Abstract
While all athletes are aging, in this chapter we refer to Masters Athletes (MAs) as adults typically over 35 years of age, who are formally registered for sport, and who engage in training to prepare for competitions. While this cohort of athletes is the one of the fastest growing cohorts in sport, research is only beginning to uncover the nuances involved in successfully and effectively coaching them. In this chapter, we first discuss the empirical findings related to coaching MAs from the first and second authors’ research endeavours. We then explore challenges for coach development. The practical implications of this research are divulged through the fourth author’s personal story of being a MA. Finally, the third author will share her story of being a long-time coach of MAs, including some of the challenges and considerations for coaches who wish to successfully enable these athletes to achieve their respective objectives in sport. We relate the findings to key points that promote coaching in the Masters community, whether professionally or on more of a volunteer basis.
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Notes
- 1.
All personal names in this chapter are pseudonyms, except the authors’ own names.
- 2.
A South Island (NZ) Golden Oldies women’s hockey weekend tournament has been played annually since 1983.
- 3.
- 4.
This is not to say some members of the teams, especially those competing in the competitive grades, did not know how many games they had won throughout the duration of the tournament.
- 5.
Despite me being in my 50s.
- 6.
The rules state that you can play in a grade that corresponds to the age you will turn that year.
- 7.
Beyond being an organizational issue, moving into a new competitive age category is often perceived as an advantage by participants, whereas being relatively-older in a category is seen as a competitive disadvantage, a motivational challenge to be navigated (see Medic, Young, & Grove, 2013).
- 8.
Founded in 1938, the Canadian Ski Instructors’ Alliance trains ski instructors across Canada and abroad. While their programs integrate the sport’s National Sport Organisation ski coach training as an instructor moves up the instructor pathway, the two organisations are separate. The highest level of ski instructor in Canada is Level 4.
- 9.
The use of the feminine in this case refers to either a female or male MA.
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Callary, B., Young, B.W., Culver, D.M., Cassidy, T. (2020). Coaching Aging Athletes. In: Resende, R., Gomes, A.R. (eds) Coaching for Human Development and Performance in Sports. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63912-9_12
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