ABSTRACT
Training sessions in Norwegian boxing clubs are often in gender-mixed groups, which means that men and women train together and have the same coaches. Hence, most women coach both male and female athletes in boxing. Still, recruiting female coaches has proven to be a major challenge. It is therefore essential to ask the following questions: Why do so few women make the transition from athletes to coaches? What kind of mastering and challenges do they face in their daily coaching practices? How does the Norway Female Box (NFB) understand and respond to this situation? This chapter aims to address these issues. More concretely, it explores how women boxing coaches experience their everyday lives in that role, and how the NBF’s intervention aims to address their situation. Like athletes, coaches often express a deep passion for their sport. Feminist studies have linked girls’ and women’s passion for sport to feelings of mastering, empowerment, and belonging, also when engaging in male-dominated sports.
