Coaching for privilege: coaches, soccer, and education in professional sports clubs in high-SES cities in Israel

Abstract This article examines two key questions: How do coaches working in professional soccer clubs with high socioeconomic class (SES) high-school student define their role? Do the coaches’ definitions of the role affect the reproduction of privilege, and how so? Drawing on qualitative interviews with 15 coaches operating in professional soccer clubs in high-SES cities in Israel, we identified four key components of the coaches’ role: coaches’ descriptions of the youth and their class’s living spaces; the coaches’ role perception; key values subscribed to by coaches; and students’ future orientation (How does the coach see the youths in adulthood). These findings were discussed in light of their significance and implications for forming and cultivating habitus and elite or privileged identity among high-SES youth-players (the linkage of position and disposition) in informal educational spaces.


Introduction
Recent studies have revealed how it has become more difficult for elite members to secure their privileges under the public dominance of the meritocratic discourse and democratization of education (Howard 2022).Against this background, studies have reported parents' intensive efforts at concerted cultivation (Lareau 2011;Worikoo 2020) to ensure their children's class privileges.Education studies have also revealed how elite educational spaces (i.e.schools, boarding schools, and universities) function as distinguished spaces (Kenway and Prosser 2015) to produce students' privilege and elite identities.This educational work is accomplished, among other things, by emphasizing specific discourses, such as the neoliberal discourse (Demerath 2009), the meritocratic discourse, and the psychological discourse.Subscribing to these discourses, in turn, inspires several qualities in graduates, including solipsistic consciousness (Kraus et al. 2012;Shoshana 2017) and cultivation of specific cultural capital, such as feeling comfortable with authority figures (Calarco 2018), legal consciousness (Young and Billings 2020), a sense of ease (Bourdieu 1984;Halvorsen 2022;Khan 2012), and a sense of entitlement (Lareau 2011).Furthermore, these educational spaces adopt specific practices to establish experiences of distinction, superiority, and extraordinariness, such as 'stellar senior' (Demerath 2009).The consequence of this frenetic educational work is the production of a specific elite identity, such as assured optimism (Forbes and Lingard 2015) and future-oriented attitudes (Silva and Corse 2018).
Following Bourdieu (1978), studies have described how participation in sports activities plays a significant role in this organized production of elite identity and in the reproduction of privilege (DeLuca and Andrews 2016;Stuij 2015).Thus, sports comprise a critical arena for establishing and maintaining two central life resources: cultural capital (i.e.educational credentials and the possession of legitimate knowledge, traits, skills, and tastes) and habitus (i.e. an array of dispositions that individuals acquire through socialization, or what Bourdieu (1984) called second nature that became first nature.Some of the sports in which participants are primarily members of higher socioeconomic (SES) classes (such as sailing, swimming, golf, tennis, and cricket; see Townsend and Cushion 2017) have been described as imparting qualities and skills or physical capital (practicing strategic thinking more suitable to the bourgeoisie and valued in other elite spaces such as academia and employment).It is noteworthy that whereas middle and upper economic class parents are aware that their children will not become professional athletes, they encourage acquiring the cultural capital involved in participating in sports, such as competition, achievement, and discipline (Lenartowicz 2016).This cultural capital, then, will convert into economic capital and symbolic capital (i.e.obtaining prestigious positions and engaging in sports themselves as symbolic capital; see Swanson 2009).The sports associated with low-SES classes (e.g.soccer, boxing, wrestling, weightlifting) are perceived by the dominant elite and various gatekeepers as characterizing mere physical might such as brutality and pain (Bourdieu 1978;Schmitt, Atencio, and Sempé 2020).
Relatively little research has addressed the role of sports coaches, as influential actors operating in informal educational spaces and within professional clubs for high-schools students, on these processes of producing class habitus, the transmission of advantage, and maintenance of privilege and inequality (Halvorsen 2022).On this background, the present article proposes two key research questions: How do coaches working in professional soccer clubs with high-SES youth define their role?Do the coaches' definitions of the role affect the reproduction of privilege, and how so?
