This document discusses the role of tennis coaching within school and society from different sociological perspectives. It describes how tennis coaching provides leadership opportunities and benefits students by improving grades, attendance, social engagement, and college opportunities. It analyzes tennis coaching through the lenses of functionalism, conflict theory, and interpretivism. It also explains the author's view that tennis coaching inspires students and can have significant lifelong benefits by providing new goals and a potential love of the sport.

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Tennis Coaching and
School and Society
Emily Auten

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Coaching as Service
 Coaching is a great service opportunity that allows one to be a
positive influence in the lives of students
 Become a leader and role model for students who wish to be
involved in extracurricular activities
 Inspire students to forge friendships and bonds outside of a school
setting
 Provide students with set goals and expectations
 The value of extracurricular activities
 Higher attendance rate
 Better GPAs
 Social engagement improvement
 Improved college opportunities
 Source:

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Tennis Coaching as Related to
School and Society
 School
 Tennis “serves” as a school sponsored activity
 Grades influence student participation
 Detentions/disciplinary actions influence participation
 Represents one part of the school
 Society
 Friends, relationships
 Parent participation
 Tennis as a method of connecting with others and competing
against other schools and cultures
 The culture of “athletes”

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The Functionalist View
 Extracurricular activities as an integral function of school
life
 Extracurriculars influence behavior and develop a more
well rounded individual
 Coaches are seen as one of the “gears” that guide players
in an industrial society to succeed
 Rewards based on achieved characteristics (medals,
winning matches, coaches support)
 Ascribed characteristics are almost non-existent in tennis, one
must work their way to starting positions
 Equal opportunity to succeed

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Conflict Theory
 Two perspectives- positive and negative
 Positive
 Tennis is a no-cut program that allows students from all social
classes to participate
 Coaches do not discriminate based on social class, as everyone is
given a fair chance to succeed through practice and dedication
 Negative
 Tennis in itself is an expensive sport to practice during the off
season
 Those who practice all year round have a distinct advantage
 The advantage is given to those who can pay for lessons, which
further promotes class divisions
 Games are then almost considered useless against more privileged
and wealthier schools

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Interpretivist Approach
 A focus on the individual
 Local v. global orientation
 A focus on the team’s achievement rather than comparing it across
schools
 Tennis as a culture-does it fit in with other school groups/cultures?
 “Rules of the game”
 Focus on a mutual understanding
 A shared love and interest in tennis
 Players learn the “game” by observing
 Learn how to interpret others and react in certain situations

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My Approach
 Tennis, like any extracurricular activity, has significant benefits
for students.
 It provides students with a new set of goals to integrate in their
everyday lives
 Tennis coaching is very inspiring
 Students may not even be able to hold a racquet on their first day,
but in a few weeks they will start to hit the ball, in a few years they
will be in the starting varsity lineup
 Students who have been cut from their other sports might find a love
in tennis and continue to play it through the rest of their lives.
 Tennis changed my life, and it can change other’s too.