Historically, women like other marginalized and discriminated groups, have been compared to the manly model of sport as ‘others’ and often it is their feminine characteristics that are focused upon. In the coaching profession, women have yet to break through and be seen as equals to their male counterparts. Even as the number of women taking part in sports is increasing and equity between men’s and women’s sports is growing, there still remains areas within sport where women continue to struggle to gain more influence and power. High-performance coaching is an area where growth has been slow for women to gain a more equitable foothold. Men continue to dominate the role as the coach and continue to dominate even more so at the high-performance level of coaching. The aim of this qualitative study is to examine and explore the experiences of high-performance coaches in three Swedish sporting organizations and contribute to an understanding to what factors surround the underrepresentation of high-performance female coaches in sports organizations that are relatively gender equal in participants and leaders. A semi-structured interview was conducted with 5 individual high-performance coaches (3 female; 2 male) across swimming, skiing and triathlon. The results show a continuation of a flexible masculine hegemony in the role of a coach, but also changing attitudes and norms towards women as high-performance coaches. It also questions the organization and structure of the coaching role taking into consideration recommendations for changes in the work of a coach to make the profession more sustainable for both men and women.

Bakgrund: Relativ energibrist, att gå med energiunderskott över tid, är en realitet inom idrotten och det är också starkt kopplat till ätstörningar och stört ätbeteende. Forskningen pekar på att coacherna, på grund av sin närhet till de aktiva, är i en bra position för att upptäcka och agera på symptom på relativ energibrist, ätstörningar och stört ätbeteende. Man menar vidare att coacherna har för dålig kunskap på området. Syfte: Syftet med denna studie var att identifiera hur elitcoacher ser på sin kunskap, sin roll och sitt ansvar i den elitidrottskontext de tillhör när det gäller relativ energibrist, ätstörningar och stört ätbeteende inom idrotten och vad detta får för konsekvenser.Metod: Studien är genomförd med kvalitativ metod genom semistrukturerade intervjuer med 12 elitcoacher. Urvalet gav en bred representation vad gäller idrotters viktkänslighet. Intervjuerna analyserades med hjälp av Côte och Gilberts kunskapsformer och en modifierad modell av Henriksens ATDE – modell. Resultat: Resultatet visar att coachernas roller ser mycket olika ut i fråga om närheten till de aktiva. Detta påverkar i sin tur coachernas upplevelse av ansvar när det gäller upptäckt och agerande vad gäller relativ energibrist, ätstörningar och stört ätbeteende. Coacherna upplever ämnet relativ energibrist, ätstörningar och stört ätbeteende som laddat och känner sig inte bekväma att ta upp det med de aktiva. Man är rädd att trigga någon till ett stört ätbeteende eller en ätstörning och man menar att det finns ett tabu runt ämnet hos kollegor och specialidrottsförbund. Kunskapsluckor visar sig när det kommer till pedagogiska verktyg och interpersonell kunskap för att applicera sin kunskap i kost och nutrition när det gäller relativ energibrist, ätstörningar och stört ätbeteende. Slutsatser: En bredare kunskapssyn, utanför den teoretiska professionella kunskapen rekommenderas. Förslag på att vända på synen på coachernas kunskap, roll och ansvar föreslås: Börja med att titta på vilket ansvar man vill att coacherna ska ta, vilken roll kräver detta ansvar att coacherna har och till sist vilken kunskap saknas för att i rollen kunna ta det ansvar man önskar att coacherna skall ta. / Background: Relative energy deficiency, to be in an energy defiency over time, is a reality in sport and is conected to eating disorders and disorded eating. According to research, coaches are in a position that could facilitate identification and early interventions on symptoms of relative energy deficiency, eating disorder and disorded eating. Research also notes that the coaches lack in knowledge on the subject. Purpose: The aim of this thesis was to identify how elite coaches perceive their knowledge, role and responsibility when it comes to relative energy deficinecy, eating disorder and disorded eating and the consecvenses that may follow.Method: The research is done with a qualitative approach through 12 semi-structured interviews with swedish elite coaches from a wide range of sports when it comes to weight- sensitivity. The interviews were alanlysed with help of Côte ang Gilberts model of knowledge and a modified version of Henriksens ATDE- model. Result: The result reveals that the role of the coaches differs a lot when it comes to the closeness to the athlete. This affects how the coaches perceive their responsibility when it comes to identification and early intervention in case of relative energy deficiency, eating disorder and disordered eating. The Coaches perceive relative energy deficiency, eating disoder and disordered eating as a loaded subject and they feel uncomfortable to talk about it with the athletes. They are afraid to trigger someone to disorded eating or an eating disorder and they sense a tabu with their colleagues and in the sports federation. There are gaps in coaches knowledge in pedagogy and interpersonal knowledge when it come to the application of knowledge about nutrition linked to relative energy deficiency, eating disorders and disorded eating. Conclusions: A broader view on knowledge, outside the theoretical professional knowledge is recommended. A proposal to change the order in which we think of the problem is formed. Start with figuring out what responsibility you want the coaches to have, then what role they need to have with that responsibility and last, what knowledge do the coaches need for theire role and what responibility you wish they should take.