A History of Sports Coaching in Britain: Overcoming Amateurism

This is the first book to examine the full history of British sports coaching, from its amateur roots in the deep nineteenth century to the high performance, high status professional coaching cultures of today. The book draws on primary source material, including the lost coaching lives of key individuals in British coaching. Tracing the continuing impact of the nineteenth century amateur ethos throughout the twentieth century, and the influence of developments in international coaching, particularly in North America and the Eastern Bloc, the book illuminates the origins of the organisations and philosophies that surround performance sport in Britain today.