Individuals` culture can have a large impact on many levels, including coach-athlete relationships (Alfermann, Geisler, & Okade, 2013). Most of the research exploring cross-cultural issues within this relationship has focused on the athletes` perceptions and preferences. The purpose of the present study was to investigate coaches` perceptions of coaching athletes from different cultural backgrounds. Five elite gymnastics coaches were interviewed and the perceptions and experiences that they shared were analyzed through a grounded theory approach (Strauss & Corbin, 1998). It was found that though the coaches possessed varying levels of comfort in regards to discussing cultural issues, all of them perceived differences among their athletes based on the athletes` culture. Furthermore, some of the coaches were able to articulate changes in their coaching behaviors as a result of these differences, while others were persistent that they did not modify their coaching style on the basis of their athletes` culture. Implications for applied coaching practice and future research directions are discussed in addition to limitations of the study.
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