John Downey is Professor of Comparative Media Analysis and Director of the Centre for Research in Communication and Culture at Loughborough University, UK. Currently, he serves ECREA as Vice-President and Sections, Temporary Working Groups and Networks co-ordinator.
How did you start coaching a children’s football team?
I played football competitively until about 10 years ago. When my son reached the age of 4 I started coaching him and his friends at a local football club. We started with a handful of children but now have three teams that play in the Young Elizabethan League, which is the largest youth football league in the UK. This season we won promotion and also won the cup.
What are the challenges and responsibilities of this hobby?
Coaching is enjoyable but far from easy. Getting the balance right between challenging the players to become better while emphasizing that playing is primarily for fun is sometimes difficult to achieve. Football is also an emotional rollercoaster both for the teams and the coaches. Creating the right team spirit and the right attitude to playing competitively is the most difficult thing at the moment.
Does or did ever this hobby of coaching conflict with your work in university?
We train every Wednesday evening and play on Saturdays and Sundays. There are other coaches who can step in if I’m unavailable and the parents are usually supportive.
Do you feel it helps in any way your work as Professor? Or in what ways, if any, does it harm?
It certainly takes my mind off my day job and stops me working at weekends, which is probably a good thing.
Would you recommend your hobby to other academics?
I would definitely recommend the idea of doing volunteer work with and for people who you wouldn’t usually deal with in the day job. In the UK we’re struggling to find people who are prepared to be school governors, coaches and so on.
Ana Jorge
