The (Even More So) Invisible Women of Tennis: The Career Narratives of Mother-Coaches

Little progress has been made in addressing the persistent underrepresentation of women in the occupational sport landscape. Research on female coaches has often tended to homogenize their experiences, overlooking diversity among women. This study examines the intersection of motherhood and tennis coaching to provide a nuanced insight into the complexities of the sport’s gendered culture. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 10 mother-coaches, who held a plethora of high-level qualifications and professional experiences. A narrative analysis was conducted informing the development of three composite vignettes: invisible success; what I can’t, not what I can; and hidden motherhood. Acker’s theory of gendered organizations provided a powerful analytical tool to understand how gender operates within tennis coaching. The findings revealed that (a) the substructures of the tennis coaching landscape are dominated by ideals aligned with traditionally masculine traits, leading to female coaches being undervalued and less visible; (b) female coaches are judged by criteria, driven by a narrow set of sociocultural norms that do not recognize their full worth; and (c) assumptions that a coach is devoid of commitments outside of their profession further distances mother-coaches from that of the “ideal” coach. These gendered processes intertwine and compound each other to alienate and distance mother-coaches from the tennis coaching profession. This work sheds light on the subtle but systemic forms of oppression within tennis, offering crucial insights to inform the challenging but necessary process of cultural change within the sport.