Examining the social dynamics of coaching is important because formal educational spaces (such as schools and boarding schools) and informal ones (such as enrichment classes and professional sports) function as a distinguished space (Kenway and Prosser 2015) to promote elite socialization, establish distinctions, and elite habitus (Howard 2008).Moreover, examining the role of coaches has broad implications as sports participation is one of the most notable informal educational arenas in which children and youth operate.Indeed, studies have revealed that few children and adolescents will become professional athletes in adulthood and earn their livelihood in that capacity.In Israel, for example, about half a million boys and girls engage in sports in schools, community centers, and sports clubs and invest about 12-15 h a week in training and games (Noza 2018).This domination of sports barely allows children to engage in other leisure activities, making the sports arena the largest informal 'youth movement' in Israel, with more participants than all other youth movements combined.The number of participants in all youth movements in Israel (such as the Scouts) is 350,000 (Zarchovich 2018).Estimates reveal that between 1%-2% of athletes who participate in sports classes in Israel will pursue their sports careers professionally after age 18 (Yaaron 2010).In comparison, in the major sports divisions in the USA, few youth-players will turn their sports careers into professional careers after the age of 18.For example, in American football the chances of becoming a professional are 1-4,233 (0.02%); in men's basketball, 1-11,771 (0.008%); in women's basketball, 1-13,015 (0.007%); and in soccer, 1-5768 (0.017%; Luke 2016).
The present findings reveal how coaches describe their youth-players using a vocabulary of praise and emphasizing their exceptional qualities.They portrayed these descriptions as badges of distinction.The coaches also delineated their role through values of professionalism and strategic cultivation of the youths' exceptional habitus.Thus, one of the key descriptions of their role emphasized the ethos of the youth standing out (Eriksen and Stefansen 2022;Gillies 2005).Furthermore, describing their youth-players, the coaches highlighted a positive, open future orientation, which included the youth populating elite spaces in their adulthood.They even related how they practice this future orientation with the youths.This future orientation and its practice operate as mechanisms for producing cultural capital (Appadurai 2004).

Coaches, sports, and education
Several studies have reported that coaches play a vital role in creating positive developmental environments as a consequence of encountering a significant adult serving as a role model (Townsend and Cushion 2017).This aspect of holistic development can be critical to the development of optimal socialization and the acquisition of vital life skills (Baltzell and Akhtar 2014).In the early 2000s, the coach's educational function was reinforced in studies conducted in the United States (Cassidy, Potrac, and McKenzie 2006).The coach has evolved from an authoritative figure who gives instructions and motivates achievement to an influential central figure impacting educational and social elements in the athlete's life.
A study conducted in the U.S. examined a specialization program for soccer coaches, begun in 2013 and run by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA; Kjaer 2019).The study explored what the coaching profession ought to have in its toolbox to accommodate the needs of 21st-century training.Three key components have been described in the NSCAA study as contributing factors.The first is sports knowledge, consisting of specific content and skills of the sports world.The second is interpersonal knowledge, whose intention is to connect and communicate with parents, interested colleagues, and especially the athletes.The third is the interpersonal ability to read, respond, and reflect on events to the athletes that occur during training and games, such as improving confidence.Coaches are expected to help athletes improve specific skills, such as tactics and technique.Moreover, they are expected to hold their athletes in high regard holistically and improve their confidence, social connections, values, and skills, such as respect for sports and others (morality), integrity, empathy and responsibility, and the ability to make positive connections both within and outside the sport (Kjaer 2019).
Another study examined the effect of coaches' behavior patterns on athletes' enjoyment and engagement in competitive sports, as well as the coaches' impact on traits such as players' self-esteem, ability, and anxiety (Smith, Smoll, and Barnett 1995).The findings revealed that athletes respond better to their coaches when they create a positive team atmosphere.The study further found that coaches who regularly provided their athletes with positive reinforcement produced athletes with higher self-esteem than coaches who did not provide positive reinforcement.Additional studies have provided empirical support for the relationship between coaches having a positive (harmonious) desire and their athletes' positive desire to engage in sports (Lafrenière et al. 2011).Positive passion among coaches has been found to facilitate athletes' developing a secure sense of self-worth that is not conditional on their athletic achievement.Coaches' positive passion was also linked to their athletes' subjective sense of well-being (Lafrenière et al. 2011).A study of sports coaches in American high schools found that most coaches evaluate their athletes' development using a holistic model, which implies acquiring different life skills through sports.For example, coaches hope to teach their athletes skills to facilitate academic performance, learn to be part of a team, and inculcate positive character traits such as athleticism and respect (Gould et al. 2007).

