“À beira do gramado ou fora do jogo?”: as treinadoras do futebol de mulheres no Brasil

Abstract

This research sought to reflect on how the trajectories and experiences of women who occupied the position of soccer coaches, the style traditionally aimed at men in our society. In addition to this objective, it was sought to understand how the process of insertion and permanence of these women in the technical commissions takes place; identify challenges in building their careers and; know their longings about career prospects as a coach. This qualitative research is characterized as a descriptive study, which had as its methodology the references and presuppositions of Oral Thematic History. The collection technique used was the semistructured interview conducted with a group of nine coaches who participated in the Campeonato Brasileiro de Futebol Feminino Caixa (Brasileirão) and Copa do Brasil in the year 2017. The research was developed online and by telephone, during ten months, from March 2017 to January 2018. The trajectories of the soccer managers of Brazil are marked by the transposition of barriers and overcome of challenges from the occupation stage to the load of coaches. The process of insertion and permanence of the trainers in the commissions is related to the high degree of qualification that they present as well as to the good performance as athletes and professionals of the Physical Education. The coaches believe in possibilities of ascension in the midst of the new rules imposed by the bodies responsible for soccer in Brazil and America, as well as in the light of recent achievements of their peers, but they still see many barriers to remain and ascend in the profession, the career as still incipient and in conditions inferior to those offered to men. The trajectories of the trainers reflect the eminent resistance offered by women in spaces traditionally reserved for men and point to the effectiveness of the strategies of subversion used, which undermine the power relations established in this field and call into question the discourses of interdiction instituted in society.