Longevity in Elite Coaching: Motives and Maneuvers Keeping Them in the Game

ABSTRACT In a qualitative study, we examined experiences from six Olympic coaches from medal winning sports in Norway. We sampled these coaches purposefully based on their athlete and sport development, results, and longevity as national team coaches. The semistructured interviews focused on these coaches’ experiences and strategies, identifying a series of motives and maneuvers as key constituents of longevity in national team coaching, using self-determination theory and the concept of passion to examine the data. These motives relate to connectedness and passion for the sport, coaching, and continuous growth. The maneuvers highlighted are securing of support from important others and from their organizations, maintaining a balance between short- and long-term development, and caring for the person’s own physical and mental health. We position our findings in the context of the literature and draw implications for coaches aspiring to a long career in sport coaching.