Class, education, and sports
Many researchers have described sports as instrumental in forging 'team spirit' in various aspects of society: ethnicity, class, cities, and the whole country.Bourdieu (1978), offering a distinct perspective on sports, argued that the fields of cultural production, which also include sports, serve as a cultural economy characterized by competing social classes within this space.Sports are thus an arena of struggle in which accessibility to various industries is intricately linked to class struggle processes.For example, Bourdieu (1978) noted that soccer is an exceedingly popular sport among the working class.In contrast, other sports (tennis, golf, sailing, swimming, and cricket) are associated with the upper classes or the bourgeoisie.
Belonging to the upper class means, among other things, acquiring habitus and specific cultural capital (Bourdieu 1984).Bourdieu described habitus applying metaphors from the world of sports, such as social playing ability and the feel for the game.This feeling refers to the experience of players in team ball-based games (e.g.soccer, basketball) to feel the field, feel the position of the opposing team's players and their own team's players, and move freely with or without the ball.The players' spontaneity and intuition create the impression that the game is in their blood and that they were born with the ability to play.These experiences and traits, acquired through complex education and learning processes, provide a sense of ease and naturalness to social actors and convey the message that the subject was seemingly born with them.
Having capital, especially economic and cultural capital, has the potential to mediate an individual's participation in a particular field, such as physical activity (Bourdieu 1978).Cultural capital can shape decisions related to physical activity since certain activities require a degree of cultural and social knowledge to participate in them.Economic and cultural capitals are also primarily driven by preferences, tastes, skills, and knowledge that vary according to social class (Wilson 2002).Bourdieu (1978) found that upper-class French people were more likely to participate in sports such as golf, tennis, and skiing than the lower classes, but less likely to be interested in boxing, rugby, and bodybuilding, sports perceived as demanding more physical contact and brute strength.
Most of the sports identified with the upper classes demonstrate 'virtues' that the upper classes perceive as cultural capital, are related to aesthetics, and are seen as being 'more sophisticated' and 'refined' (Schmitt, Atencio, and Sempé 2020).Certain sports, such as soccer, do not conform to upper-class preferences and are thus rejected, even labeled as harmful activities.Reasons for the upper classes rejecting those sports include their emphasis on the body as an instrument or an object of cultivation for its own sake, physical contact, and rigidity (Frey and Eitzen 1991).Therefore, the Bourdieusian analysis that links class with sports views activities such as boxing and wrestling as working-class activities in which physical strength is valued.Upper-class members are described as preferring and investing in various sporting activities in which the body is used more strategically and tactically, such as the sailing industry (Schmitt, Atencio, and Sempé 2020).The sailing culture has been described, for example, as linked to intellectual skills, such as navigation, route preparation, tactical and practical decision making, leadership, and problem-solving (Schmitt, Atencio, and Sempé 2020).
In recent decades, even after class barriers in sports were removed against the background of the meritocratic ethos, a clear affinity between class and sports has remained.Participation in sports such as golf, sailing, polo, and horseback riding, requires participants to be members of certain (usually private) clubs and involves considerable financial resources, which, consequently, exclude low-SES populations (Schmitt, Atencio, and Sempé 2020).
Along with all the descriptions that we have been proposed thus far, it is important to emphasize the arbitrary social construction of the link between types of sports and class, as well as the arbitrary construction of the link between types of sports and specific characteristics (mainly violence and undervalued use of the material body).Football (soccer) in Great Britain, as various researchers have already described, began as a sport for men of high SES.Throughout the century, in light of changes in cultural and economic conditions (such as immigration), soccer began to be more associated with the working class (Harvey 2005).The link between SES and rugby (as well as the construction of the physical characteristics attributed to rugby) has also been described, for example, as different in Great Britain and other European countries as compared to the USA (Collins 1998).(For a similar description of the game of basketball around the world see Batchelor 2005.)In other words, the arbitrary markers associated with different sports change over time and space.These changes over time and space teach, inter alia, about the ways in which sports (or the sporting habitus) play a central role in establishing and maintaining subjectivity, social identities and socio-political orders (Bourdieu 1978).

Study design
The study population Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics ranks all municipal units by clusters ranging between 1 (low-SES localities) and 10 (high-SES localities).The cluster rankings are based on variables such as the average number of persons per household, the percentage of recipients of income support, and the percentage of recipients of a high school matriculation certificate.This present study is based on interviews with 15 male soccer coaches who coach in upper-class localities (Clusters 8-10).All coaches work with high school students.
