Shouldering The Burden: How stories shape esports coaching careers

Swettenham, L ORCID: 0000-0002-7010-6543, Brain, J, Watson, M, Quartiroli, A and Beggan, A (2026) Shouldering The Burden: How stories shape esports coaching careers. Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health. pp. 1-17. ISSN 2159-676X

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Abstract

Esports coaches have become a prominent feature of the esports landscape, yet currently not much is known about esports coaching practices, research, and education. Consequently, esports coaches have had to navigate their development in the absence of standardised pathways and a context-specific research base. There is much we can learn from the organic evolution of esports coaching practice, so we used narrative inquiry to understand the processes and resources esports coaches’ employ in shaping their careers and development. Narrative interviews were conducted to collect the stories from 11 professional esports coaches (10 men, 1 woman) and were analysed using creative analytic practices (CAP). Thematic narrative analysis informed our construction of four creative non-fiction vignettes that portrayed the current sociocultural performance of the role, ‘esports coach’, and highlighted the (un)available resources affording personal and professional development. We reflect on our CAP by offering a response to the stories that are situated within existing literature on esports and traditional sports coaching, with implications for coach education in esports and the wider esports industry. To our knowledge, this study was the first to apply a creative-non-fiction approach to the experience of esports coaching.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	coach education; creative non-fiction; narrative inquiry; professional development; video games; 1106 Human Movement and Sports Sciences; 1303 Specialist Studies in Education; 1608 Sociology; 4206 Public health; 4207 Sports science and exercise; 5201 Applied and developmental psychology
Subjects:	G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GV Recreation Leisure > GV561 Sports > GV711 Coaching G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GV Recreation Leisure > GV561 Sports
Divisions:	Sport and Exercise Sciences
Publisher:	Routledge
Date of acceptance:	27 April 2026
Date of first compliant Open Access:	5 May 2026
Date Deposited:	05 May 2026 08:27
Last Modified:	05 May 2026 08:27
DOI or ID number:	10.1080/2159676X.2026.2667236
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/28516

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