01904nas a2200229   4500000000100000000000100001008004100002653001500043653001300058653003300071653001100104653002500115100001300140700001600153700002000169245006100189856015300250300001200403490000700415520123200422022002001654                                       d10aAmateurism10aCoaching10aIntangible cultural heritage10aLegacy10aLondon olympic games1 aDave Day1 aNeil Carter1 aTegan Carpenter00aThe Olympics, amateurism and Britain s coaching heritage  uhttps://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84876519471&doi=10.1080%2f13527258.2011.651742&partnerID=40&md5=ed5793d6528fcc549a8f2326751fccdb  a139-1520 v193 aAlthough an increase in the quality and availability of sports coaching is one of the  soft  legacy targets for the organisers of London 2012, little is actually known about the ongoing relationships between the Olympic Games and Britain s coaching traditions, social practices which form an important part of the nation s intangible cultural heritage. Using newspaper reports and organisational archives, this paper explores how the London Games in 1908 and 1948 impacted on British attitudes to coaching at the level of elite sport and highlights in the process the lasting impact of the cultural heritages of amateurism and voluntarism. The debates and coaching initiatives that followed these Games challenged some of the fundamental tenets of British sporting heritage but amateurism was so ingrained into the sporting culture that changes were always slow and highly contested. As Britain prepares for 2012, coaching is at the forefront of the drive for success but the experiences of previous home Olympics suggest that cultural heritages such as coaching practice can be highly resistant to change and that intangibles such as preferences for voluntarism will continue to impact on attempts to professionalise coaching.  a13527258 (ISSN)