From Principles to Practice: A Theory of Micro-Ethics in Sport Coaching

Coaching is increasingly recognized as a complex, relational, and contextually embedded practice in which ethical questions are rarely encountered as clear-cut dilemmas or resolved through the straightforward application of formal principles. While existing research has examined coaching ethics through codes of conduct, safeguarding expectations (i.e., protection from abuse, neglect, exploitation, and other forms of harm), professional judgement, and dilemma-based reasoning, less attention has been paid to how coaches translate ethical commitments into action within the unfolding realities of practice. This article addresses that gap by advancing a practice-sensitive theory of micro-ethics in sport coaching. Micro-ethics is defined as the situated, moment-to-moment ethical sensemaking through which coaches notice, interpret, negotiate, and account for action within relational, institutional, and performance pressures. To articulate this theory, we develop a conceptual framework comprising four recursive processes: moral noticing, moral interpretation, moral negotiation, and moral accounting. Together, these processes explain how coaches recognize ethical significance, frame ambiguous situations, navigate competing demands, and justify their actions to themselves and others. We position ethical decision-making in coaching as a lived, socially situated, and practice-based accomplishment rather than a discrete cognitive event. Implications for coaching research, coach education, coach development, and organizational practice are provided.