The participating coaches' age ranged from 24 to 50.All coaches studied in at the official training institutions for athletic instructors in Israel and held at least a soccer instructor certificate (first coaching level in Israel), which enabled them to coach children and youth.Half of the participating coaches held a coaching certificate (second coaching level in Israel), which allows them to coach youth teams and adults up to the amateur leagues.Most coaches were not employed solely as soccer coaches and had at least one other job that comprised their primary livelihood during daytime hours.Soccer training constituted their partial livelihood in the late afternoon and evening hours.
It is important to note that interviews with male coaches (who coach male students) is not coincidental.The overwhelming majority of professional soccer team coaches in Israel, as well as the youth-players, are males only.The number of females who play competitive soccer in Israel is 550, compared to 24,657 males.Most of the females' coaches are male (N.Sharvit, Supervisor at the Ministry of Sport, personal communication, August 14, 2022).Below is a table describing the characteristics of the interviewees (Table 1): Participants were selected using purposeful sampling (Patton 2002).The primary criterion was soccer coaches affiliated with athletic organizations who coached high-school students.Finding suitable interviewees was done through acquaintances in the various clubs (e.g.team managers, coaches, managers).The first author is a former soccer player and currently works as a field activity manager for an educational association that deals with sports.These affiliations greatly facilitated developing conversations with the coaches using their lexicon and thus acquiring their trust.

Research tools
The research tool in this study is a semi-structured in-depth interview.The interviews, which lasted about an hour, comprised several sections: background details (sports training, daily agenda); perception of the coach's role ('Do you perceive yourself more as a coach or more as an educator?';'What do you view as success?');important values and social skills ('What are the key values that are important for you to impart to your players'); parents' expectations ('What are the parents' expectations of you as a coach?); working in different life spaces ('What makes working with children in this area special?'); and future orientation ('How do you envision your players' future?').
The interviews were recorded using a mobile recorder with the interviewees' consent and were then transcribed.The final six interviews took place remotely on Zoom as the Covid crisis began (March 2020).The names of the coaches have been changed to maintain their anonymity.

Data analysis
All interviews were analyzed using the methodological processes proposed by grounded theory (Strauss and Corbin 1998).On this background, open readings were done on the transcripts to identify various themes freely mentioned by the coaches, independent of the research questions.In the next stage, focused readings were done through the lens of the research questions: the coaches' perception of their role; the core values that coaches impart to players through coaching and play; and the future orientation of youths.In the last stage, the transcripts were read to examine whether the coaches addressed various themes and issues not identified in previous readings.

Description of the youths and their class living spaces: 'good kids' , 'good education' , and 'extras'
High-SES Cities have been described by way in terms of economic and cultural capital (Bourdieu 1984).The coaches described the uniqueness of the space by citing the youths' economically comfortable homes, their educated parents, and their 'good education' .In addition, the coaches described the youths as 'polite', 'positive', 'refined', 'nerdy', and 'intelligent' .In an interview with Yossi, he described the uniqueness of the space with an emphasis on the level of education: 'In terms of education, from what I have seen, for example, I can be proud of where I work today… an economic class that is very well established' .The coaches described the prospects for the youths' development through their parents' economic resources in the high-SES cities.This is how Gad described it: The parents have the means; they have the wherewithal to take, to give, to do "extras, " offer personal training and expensive training camps, all sorts of things like that … there is more awareness in this area of professions … the children here do not face difficulties, let's say, like people in the periphery [geographical and social] have to deal with.
When we asked the coaches about the differences between the youth they coach and low-SES youth, the coaches noted character traits that need to be improved in their children to become good soccer players: 'they are too polite', 'too good', 'they have no evil in their eyes', 'too gentle', 'nerds' .At the same time, they argued that the youths can resolve these gaps because they are 'intelligent' .This is how Ronen described it: This part is the hardest to teach, the positive audacity, the badness, it's something I think usually either comes from home as you say, or you are born with it … The kids here are gentler [on the field], but there are also good things: They are much nicer, more respectful, and more intelligent [which serves them] tactically.For example, when you make calls [on the field], sometimes I really feel I am talking to children who are not 13, but 17 … as I see it, the children here are good and sometimes too good; they lack the evil that is in the eyes of those who are there [in low-SES cities]; children there fight for everything and are sometimes little arsim 1 on the field … they are arsim on the field, and we have [the] good children.
