A Qualitative Investigation into Sports Coaches Navigation of their Micro-Role Transitions

This study explores how Swedish sports coaches experience and navigates micro-role transitions in their everyday lives. Micro-role transitions refer to the frequent psychological and practical shifts between different life roles, such as coach, parent, employee, or partner. Drawing on qualitative data from semi-structured interviews with seven coaches across various sports and competitive levels, the study uses thematic analysis to examine the emotional and cognitive demands of these transitions. The findings reveal that coaches continuously switch between overlapping roles with limited recovery time, often experiencing emotional strain, identity conflict, and feelings of guilt. Despite these challenges, participants actively employed mental, physical, and social strategies, such as planning routines, recovery rituals, and social support, to manage the complexity of their lives. A strong intrinsic motivation and a desire to give back to their communities emerged as a common thread across the interviews, functioning as a key driving force that helped coaches persevere through demanding transitions. The results highlight the importance of recognizing coaches as multirole individuals whose well-being depends not only on personal coping strategies but also on broader organizational support. This study contributes to the growing literature on coach wellbeing by emphasizing the need for sustainable support systems that acknowledge the emotional labor and boundary-crossing nature of modern coaching roles. Keywords: sport coaching, micro-role transitions, work-life balance, emotional strain, qualitative research, Sweden