Too: An Ethnographic Study Of A Football Coaching Discourse Community

Coaches Can Read, Too: An Ethnographic Study of a Football Coaching Discourse Community by Sean Branick is a piece about how many people think coaching isn’t a literacy. Branick says, “The main responsibility of the coach is to enable their athletes to attain levels of performance not otherwise achievable “(125). It is important for coaches to have five distinct qualities, they must be a teacher, organized, competitive, a learner, and a friend/mentor. Also it is important for coaches to set goals, so they can reach anticipated results. A coach must also inspire confidence into his/her players. This is called “Confidence in coaching” (Branick 126). Branick interviewed a group of coaches, with these interviews he applied open ended questions, so he could conclude how these coaches read their players and the game. The concept of reading both the players and the game can reveal how coaching can be applied to Tony Mirabelli’s multiple

Then he characterized the discourses into three distinct groups, goals, lexis, and genres. The coaches Branick interviewed, Coach Kelly and Coach Whilding, can be considered some of the most successful coaches in football today. He explains that they are successful because of their ability to set and reach their goals. Another example of discourse in football is lexis. Lexis are defined as, “A set of terms that are unique to the community” (Branick 129). Then Branick continues to explain how there are specific terms used by each team that only they know and understand. The lexis help save time, and help the team to be successful. Genre is the last example of a discourse in football. “A genre is a text that helps facilitate communication between people” (Branick 129). Examples of genres in football are playbooks, scouting reports, and play calling sheets. Goals, lexis, and genres are all considered to make up a football coaches