Exploring the Potential for Changing Gender Norms Among Cricket Coaches and Athletes in India

Sample and Recruitment

A purposive sample of 24 coaches was recruited for key informant interviews from formal school-based cricket coaching programs. This sample included younger coaches with less than 5 years of coaching experience as well as older coaches with more than 10 years of experience. These coaches all worked directly with schools to provide coaching to selected boys aspiring to become competitive cricketers. Final sample size for the interviews was determined by content saturation as well as achieving a balanced sample of coaches from diverse backgrounds and experience. Coaches were recruited with the assistance of a school-based sports association in Mumbai, India. Following initial phone contact, interested coaches were asked to identify a convenient time and private place to conduct face-to-face interviews.

In addition, three focus groups were conducted with a convenience sample of young cricketers, ages 12 to 14 years (N = 47), who were recruited with the assistance of coaches, mentors, and physical education teachers. Two of the focus groups were conducted at schools, and a third at a local youth agency in a slum community, which provided mentoring and cricket coaching for boys. As noted above, school-based cricket teams (the focus for this adaptation of CBIM) tend to involve younger male athletes (ages 12-14); thus, the focus group discussions targeted this younger age group. These discussions were open-ended, encouraging youth to speak about their experiences with their coaches as well as examples of disrespectful or harmful behaviors they have observed among peers (especially fellow cricketers).

Research Ethics and Consent

The study protocol, including the informed consent process, was reviewed and approved by the International Center for Research on Women’s Institutional Review Board. Consent forms were translated into Hindi and Marathi and communicated to the study participants verbally as well as in writing. Male coaches who coach cricket with 10- to 16-year-old boys were eligible to participate. All participants were fully informed about the study, their right to refuse or to withdraw, and existing procedures for ensuring confidentiality of the information collected; they then reviewed and signed the written consent form. Each key informant interview with the coaches was led by a male interviewer and a male note taker and lasted approximately 30 min.

For the focus group discussions with the adolescents, parental consent forms were collected with the assistance of coaches who distributed the forms. The parental consent form was translated into Hindi, Marathi, and Urdu. Student cricketers first returned the signed parental consent form and then reviewed and signed their own assent form at the time of the focus group. Youth verbalized understanding of the voluntary nature and confidentiality of the focus group discussions.

Data Collection and Analysis

The interviewers (primarily master of social work students) were recruited and trained for 7 days on gender issues, masculinity, and violence as well as on how to conduct interviews around sensitive topics. These trained interviewers conducted semi-structured, open-ended interviews with coaches, which were digitally recorded and reviewed by one of the investigators for quality assurance. To encourage each participant’s full understanding and participation, interviews were conducted exclusively in the language in which the key informant was most comfortable. In addition, given varied interpretations of terms such as “masculinity,” “respect,” and “aggression,” participants were encouraged to discuss their own definitions of these terms. Interviews assessed their coaching experience; relationships with their athletes; their attitudes and perceptions toward gender equity, aggression, and violence within and outside sports; and perceptions of their responsibility and opportunity to mentor young boys. Digital recordings of these sessions were transcribed in the same language in which the interview was conducted, de-identified, and then translated into English by a professional translator.

Focus group discussions with adolescent cricketers occurred in private locations and were facilitated by two interviewers, audio recorded, transcribed, and translated as above. Discussions focused on what constitutes an ideal cricketer, coaches and role models, notions of gender equity and masculinity norms, the nature of their relationships with coaches as well as with girls, and attitudes about abusive and aggressive behaviors toward girls, including “eve-teasing” (verbal sexual harassment). As with the coaches’ interviews, youth were encouraged to define complex concepts (such as “masculinity”) and share specific examples during the discussions.

