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“Getting Back on the Bike”: Risk, Injury, and Sport-Related Concussion in Competitive Road Cycling
Hardwicke J., Hurst H.T., Matthews C.R.
Q1
A clear and consistent finding across three decades of sociological work focused on performance sports is that various sports can be considered social spaces in which risk, pain, and injury are accepted, normalized, and valorized. In recent years, the emergent scientific and popular concern around the short- and long-term consequences of sport-related concussion has seen a resurgence in the use of classic sociological ideas to help understand why athletes appear to downplay, continue competing, and sometimes ignore potential brain injuries. Using data from interviews, this paper explores these social processes in the sport of road cycling in Britain. We present the argument that the enduring utility of classic sociological concepts in explaining athlete behaviors toward risk, pain, and injury may be indicative of the obdurate nature of the cultural norms which circulate in performance sport settings. With regard to the ongoing problems with concussion in sport, we show the continued need to understand the social context in which much sport is imagined and practiced. This leads to our suggestion that sociocultural and interactional processes in many sporting subcultures that support the normative acceptance of behaviors which often prioritize performance over health need to be more readily challenged if we wish to achieve comprehensive change toward improved athlete welfare.
All the Right Questions: Exploring Racial Stereotypes in Sports Press Conferences
Peña V.
Q1
Sports press conferences are an area in need of more study and critique, especially regarding how sports journalists ask questions to athletes. This study analyzes the press conferences (N = 44) for four major college football teams during the 2021–2022 season, using textual analysis to explore whether sports journalists’ questions differ based on the race of the athlete and whether those questions reflect racial stereotypes. This study relies on theories of race and representation, including racial formation theory and color-blind racism, and builds upon research on stereotypes in sports. The author found that questions asked to White and Black athletes often reflected stereotypical binaries that emphasized White athletes’ intelligence, leadership, and humanity while highlighting Black athletes’ athleticism, strength, and physical ability.
A Therapeutic Landscape for Some but Not for All: An Ethnographic Exploration of the Bethlem Royal Hospital Parkrun
Ashdown-Franks G., Atkinson M., Sabiston C.M.
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This study sought to explore the experiences of those involved in the Bethlem parkrun. A mobile ethnography employing participant observation and informal discussion was conducted on the grounds of the hospital in London, United Kingdom. The findings focused on “what it is like” to participate in this parkrun and were organized into two themes: (a) Bethlem as a Shared Leisure Space and (b) Shared Leisure Space, But for Whom? Findings illustrated the emplaced and relational experiences of some participants in this “therapeutic landscape,” while highlighting that the events were exclusionary for others, namely service-users. These findings contrast the therapeutic landscapes literature, which largely assumes their benefits are experienced equally. This work may provide further understanding of the individual and collective experiences of parkrun.
Anti-Black Misandry as an Emotional Reflection With Black American Male College Athletes: An Interpretative Phenomenological Study
McAulay D.D.
Q1
Black American males, specifically Black male athletes, experience a form of twoness that uniquely recognizes their talents but also a societal fear. This work addresses Black American males’ multidimensionality and emotional and psychological expressions when dealing with societal racism. This work explores Anti-Black misandry through an interpretive phenomenological lens. Five Black American men who are former college athletes reflect and emotionally express their experiences being a Black man and an athlete throughout their entire athletic continuum and post their athletic tenure. Results suggest that Black males are willing to express their vulnerabilities emotionally in safe spaces while recognizing racialized gender norms about emotional expressions. Implications of this study suggest that Black American male college athletes, when given constructive support, have meaningful ideas and resolutions about how society can honestly acknowledge their humanity and not just gaze at their existence as entertaining objects.
A Perfect Storm: Black Feminism and Women’s National Basketball Association Black Athlete Activism
Cardoso Brown L.E., Williams A.L., Schweinbenz A.N., Pegoraro A.
Q1
This article pays homage to Black Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) players and their activist efforts. Such players are often-overlooked activists who are always “holdin it down” while simultaneously keeping activism at the forefront of their agenda. When the 2020 Women’s National Basketball Association season opened, the athletes in this league took the opportunity to highlight social injustice in the United States; not surprising given the history of Black feminism and athlete activism in this league. Using underwater waves as a metaphor, we examine how the intersectionality of Black feminism and Black athlete activism has largely gone unnoticed. Feminism and women’s rights movements have largely been associated with White women while Black activism has been associated with Black men. This manuscript aims to highlight the efforts of Black women and nonbinary athletes whose work has been instrumental in societal progression.