It is noteworthy that coaches described what high-SES youths lack to succeed in soccer.The traits they are lacking, and which, in their opinion, characterize low-SES youths, include impudence, motivation to fight for survival, and aggression.In other words, the coaches noted that the high-SES youths lacked the 'hungry eyes', attributed to low-SES youth, which they felt were necessary for success in soccer.At the same time, it is critical to note that the traits lacking in high-SES youth were described alongside their admired cultural capital, which includes intelligence, civility, politeness, and tactical abilities.The coaches employed aesthetic and refined vocabulary to describe the qualities they attributed to higher-SES youth in contrast with how they described the more physically oriented traits of the lower-SES youth (Schmitt, Atencio, and Sempé 2020).It is important to note in this context that the perception of the high SES class child or student as 'special' by parents and teachers, was also found in other studies (Vincent and Ball 2007).This positive perception serves as a means of transferring class position, positive self-images, and an elite identity based on distinction in relation to other children (Calarco 2018).

How do coaches perceive their role? Development, fulfillment of dreams, and professionalism
The coaches in high-SES localities focused on the importance of the youths' development and how their role could help leverage the youths and aid in overcoming obstacles in their lives outside of soccer.The coaches stressed that their role has an enormous impact on the lives and development of the youths.Avi described his role in this context: ' Although players sometimes train with me for only one year, if I see them in ten years also succeeding in soccer or other areas, I am sure I played a huge part in their success' .
Many coaches noted that they are expected to advance the youths' development in additional living spaces through the medium of soccer.The coaches also saw their job as a role model who significantly impacts the children's lives through their daily conduct, language, and messages.Chaim applied the metaphor of driving a car: Think of it as if I'm sitting in the driver's seat, and from my point of view, my players are seated next to me and behind me.How do I drive?If someone cuts me off on the road, do I swear and get upset, or stay patient?For me, everywhere I go, I am surrounded by players from the club who are watch and observe me at any given moment.
′Like Chaim, other coaches stressed the importance of being role models, with the goal of transforming youths into future leaders.The coaches presented themselves not only as those who care about the current well-being of the youths, but also as responsible for developing the youths' professional future and ensuring they have good lives.This is how Dan described it: My work today will significantly affect the future of these children and where they dream of being, if it is in large soccer organizations.But beyond soccer, they will be decent and valued athletes.
It is noteworthy that the coaches strongly emphasized their professionalism.Omer answered the question by comparing his current job with his previous work coaching low-SES children: It is not the same as coaching children from weak areas.There, you are more like their father-a substitute parent.Here [in a high-SES city], you are not their father or a substitute parent.They have strong parents; here, you are a professional coach.You must be a professional and treat them like strong youths; otherwise, you will not survive here, and their parents will fire you immediately.You must take care of these children but not worry that they will end up on the street, like the children from the poor neighborhoods … You must treat them as would a professional coach, just like a coach in a professional adult league … treat them like winners [said in English].They are exceptional, the elite of the elite, strong children, and your job is to make them even stronger.
It is interesting to note several descriptors that also appeared among other coaches' portrayals.Omer did not describe the high-SES youth in terms of the qualities they lack (a deficit model; see Atkins 2010), but rather through elite or exceptional subjective attributes.Second, Omer distinguished between the role of the coach in high-SES localities and low-SES localities.The coach's role in privileged class localities is described using professional metaphors ('like a coach in a professional adult league').In contrast, he described the coach's role in disadvantaged class localities in therapeutic and family terms ('father figure ' and 'substitute parent').Finally, Omer made use of the diverse types of caring required for different SES groups.For the disadvantaged class, low-expectation caring or therapeutic education is needed (Ecclestone and Hayes 2009).However, caring grounded in professionalism, excellence, and high-expectation pedagogy is required for the privileged class.This symbolic boundary work (Lamont 2000) between groups has also been described by other researchers as a mechanism for creating elite identity, transferring privilege, and maintaining social inequality (Gaztambide-Fernandez 2009).

Critical values of importance to the coach: professionalism, team spirit, being winners, and grit
The coaches emphasized professional values that can contribute to the youths' development in other life circles, both on the field and off.Coaches primarily emphasized team spirit, being winners, and goal setting (or grit; Stitzlein 2018) as important values.During the interview, Benny clarified the issue of team spirit: The chances of these kids becoming professional soccer players are small, but they will probably hold senior positions in companies such as high-tech, where it is vital to know how to work in a team.