Utilizing a thematic analysis approach, an initial a priori code list was developed from the core interviews and focus group questions and additional codes were incorporated as new themes emerged from the transcripts. Each transcript was coded using ATLAS.ti software (ATLAS.ti, 1997-2004; Weitzman, 1999). The first three interviews were reviewed by two investigators and an initial list of codes generated that focused on key areas of interest (e.g., for coaches: coach as role model, attitudes toward cricket as a male sport, disrespectful and harmful behaviors among their athletes; for athletes: perspectives on good coaching, attitudes and experiences with teasing, and aggressive and abusive behaviors toward girls; Ryan & Bernard, 2000). All interviews were coded by two investigators, compared for agreement, and finalized. Additions of new codes or changes in code definitions were determined via consensus among the research team. Coding of interviews was ongoing while additional interviews were conducted. No new codes emerged after approximately six interviews were completed, suggesting content saturation was achieved. The current analysis focuses on codes related to the role of coaches’ behaviors and violence prevention, gender norms, and experiences with abusive and aggressive behaviors among youth in the context of playing cricket.

Coach Characteristics

Over a third (39%) of the coaches interviewed were above the age of 40. Of that group, 40% were 60 years or older. Approximately two thirds (65%) of the coaches reported having graduated from college, and another 29% had completed higher secondary school (12th standard) before getting involved in coaching as a profession. Of the coaches above 50 years of age, most had more than 25 years of coaching, indicating that many cricket coaches enter this profession at a young age and continue for many years.

The focus group discussions involved an even distribution of young cricketers ages 12 to 14. Themes, below, are presented from the coaches’ interviews followed by the athletes’ group discussions: first, on the role of coaches in addressing athletes’ behaviors, then how coaches model and teach respect, followed by coaches’ roles in addressing gender equity, and finally on aggression and violence in cricket.

Coaches’ Perspectives on Their Role in Influencing Athletes’ Behaviors

Most coaches recognized the impact they could have on the behavior and lives of the adolescent players whom they coach. They described heated arguments that emerge during cricket games, and the challenges in ensuring that their athletes maintain respectful behavior. However, in terms of activities that happen off the field, coaches struggled to define how far their role may extend. Some coaches articulated an understanding about their potential as role models for youth and their impact on young people beyond the outcome of cricket games. For example,

See you have to shape the personality of your boys and their commitments. In school we always tell them you should carry yourself like a cricketer with dress code and your manners (but) . . . the best coaches are parents . . . family is also responsible for shaping the personality.

How much influence we have among the children depends on this (bonding). After arriving on the field, I am entirely their coach. But outside the field I am their friend.

Other coaches defined their role as primarily building cricket skills, leaving life skills to family and others in the community:

Many a time we are unable to spend time supervising their training. We only teach them cricket, honing the skills that they already possess. How they behave depends on their personality and the qualities they display. There isn’t any one kind of personality.

The relationship between coaches and athletes was rarely described as casual or friendly. Coaches noted that the boys expect and enact a hierarchical relationship (including the common practice of students bowing and touching the feet of their coach), which coaches thought could be a barrier to discussing issues beyond cricket, particularly in the school-based setting. However, with training and guidance, coaches may be able to modify the formality of these relationships, taking advantage of the respect and admiration many inspire in the boys with whom they work. Some coaches hinted at understanding this potential:

The ideal coach serves as a mirror to reflect back which we fail to see about ourselves; he or she can point out things that you may have overlooked, and thus prevent little problems from developing into major issues. In addition to being friend, guide, reinforce, and your very own “supporter,” coach is someone who really cares a lot—and can contribute significantly to the quality of life of an athlete.

Boys’ Perspectives on Their Relationship With Their Coaches

In the focus group discussions, boys reflected that the relationship with a coach is like a master and disciple. Boys expressed interest in having their coaches talk to them about other aspects of their lives:

My coach is my Guru, he knows if I am doing something wrong and always takes a step to explain my mistake. When I become angry because of my performance, he is the one who talks to me, he works with each and every one.

Our coach spends so much time with us in the net. You will hardly find nowadays many elder members spending such time with boys. He teaches us everything about cricket and also explains to us if we are not behaving well. This makes him special in our life.

Teaching and Modeling Respect: Coaches’ Perspectives

Respectful behavior within the context of cricket and respect toward women and girls were explored sequentially with coaches. Coaches spoke openly about the respect they expect from their players, both in regard to the way they carry themselves on the field and how athletes speak to coaches. Respect within cricket games—toward opponents, toward coaches, and toward team mates—was endorsed and recognized as an important aspect of their relationships with athletes: “My boys are very disciplined. They know if they use any foul language they would not be there next time. I teach my boys to be honest with their effort.”