Better to Have Played Than Not Played? Childhood Sport Participation, Dropout Frequencies and Reasons, and Mental Health in Adulthood
Upenieks L., Ryan B., Knoester C.
Q1
This study considers the long-term mental health implications of organized youth sport participation, informed by an accumulation model of health, the Sport Commitment Model, and a life course perspective. Using data from the National Sports and Society Survey (N = 3,931) and multiple regression analyses, results indicate that adults who continually played organized youth sport had fewer depressive and anxiety symptoms compared with those who played and dropped out and those who never played. Dropouts had worse mental health than those who never played. Furthermore, among dropouts, reported interpersonal reasons for dropping out of organized sport were consistently associated with subsequent mental health but some structural factors also mattered. These findings point to a need to improve the interpersonal and structural environments of organized youth sport.
Stability and Change in Sports Fandom Over Time: A Longitudinal Study of U.S. Women’s Professional Soccer Fandom
Allison R., Kossakowski R., Pope S.
Q1
Scholars have recognized that sports fandom is not static, but temporal and fluid. However, little longitudinal research has traced the development of fandom over time. This analysis makes a new contribution to the sociology of fandom and women’s sport by drawing from interviews with 35 U.S. adults who attended the 2019 Women’s World Cup and were reinterviewed after the 2023 Women’s World Cup to consider how and why fandom of U.S. women’s professional soccer develops over time. Findings show stability in high levels of identification but fluctuating practices. Themes of the life course and opportunity structure show the importance of individual and team/league changes to fans’ ability to engage in a range of behavioral expressions associated with their fandom and also account for the small number of participants whose attachment to women’s soccer waned. By offering new insights into the factors that shape (changing) fan attachments and practices, we advance knowledge about women’s sport fans at a time when women’s soccer is undergoing rapid change. Our findings can also inform future longitudinal work in other sport contexts.
Exploring Gender Diversity and Trauma- and Violence-Informed Sport for Development
Ferreira Gomes J., Hayhurst L.M., Darroch F., Warner M.
Q1
The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated gender-based violence (GBV) rates in Canada, especially affecting young women and gender-diverse youth. Trauma- and violence-informed physical activity and sport for development (SFD) are recognized strategies for supporting survivors of violence, preventing GBV, and challenging gender norms. This paper explores the potential of trauma- and violence-informed approaches with a Canadian SFD organization, focusing on programs aimed to promote gender diversity and address GBV. Grounded in intersectional feminism and queer theory, findings from interviews with SFD staff and participants (n = 15) revealed challenges in maintaining a trauma- and violence-informed approach in a heteronormative sporting space. In conclusion, further research on trauma-informed SFD is crucial due to increasing GBV rates in sport.
What Is a Girl Worth?: Gender-Based Violence and Accountability in SportsWorld
Kiss M., Foltz K.E., Hattery A., Mirance K., Smith E.
Q1
Despite having clear policies that address athlete misconduct, including gender-based violence, at the collegiate and professional levels, members of SportsWorld—athletes, coaches, and staff—are rarely, if ever, held accountable. And, even when they face a penalty, more than 80% are allowed to either remain on the team or transfer and continue playing. In this paper, we explore the impact of this lack of accountability, including the “positive” benefits to players that include the opportunity to play in national playoffs and secure lucrative contracts as well as the negative impacts on victims and communities, most disturbingly the impact of serial abusers like Larry Nassar whose unfettered access to athletes resulted in hundreds of victimized individuals.
From Exploitative Systems to Exploitative Relationships: A Black Feminist Intervention to Scholarship on Exploitation in College Athletics
Ofoegbu E.D.
Q1
This essay introduces interpersonal exploitation in Black women’s relationships in U.S. Division I college athletic environments. Interpersonal exploitation is a Black feminist-oriented analytical frame for exploring how relationships across various levels and systems contribute to the exploitation of Black women and other similarly situated populations in U.S. college athletics. Drawing from existing research, this essay describes how and why scholars, policymakers, and practitioners can use this analytical frame to explore how relationships, and systems that inform these relationships, sustain conditions in which athletes and professionals can be systematically exploited. Addressing exploitation is vital to restore college athletics’ integrity, emphasizing its educational role, and prioritizing well-being.
The Production of Coaching: A Critical Examination of Space in Coaching
Lee H.W., Corsby C.L.