The coaches described that the value of striving to win helped them keep the players highly motivated.This is how Hanoch described it: I'm very much a winner.I want them to be winners but not to win at each other's expense, to do it together … training and [top performance is required in] every game [is needed] to advance, conquer, and win … Winners do not give up when it's hard, and they overcome obstacles; you come across this a lot in soccer, getting up when it's hard.
The set of values and characteristics explicitly linked to grit was noted by Boaz: The critical values for me to convey to the children are an extension of what I learned in a training workshop I participated in last week: grit [and what does that mean?] … setting goals, long-term thinking, achievement, perseverance.These values are critical because they are special children from good families with strong family backgrounds.And it is vital for me to pass these values on to them because they will benefit from them in the future.These are cherished values in our society and essential for the senior positions they will occupy in the future … It's fun to work with these kids; they are like friends, no need for discipline; they are talented and come prepared from home with the right values, which makes my job easier.
It is noteworthy that Boaz, like other coaches, described the array of traits and values he attributed to grit as signs of distinction, superiority, and social value (Forbes and Lingard 2015).It is also interesting to note that the coaches reported that they do not experience imparting values as a task that requires effort due to the youths' maturity.('I feel like I am not talking to adolescents, but rather to adults').As a result, coaches described their educational work as conducted in a non-hierarchical relationship with the youths, characterized by a flat hierarchy (Taylor 2021).This finding resonates with others reporting how high-SES children reveal a sense of comfort in interactions with authority figures (Calarco 2018).This sense of comfort has been described as cultural capital that assists these children in their professional future, which involves frequent interactions with authority figures and opportunities to use these figures to their advantage (Lareau 2011).

Future orientation -How does the coach see the youths in adulthood? 'the sky's the limit'
The coaches were also asked how they envision the future of the youths they coach.Future orientation is defined as the same descriptions and images individuals have about their future (Sulimani-Aidan 2017).Many researchers describe the therapeutic qualities of a positive future orientation among children and adolescents and its practice ('the capacity to aspire'; Appadurai 2004) by the adults in their lives, especially parents and teachers.Indeed, a positive future orientation comprises cultural capital that maintains privilege and improves life opportunities (for a review, see Shoshana 2020.)Relating to their youth-players' future, the interviewed coaches presented descriptions indicating openness, lack of boundaries, and a far-reaching gaze such as 'the sky's the limit'; 'they will make their dreams come true'; and 'they will achieve the goals and objectives they set for themselves' .The coaches also addressed their students' privileged class that is expected to guarantee them a successful future.This is how Ronen described it: Maybe from my entire team, one player will reach the [Israeli] Premier League; the rest, [I] see them leaving … everyone comes from a good home, and at school, they are good kids and are a very economically comfortable population, so I see them later doing significant things in society.
Benny offered a similar description: I want to envision them as players, but I am aware of the statistics …] My kids will assume the best positions in society so that they can positively influence as many people as possi-ble… be leaders in economics, high-tech, medicine, and act respectfully and ethically.
It is essential to point out that all the coaches offered portrayals that linked the children's future with their families' SES background.For example, Ran described the following: 'When there is a person who is very rich, he will have broader horizons, and he will have many more options, many more options' .
Alongside the description of the impact of the background of the youths' families on their future, the coaches stressed that they have an important and influential role in the youths' future.Adi emphasized: 'Everyone has their own standard from which they should aspire and rise; I help them do that' .
These descriptions of the open future of high-SES youths, their future assumption of senior positions, and the role of adults in their lives in achieving these goals resonate with research on producing and maintaining privileged identities in elite schools (Demerath 2009;Howard 2008).

Discussion
This article offers a Bourdieusian analysis of education, class, and sport through interviews with coaches in high-SES localities in Israel.The self-perceptions of coaches in educational spaces serving different SES populations have not been sufficiently studied.Along with examining the coaches' descriptions of their role, we also examined whether and how the coaches' descriptions of their job play a role in the reproduction of privilege.In doing so, this article joins a series of studies dealing with the construction and cultivation of elite identities and the connection between position and disposition in different educational spaces (Howard 2008) and in specific sports (DeLuca and Andrews 2016).This study's findings suggest that coaches' perception of their role, their students, and the interactions between them comprise a manifestation of elite habitus at work which includes the intrinsic elements of class privilege (Howard 2008).The intrinsic privilege elements of class privilege mean that 'the influence of advantages on people's identities… as an identity or aspect of identity, privilege is a lens through which individuals with advantages view themselves, others, and the world around them' (Howard 2022, 7).
