ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the cultural politics of working with elite athletes with a disability. The focus of the chapter is a coach who has dedicated his career to performance athletes with a disability Robert Ellchuk and draws on the coach's personal experiences and ethnographic work with four different coach-Paralympic athlete dyads. While his record is impressive three World Championship gold medals, a Commonwealth Games champion, a number of other podium finishes in World Championships and Paralympic Games we aim to explore the challenges that are faced by coaches working with elite athletes with a disability. By drawing on the coach's personal experiences and ethnographic work with four different coach-Paralympic athlete dyads, we present a reflexive conversation. Dr Anthony Bush is a lecturer in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Science at the University of Bath. His research interests include the development of interpretive-critical research methodologies and engaging a cultural studies sensibility with sports coaching research.
