Autonomy and Teamwork
Aarhus University
Online Workouts and Fitness Instructors’ Physical Autonomy in Times of the Covid-19 Pandemic View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Dominika Czarnecka
On March 14, 2020, Poland introduced the first lockdown of the fitness industry related to the Covid-19 pandemic. Further lockdowns were announced and lifted by the authorities several times after that, depending on the epidemiological situation. Many fitness instructors, who suddenly found themselves unable to teach their classes in fitness clubs, started to organise training sessions in an online form. The aim of this study is to explore the embodied experiences of female fitness instructors who responded to the change brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic by adopting an active coping strategy and moved their professional activity online. This paper not only touchs on how instructors continue to live out their ‘instructorhood’ online, but also how their engagement with digital media and technologies affects their physical autonomy and transforms their professional identity. Particular emphasis is put on the interrelations between the materiality of the human body in motion and the materiality of digital technologies. The paper is based on field work conducted in Poland (in-depth interviews with female fitness instructors, observant participation and personal experience of the researcher, as she herself has been working as a fitness instructor for years). The results of the research provide a more nuanced and complex image of the situation of fitness instructors during the Covid-19 pandemic, and of the embodied experiences of individuals facing changes related to the growing importance of digital technologies in fitness and the consequences thereof.
The Role of Leadership and Team Culture in Enhancing Sport Performance Outcomes
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Jennifer Walinga, Danielle Cyr
We reviewed the experience of eleven women rowers who reached their peak performance winning multiple gold medals across multiple events and boat classes in the 1992 Olympics. The case study, based on interviews, group discussions, and participant observation, reviewed their development from 1988 to 1992 and identified non-hierarchical values, structures, and environments as integral to their performance. Our research builds on Edgar Schein’s organizational culture model, which asserts that fundamental assumptions underlie governing values and beliefs that manifest in various cultural organizational artifacts, such as leadership practices, team process, structures, mechanisms, and routines. The study discusses the interaction of coach and athlete roles with both roles being agents in cultural development.