Reflecting this notion of teaching respect as an aspect of discipline, coaches recognized their role as authority figures for players, but were hesitant to extend that role into the personal sphere of players’ lives without proper training and the tools to do so. Although many of the coaches described an ideal coach as one who can guide athletes on and off the field, they reported lack of confidence and skills to comfortably and successfully make this transition.

The topic of respect toward women provoked a wide spectrum of responses. Some coaches endorsed respecting women as important, but felt that learning this respect should come from family, not from their influence as coaches:

It is very important to tell them that they should respect women. Yes, it is very essential. Another thing I would like to say is that such attitudes cannot be developed by school alone. I would say that the family background of a child is important because no matter how much we teachers work on them, such messages can get reversed as he goes home. This can make a lot of difference. No matter how much of value education we give to the child, only a conducive home environment will support the child in learning such things.

Other coaches spoke passionately about respect toward women. The basis of this respect was not founded in gender equity or equal treatment, however; rather, it was from the perspective of family respect. Coaches’ comments reflected more traditional gender roles and expectations that women are to be respected because they are “mothers” or “sisters”: “Respecting women comes from motherhood. If a child or a person respects his mother he will surely respect other women.” “Our mother is a first teacher in our life. She is also a woman. Our sister helps us. She is also a woman. You are respecting them, so why can’t you respect other women?”

Disrespectful behavior witnessed among athletes and most commonly reported by coaches was inappropriate language. Coaches felt comfortable disciplining athletes when hearing such disrespectful language, but did not connect such discipline with the need to explicitly address gender inequities implicit in such language. Only a few coaches admitted using such language themselves, such as comparing a boy’s bowling with that of a girl: “These boys tease the other boys, saying that they are playing like girls or women. I tell them, ‘Sorry, I will not accept such words.’” “Even in Indian matches, if one doesn’t ball or bat perfectly, they curse/scold using the name of mother or sisters.”

Whatever may be your professional position in society, be it the “security guard” or a “peon,” one should never show disrespect to a women. If any of my students will be disrespectful towards girls or women, I will definitely punish their behavior and tell them such behavior is a matter of dishonor.

For coaches, then, teaching and expecting respect from their athletes are generally regarded as part of maintaining discipline and honor, but do not necessarily extend to how their athletes use language that is degrading toward women. Coaches had varied responses to what constitutes disrespectful language toward women and girls and their role in addressing such language or behaviors, with many emphasizing that such education was the responsibility of the family.

Respect: Athletes’ Perspectives

Athletes’ reflections on respect concurred with those of the coaches. They described respect as something reflected through language and listening to elders. Respectful language off the field was generally something that was the purview of family. Respectful language toward coaches was endorsed, but generally, players openly discussed the use of disrespectful and baiting language on the field as an acceptable part of being a cricket athlete that was rarely addressed by coaches. Players endorsed and recognized differences between using respectful language on and off the field. Usually, such disrespectful language was directed at other boys, that is, boys putting down other players by comparing them with girls. As one athlete reflected,

It is normal for a player to tease each other and exchange abusive language when a match is on. We do not think that’s abuse, we use those words to demoralize the opponent team’s confidence. It’s part of the game and every player does that, even international players.

We do listen to our parents in almost all matters; they are the ones who decide. My mother has taught me how I should speak with elders in my family and among my relatives. Everyone learns about respect from their parents.

Saying to someone during the match “you are playing like a girl” is not something very serious. We try to boost the confidence of our fellow players by saying like this.

It is very important during a match to make your opponent player angry, to antagonize others, to make them upset. Most of the captains of the team use abusive language to control his team mates. These are very normal. I don’t think we should call this bad language.

Thus, while both boys and coaches agreed about the importance of using respectful language with elders and family as normative behavior, there was a noticeable gap in understanding the relationship between respect and gender inequitable attitudes and behaviors, with both coaches and boys describing language that is degrading toward women as part of the cricket game. For example, it is not clear whether boys perceive that respect toward girls outside of their family is a social or familial expectation, and whether coaches in fact recognize the importance of monitoring their boys’ language within the cricket setting and beyond. Coaches and boys were asked to discuss their attitudes regarding gender differences more broadly.

