ABSTRACT
This chapter explores some practical and theoretical challenges with applying an athlete-centred approach. It offers some suggestions and recommendations to those attempting to be athlete-centred coaches. The appeal of athlete-centred coaching is easy to understand; at its simplest level, the term means putting the needs of the athlete at the forefront of the coaching process. Every coaching context is unique and so what athlete-centred coaching looks like in one environment, or for any individual athlete, will never look the same as for any other. In order to tackle some of the difficulties which Foucauldian researchers have highlighted concerning power in the coach–athlete relationship, it is important to outline some of the key concepts which underpin these challenges, namely disempowerment, discipline and docility. In addition to understanding the context of the National Age Groups environment, it is important to make the connections to the current broader focus of Great Britain Hockey.