Q1
Despite the substantial body of coaching literature that has illuminated the social and relational features of coaching, the spatial(-temporal) dimension of coaching has often been overlooked. Inspired by Henri Lefebvre’s writing of The Production of Space, this article critically explores and deconstructs the dominant sociospatial practices at Alvour Football Club (all names used are pseudonyms) and how they were co-produced and materialized by those involved in organizational life. Following an ethnographic design, the first author spent 7 months at a semiprofessional football club. The precise research methods included participant observation, informal conversation, semistructured interviews, and the use of visual methods (i.e., researcher-driven photography and auto-photography). The findings present three themes: the patterns of Alvour F.C., outlining the coaches’ vision (i.e., how the team would be expected to play), and describing the manipulations, actions, and consequences of trying to implement such ideas of how to play into practice. Taken together, the findings illuminate how the dialectical relation between spatiality and temporality in coaching was imagined and produced, which in turn demonstrated the unequal forms of power, control, and marginalization present in everyday coaching. It is hoped the study contributes to the theoretical breadth and critical analysis of the everyday practical realities of coaching, which might illuminate a spatial turn in coaching.
Can There Be “Normal” Sport in an Abnormal World? Sport Boycott and Athlete Activism for Ceasefire in Gaza
Bannoura D., Dreidi O., Macauley M.D., McCullough K., O’Keeffe R., Pijetlovic K., Chen C., Rochon R., Sailofsky D.
Q1
This paper is an edited transcript of an online panel recorded on April 9, 2024, with commentaries provided at the start and the end. Speakers underscore the urgency for the sport industry and governing bodies to react to the genocidal violence in Gaza. Athletes for Ceasefire’s co-founder Omar Dreidi introduces the rationale behind this newly formed coalition. Ultimate Palestine’s Daniel Bannoura recounts the tension in promoting ultimate frisbee in Palestine amidst apartheid and genocide. Sport law scholar Katarina Pijetlovic highlights the discriminatory treatment of Palestine by international sport governing bodies. Irish Sport for Palestine’s Rebecca O’Keeffe and Michael D. Macauley discuss the long tradition of Irish solidarity with Palestinians’ anti-colonial struggles. Former professional soccer player Kaiya McCullough challenges athletes to deepen their understandings of the connections between Black and Palestinian liberation.
Erratum. Trans* Athletes in Sport: Not Ceding to the Sex/Gender Binary of Gender Critical Feminism
Sociology of Sport Journal
Q1
Saving Women’s Sports? The Ideological Underpinnings of U.S. Public Opinions About Trans* Athlete Rights and Sex Testing, Before Widespread Politicization
Knoester C., Hextrum K.
Q1
This study uses National Sports and Society Survey (N = 3,993) data to further investigate U.S. public opinions about transgender athletes’ rights, rights for athletes with varied sex characteristics, and sex testing. We focus on the additional implications of wanting to support, promote, and watch female athletes; traditional views of women’s idealized physical appearances; and homophobia for adults’ opinions about these issues. Findings revealed that more strongly believing that female athletes are undeserving, suggesting that women should more fully conform to traditionally idealized physical appearances, and expressing more homophobic views were negatively associated with support for transgender athletes’ rights and rights for athletes with varied sex characteristics—including a restriction of their rights due to sex testing.
Community as the Concession: The Construction and Maintenance of Trans Exclusionary Binaries in Australian Sport
MacDonald C.
Q1
Following the publishing of Sport Australia’s trans inclusion guidelines in June 2019, the Australian Football League and Cricket Australia published their own trans inclusion policies. Therefore, this article displays the results of a policy analysis of these policies and analyzes news media coverage, and respective fan responses, using an online survey. Approached from a poststructural and Queer theoretical lens, binaries, such as inclusion versus exclusion, and elite versus community sport were deconstructed. These binaries were demonstrated to often uphold not only dominant sport discourse, but the gender/sex binary thus, restricting advances for full inclusion. Overall, this research lays the groundwork for future exploration of trans inclusion in the policy, news media, and fandom landscape in the Australian context.
A Sporting Body Without Organs: Theorizing Un/Gendered Assemblages
Marciano Levenstein J.