Gender Attitudes: Coaches’ Perspectives

Coaches were asked to think about gender norms, their own attitudes toward gender, and the behavior of their athletes toward girls. These discussions produced fewer examples and more probing was necessary. Some coaches were not as comfortable discussing gender and changed the subject, whereas other coaches did recognize some gender inequities and the importance of stepping in. For instance, “She is also someone’s sister and someone’s child . . . and if you have to misguide and misbehave with her, I would say it does not look good but very bad.”

Coaches appreciated that limited equality exists between boys and girls. Within the confines of their role as coaches, many expressed equitable views toward female inclusion. As the discussion moved further and further from the sphere of cricket, however, coaches revealed attitudes that demonstrated limited recognition of discrimination against women and their own acceptance of such gender discrimination: “India is a male dominated country . . . Gents have more power. But ladies are coming forwards.” “Yes, some deserve (respect). There is nothing wrong in saying this. Some women have a low image. It may be because of their obligation or economic situation.” “Some women are illiterate, so men take advantage of them. Men oppress such women because they think no one will bother (about) this.” For the most part, coaches did not express an understanding of gender inequities and gender roles, noting simply that cricket is a male sport.

Gender Attitudes: Athletes’ Perspectives

The boys’ reflections on gender differences and inequity were similar to their coaches. Respect for women is almost always discussed in terms of respect for a mother or sister. They also reflected on their own interactions with girls, both positive and negative. There was considerable reticence discussing “girlfriends” during the focus group discussions. In contrast, “eve-teasing,” a term in India used to refer to sexual harassment, was discussed in detail as common and expected among themselves and their peers, and not regarded as something to be avoided.

Aggression and Violence: Coaches’ Perspectives

Moving beyond gender norms, coaches were asked to reflect on aggression and violence, to provide insights for how to adapt and translate the CBIM gender violence prevention program. For coaches, aggression was discussed through two different lenses. Some coaches viewed aggression as a type of drive to be better, do better, and excel. They described aggression positively as a passion to win and as part of the game, a common and general behavior that is expected of boys. However, this type of aggression, while not negative, may not be as appropriate outside of the context of sports. The second lens through which aggression was viewed was more clearly negative, wherein athletes become antagonistic during matches: “Aggression is performance and is definitely necessary, but abusing and using foul language is not aggression; I would say that it is bad manners. It’s the passion to win, determination to do well.”

Regardless of the lens, while coaches define aggression in different ways, most of the coaches identified aggression as an expected aspect of the cricket game and most agreed that a certain level of aggression is valued in cricket:

See, aggression to a point is okay with me. It is essential to be aggressive. If you are not motivated enough you will not get into sports teaching. Aggression is definitely there and for that one needs to set one’s limits so that one is aware that you have crossed your own personal limits in aggression, and is able to pull back.

When one has an aggressive personality, there are bound to be some destructive components in your overall make-up. I would like to say that energy is putting together a combination of mental energy, physical energy and energy from the “soul” (spiritual energy) towards achieving something. When this happens you are fully charged with energy. When there is no need for such intensity, our energy levels remain dormant. Aggression is something that brings out the destruction factor in you. This can even lead to personal loss.

Although most of the coaches recognized the importance of aggression on the field to improve an athlete’s performance, they regarded the use of aggressive behaviors in other spheres of life with concern. While promoting controlled aggression on the field, the coaches did raise the importance of timely intervention when actual violence breaks out during games. Their responses varied, however, from talking to the team to suspending the players involved.

Aggression and Violence: Athletes’ Perspectives

Boys shared more explicit stories regarding fights and aggression in cricket. They described using baiting language and bullying during practice. Some boys suggested that although they knew violence was wrong, they felt it was difficult to control their emotions once provoked, and that coaches rarely stepped in to stop such aggression. These reflections, in combination with those of the coaches, suggest that aggression on the field is not uncommon and, in fact, that such aggression and outbursts were expected and tolerated in cricket. The players also revealed not having an understanding of how to manage their anger in the heat of competition, and that such angry outbursts were not unexpected.