“Puppets” in Women’s Artistic Gymnastics: The Coach-Gymnast Relationship From Pierre Bourdieu’s Lens

Abstract

In Women's Artistic Gymnastics (WAG), athletes can be coach dependent, becoming submissive and this scenario may reflect subordination, harassment and abuse. This is worrying, because gymnasts are usually children. However, we argue that coach conduct depends on complex interactions. Thus, we analyzed how the coach-gymnast relationship is built. We used Pierre Bourdieu's categories to argue our reflections. We identified that the domination forms in the coach-gymnast relationship are responsible for shaping long-lasting dispositions, triggered by a process marked by the inculcation and embodiment of certain practices. Thus, gymnasts develop a class habitus that reproduces and legitimates the logic of this field. Our appropriation of Bourdieu's lens has shown that the gymnasts are at a disadvantage in relation to the coaches and to the system. Therefore, these structures should not demand early outcomes, but allow gymnasts to decide whether they want to continue in this “game of domination”.

Demands Stated by Artistic Gymnastics Coaches at the Beginning of Their Careers

“…Artistic Gymnastics (GA) aims to bring together complexity and perfection in gymnasts' execution of movements (Costa, Marques, Oliveira, & Nunomura, 2020). The coach's role is even more complex, since she must also create a safe environment in which the teaching-learning process of new acrobatics takes place while it is inevitable that some manual help and closeness between the coach and the gymnast will occur (Barker-Ruchti & Tinning, 2010).…”

“…In their studies, Côté, Salmela, Trudel, Baria, & Russell (1995) and Dowdell (2010) were the first to focus on AG coaches and provide an insight into the complexity of performance in this sport. Subsequently, several other studies have advanced this theme by investigating, for example, the intervention of AG coaches through the relationships established with the athletes (Costa et al, 2020;Oliveira, Bortoleto, & Nunomura, 2017); the coaches' level of knowledge about the motivational factors of athletes (Nunomura, Okade, & Carrara, 2012), and the knowledge required for teaching…”

“…When we think about the current AG situation, the training process has gained visibility in recent years because of the criticism and scandals related to sexual abuse and harassment reported in several countries (Novkov, 2019;Pinheiro, Pimenta, Resende, & Malcolm, 2014). This may be the result of unreasonable appreciation of coaches' for their professional knowledge due to AG's characteristic pursuit of perfection for competitive success (Costa et al, 2020). For Bortoleto & Schiavon (2016), advancement of scientific investigations may be one of the ways to minimize excessive striving for competitive results by gymnasts and moderate the authority of coaches while promoting more appropriate behaviors and a healthier sport environment.…”

How should we ensure that children are safeguarded in gymnastics?

“…The prepubertal child has the advantage of a higher power to weight ratio, thus the prepubertal physique has become favoured, to enhance the potential to perform difficult acrobatics which require significant strength. It was about this time that male coaches also increasingly became involved in training of female gymnasts [10,11,12].…”

“…How do we find a way forward and how do we develop best practice? We suggest that this area of concern requires not just reviews and enquiries but the following: sound research into child welfare and wellbeing in sport and elite sport to develop methods of re-incorporating parental voices and a fresh emphasis on wellbeing and child development into the elite sports environment while supporting child athletes to develop their own voices [12,13]; new approaches to governance and safeguarding in club and elite level sports which is more focussed on preventative and developmentally sound strategies to help children to grow and mature within positive, healthy sporting environments [7,8,11,13]; and increased co-working between mental health specialists (including psychiatrists), child development experts and the sports community to enhance the wellbeing of all children engaging in sport, as well as supporting those who are elite athletes to perform at the highest levels without paying an unacceptable price for their success.…”