“He trusts me”: navigating the male weight room: emotions and reflective practice of a young, female strength and conditioning coach

This autoethnographic account illuminates the integration of emotions, emotional labour (EL), and reflective practice (RP) of a young, female strength and conditioning coach as she worked to resolve an interpersonal problem with a male athlete during the American football season. The lead author referred to her reflective journal from this season and engaged in retrospective reflection-on-action by writing analytical memos. She collaborated with the co-authors to develop an analytic and evocative account of her strength and conditioning coaching stories integrated with theoretical concepts. We draw upon the works of Goffman (1959) and Hochschild (1983) to depict the emotions and EL of the lead author during her front stage and backstage coaching performances. Furthermore, we can see the integration of emotions and EL throughout Schön’s reflective practice cycle. With this new knowledge, coaches and coach developers may mitigate the negative effects from EL associated with experiencing and resolving interpersonal coaching problems.