship examining their fictional representations, warrant the study of coaches in sports-related YAL. Therefore, this presentation highlights the findings of a thematic analysis examining how coaches and their relationships with adolescent-athletes are depicted in selected works of recommended contemporary YAL published between 2008 and 2017. Findings include five distinct relationships between coaches and adolescent-athletes represented across these texts: (a) coach-athlete; (b) mentor-protégé; (c) counselor-client; (d) victor-victim; and (e) master-puppet. Implications for teachers, teacher educators, and readers are provided.

Authors

• Luke Rodesiler, Purdue University Fort Wayne

• Mark A. Lewis, James Madison University