“I even called him coach at home”: A qualitative study on role conflict and coping in parent-coached elite athletes

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Study Details

Authors
Ayşegül Funda Alp & Elif Karagün
Published
2025
View the study
Citation
Alp, A. F., & Karagün, E. (2025). “I even called him coach at home”: A qualitative study on role conflict and coping in parent-coached elite athletes. International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching, 1–11. Advanced online publication.

This qualitative study examined how elite athletes experience having a parent as their coach, focusing on the emotional and relational consequences of overlapping family and coaching roles. Interviews were conducted with 11 elite athletes competing in taekwondo, judo, and karate (Mage = 26.8), all of whom had been coached by a parent for most of their careers. Using a phenomenological approach and inductive thematic analysis, the authors identified role conflict as the dominant theme shaping athletes’ experiences, with “success as a filial duty” emerging as a central organizing concept.

Key Findings

  • Athletes described blurred boundaries between home and sport, with the coaching role frequently extending into the household. Many felt unable to access a typical parent–child relationship, describing home as an extension of training or a “camp-like” environment.
  • Across interviews, athletes interpreted performance as repayment for parental sacrifice. This sense of duty intensified pressure during competition and heightened emotional strain after losses.
  • Common approaches included mentally distancing themselves during conflict, refusing to be coached by the parent during matches, immersing themselves in training, or relying on success to reduce relational tension.
  • According to athletes, parents frequently worried about fairness and public perception. Many coped by overcorrecting, imposing stricter discipline on their own children, maintaining rigid boundaries on the mat, or suppressing emotional expression.
  • Athletes noted that as they became more successful, pressure and conflict often diminished. Parent-coaches, in turn, viewed success as validation for earlier strictness.
  • The authors highlight that expectations around respect, gratitude, and parental obligation within Turkish sport culture intensified athletes’ feelings of moral responsibility and entrapment.

Practical Applications

  • Formal education may help parents navigate fairness concerns, emotional boundaries, and role separation more effectively.
  • Coaching behaviors and sport-related feedback should be limited in the home environment to allow athletes space for emotional recovery.
  • Parent-coaches should refrain from imposing harsher treatment to counteract perceptions of favoritism.
  • Athletes benefit when parents involve them in goal setting, acknowledge emotional needs, and maintain open communication.
  • The authors propose an “Hourglass Model,” recommending that the parenting role take priority at home and the coaching role take priority in training, with flexibility based on the athlete’s immediate needs.