The production and characterization of the elite habitus were expressed first and foremost through how the coaches spoke about their youth-players.All coaches described the youths through positive qualities and praise ('from good families', 'special', 'high quality', 'intelligent', 'sophisticated', 'mature for their age', 'impressive', 'the cream of the crop').They described their students' family background in a similarly positive way ('good families', 'aristocratic families', 'strong', 'elite families').It is also critical to note that the coaches spoke about their students with great confidence, assurance, and assertiveness.
This analysis of the language used by the coaches to describe the youths is instructive in light of the many studies highlighting the significance of symbolic interactionism, explaining how significant others' assessments are positively related to children's self-image (Charmaz, Harris, and Irvine 2019).Furthermore, researchers have described how positivity, assertiveness, and self-confidence demonstrate a privileged position and are perceived as markers of distinction (Khan 2012).High-SES young people have been reported to be characterized by a sense of ease, naturalness, and entitlement, which convey high cultural capital and social value (Khan 2012).The present study suggests that the interactions between high-SES youth and their coaches, as well as students' interactions with teachers, as revealed in other studies (Worikoo 2020), may comprise one of the mechanisms for feelings of ease and entitlement among youths.The coaches in our study reported that their role in establishing and cultivating this cultural capital among their youth-players, often referred to as 'soft skills' (grit, positive future orientation, a sense of security; Forbes and Lingard 2015), was more substantial than that of the youths' teachers.Their explanation for this discrepancy in their favor lies in the fact that participation in professional sports is an informal space that characterizes soccer.
The coaches described how the traits and skills they cultivate in the youths indeed function as a badge of distinction but also necessitate informal and friendly relationships with the youths.Coaches emphasized that their communication style with youths is based on sharing and negotiating rather than one-sided directives.This dynamic is crucial in light of several studies about how this communication style inculcates cultural capital that helps high-SES young people acquire a sense of comfort with authority figures and feel natural seeking assistance and activating these authority figures in their favor (Calarco 2018).A recently published study supported these dynamics, finding that students exercise this cultural capital well into adulthood in other elite spaces, such as universities (Taylor 2021).
The conscious and strategic importance of the coaches to construct and cultivate cultural capital among their youth-players was also manifested in how they described their role.For them, the coach's role in sports clubs in high-SES cities is to further benefit and strengthen the qualities of the youth-players.The coaches stressed that it was their professional duty to cultivate the exceptional attributes that their students bring with them, enhance these qualities, and equip the players with additional critical attributes to support the privileged future that awaits them.In other words, the coaches stressed that nurturing the exceptional youth-players, rather than conforming and instilling 'normative' values (such as being a good and respectable citizen), is critical to their professional identity and essentially defines their professionalism.The coaches expressed how their professional identity is related to standing out rather than fitting in (Gillies 2005).According to Eriksen and Stefansen (2022), standing out rather than fitting in is a project of distinction.In this sense, the concerted cultivation work (Lareau 2011) or the standing out of the coaches in professional soccer clubs for high-SES youth dovetails with the high-SES parents' perspective, viewing sports and enrichment activities as a fortuitous space for attaining and practicing a habitus of privilege (Wheeler and Green 2019).
The interviews with the coaches revealed that the standing out task is achieved by supporting the youths with positive assessments (expressed in the language and compliments the coaches shower on them), accompanied by their informal and friendly relationships.
Moreover, the coaches promote standing out by participating in professional seminars for inculcating soft care skills (such as grit), prevalent in elite spaces.Another expression in our studies of class habitus (i.e. the transfer of advantages and privilege) relates to the future orientation of the youths as described by the coaches.This aspect of habitus and class replication has not been sufficiently studied, and as Forbes and Lingard (2015, 118) lamented, 'While habitus is the embodiment of the past, it also frames the future' .
