Theoretical foundation for the ethics of coaching sport

Purpose The purpose of this study lies in: 1) clarifying what constitutes coaching ethics; 2) providing a theory to set up a coaching ethics in Korea; 3) and offer a direction to coaching ethics based on its normative traits. Methods In order to achieve this purpose, the following has been done: 1) a review of existing literature has been done to analyze the relationship between professionalism and ethics in coaching and explicate the concept and necessity of coaching ethics; 2) an effort has been made to answer such questions as “why and how much should a coach be ethical?”; “How should a coach be ethically evaluated?”; 3) An analysis of ethical responsibility embedded in coaching has been done, focusing on four ethical theories: Kantian categorical imperative, Aristotelian phronesis, Simon’s broad internalism, and Morgan’s conventionalism. Results This study reviews prior literature considering the relationship between professionalism and ethics in coaching and offers theoretical evidence to explain coaching ethics and its normative aspect. This will help resolve complicated ethical predicaments arising in the field. Conclusions This study emphasizes the role of coaches to improve fairness and wholesomeness in the field of sport, as well as suggests a coaching ethics required of a profession with internal regulations. Coaching ethics not only increases a sense of responsibility on the part of coaches but helps create a virtuous circle in which coaches’ ethical sensibility is reproduced in athletes as well. All in all, coaching ethics can stop important qualities of sport from deteriorating due to commercialism and the winner-takes-all attitude prevalent in sport today and contribute to a fair and wholesome sporting culture.