The coaches described an open, positive future full of possibilities for the youths.The coaches depicted their players' future with great confidence because of their exceptional qualities, feeling they will fulfill any goal they set for themselves, fill senior positions in the future, and overcome any barrier.In other words, the coaches actively expressed and encouraged the colonialization of the future of the youths (Demerath 2009).It is also noteworthy that the coaches stressed the importance of practicing the youths' future orientation (the capacity to aspire; Appadurai 2004) with them through initiated conversations about their future, reviewing the options open to them, how they can equip themselves in the present for achieving their vision, and how to overcome limitations and barriers in pursuit of their dreams.These findings are important in light of reports of the benefits of a positive future orientation: greater academic achievement, success, resilience, mental well-being, upward social mobility, and lower levels of risk behavior (Sulimani-Aidan 2017).
These findings are also significant in light of findings that adults speaking with young people about their future, especially practicing the capacity to aspire, has been associated with achieving future goals.Scholars have found differences among SES populations, indicating that having a positive future orientation and practicing it comprise crucial cultural capital (Appadurai 2004).High-SES individuals are more likely than low-SES individuals to describe a relatively open future, emphasize their ability to control it, and envision themselves in elite, structural social positions.Moreover, they reported how the adults in their lives (i.e.parents and teachers) speak with them about the future and think with them about how to identify various options that suit them (Silva and Corse 2018).Talking about future orientation and practicing it serves as cultural capital that improves life opportunities and maintains privilege (Shoshana 2020).
To conclude, coaches assist in producing and cultivating privilege as identity (Howard 2008), acting as culture guides (Lareau 2015) for the youths.They exude a sense of confidence that the youths are exceptional, certain that these youth-players will be leaders in their future.The coaches engage in this role by employing an informal communication style reflected in a flat hierarchy (Taylor 2021).This ease of communication with adults may facilitate the youths' general sense of comfort with authority figures and their ability to activate them for their benefit.The coaches seem to have adopted a professional identity based on standing out rather than fitting in (Eriksen and Stefansen 2022).As this article suggests, together, the cited factors comprise a mechanism for producing elite privilege.Moreover, they provide a complex understanding of how privilege is acquired and legitimized among upper-SES youth in an informal educational space such as the professional soccer training field.

Research limitations and recommendations for future research
Our research is based on interviews with professional soccer coaches in sports clubs located in high SES cities and populated by students from wealthy families.It is important in future research to examine the coaches' role perceptions, as well as their descriptions and accounts of class identities, in sports clubs populated by children from low SES as well.For a more complex understanding of the link between class, sport, and habitus, it is also useful to interview coaches in other sports such as tennis and swimming.Such research can enrich our research understanding against the backdrop of the popularity of some sports in specific SES (Bourdieu 1978;DeLuca and Andrews 2016;Eriksen and Stefansen 2022).In view of that soccer coaches operate in a wider set of social relations, which was expressed for example in our study in the expectations of the parents of the youth-soccer players, it is worthwhile to interview students, parents, and teachers as well.The study of the descriptions and accounts of these social actors can offer additional perspectives on the ways in which professional sports, as a space of informal education, establish and reinforce privilege and inequality.
Two research issues that were not the focus of our article and extensive study deserve thorough and meticulous future research.The first issue is related to the link between gender and elite identities.Professional soccer in Israel is a male space.The soccer coaches and players are overwhelmingly men.The findings of our interviews indicate the coaches' descriptions (even if not sufficiently detailed) regarding the way in which the male friendship and intimacy between them and the youth-professional soccer players (for example: shared showers; the boys' perception of the coaches as male friends with whom they can have more personal conversations than with the teachers at the school, who are overwhelmingly female) helps them establish a personal relationship with the players and encourages them to become professional.Against this background, it would be interesting to find out how class habitus, elite identities, and privileges are related to gender.Moreover, it would be interesting to discover how gender intimacy serves as a resource and mechanism for the creation of specific social relations that establish privileges and elite identities.
A second issue is related to our explanations for the establishment and maintenance of privilege (and inequality) by the coaches.Our article particularly emphasizes the work of the coaches in different class spaces.At the same time, it is important to remember that broad structural characteristics may explain the coaches' descriptions.Israel, like other countries in the world (Tyson 2011), is characterized by geographical and social segregation based on SES.The youth from different SES live in different neighborhoods and cities and therefore do not meet or know each other.This structural feature, which can be characterized as symbolic violence in Bourdieu's terms (1999), also produces and reinforces privilege and social inequality 2 .It would be interesting to offer, through a separate future article, a critical reading of our findings against the background of the concept of symbolic violence.Such a reading may help garner a complex understanding of the role of informal education in establishing and maintaining educational stratification and social inequality.

Table 1 .
characteristics of the coaches.