Q1
Responsive to the recent proliferation of anti-trans sports policies and state legislation, this essay argues for a deeper collaboration across sports studies and trans studies. I offer an analysis of the 2020 Gender Inclusion Policy enacted by USA Ultimate (the North American governing body for the sport of ultimate frisbee) alongside an analysis of my embodied experiences while playing the sport. I develop a set of interrelated terms—the sporting body without organs and un/Gendered assemblages—that build upon Deleuzian and trans studies onto-epistemologies. Beyond an exploration of the gendered policies of ultimate frisbee, this essay’s broader purpose is to redirect the conversation about trans athletes and anti-trans policies away from the topic of how and why bodies become organized into categorical inclusion/exclusion, toward a focus on sporting moments and movements when gender can become a malleable element of play.
Saving Women’s Sport: The Case for Feminist Dialogue With the Unregulated Majority
Pape M.
Q1
Studies of eligibility regulation often focus on how, given inconclusive science, policymakers engage in ideological work to stabilize the women’s category. This paper considers the policy role of women athletes and particularly the “unregulated majority”: the notion that certain women are protected from eligibility regulation and benefit from a cisnormative, binary, and Global North-dominated system of sports competition. I examine a case from the 1990s, when a group of women athletes sought to reinstate gynecological exams and chromosome screening in track and field. Analyzing correspondence of the “Gender Verification Fax Club,” an influential group of experts, I consider whether meaningful dialogue was achieved. I reflect on how a feminist approach to dialogue could address the role of hegemonic femininity in eligibility regulation.
Sports and the Limits of the Binary: An Introduction
Posbergh A., Baeth A., Bekker S., Rochon R.
Q1
In this special issue introduction for “Sports and the Limits of the Binary: Trans and Nonbinary Athletes and Equity in Sport,” we provide an overview of the contemporary landscape of trans/nonbinary athlete inclusion, from both academic and nonacademic perspectives. We especially highlight the sociology of sport’s contributions to the literature on this topic, as well as the key foundations and influences from black, queer, decolonial/postcolonial, and disabled scholars. We then introduce ourselves as the guest editors of this special issue and how we arrived at this area of research before closing with brief synopses of each article in this issue.
Weaponizing Sport: Exploring the Legal and Policy Implications of Menstrual Tracking for Transgender and Nonbinary Athletes
Darvin L., Spagnuolo T., Schultz D.
Q1
The intersection of gender identity, sports participation, and health care is increasingly under scrutiny within legal and policy spheres. Specifically, the practice of tracking U.S. high school athletes’ menstrual cycles sustains concerning implications for gender-based discrimination, particularly affecting transgender and nonbinary athletes. This paper examines the legal and policy implications of menstrual tracking in high school athletics, highlighting the potential violations of privacy rights and discrimination against athletes of diverse gender identities. By analyzing existing laws, regulations, and case law, the paper explores the complexities surrounding the practice of menstrual tracking and calls for more inclusive and equitable sports policies. Additionally, it addresses gaps in privacy protections under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, emphasizing the need for updated regulations to safeguard students’ health-related data in digital environments.
Gender Critical Feminism and Trans Tolerance in Sports
Jones C.J.
Q1
Through a systematic review of gender critical feminist rhetoric in the realm of sports, this article excavates a rhetorical strategy of what the author calls “trans tolerance,” a strategy that is at once trans-affirming and trans-exclusionary. The author argues that three themes run across three gender critical feminist organizations: (a) nonpartisanship, (b) biofeminism, and (c) trans tolerance. In a sports world that desperately needs transformation, scholars and activists alike must sharpen analyses of violent transphobic rhetoric in a way that moves beyond a “pro-trans versus anti-trans framework.”
“Quinn, Who Goes by One Name”: Examining the Media Coverage of the First Openly Trans Nonbinary Athlete to Win an Olympic Medal
Ravel B.
Q1
A year after publicly coming out as trans, Canadian soccer player Quinn became the first openly transgender athlete to win an Olympic medal when they won gold at Tokyo 2020 in the women’s tournament. They then participated in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, another first for a trans person. These accomplishments created an important media coverage that this paper sought to examine. Inspired by a queer methodology and the concept of “trans joy,” the project proposed a creative way of documenting trans stories that were either accurate and positive or less trans-inclusive. The findings were discussed in light of the existing literature on the media coverage of trans athletes, as well as that of women’s soccer. Recommendations for the media are also included.
Queering Gender Equity Policies for Trans College Athletes
Harry M., Graves E.I.
Q1
Trans college athletes are subjected to inconsistent and inequitable participation regulations. We adopted feminist and queer theoretical lenses to examine the gender equity policies of eight sport governing bodies in attempts to further understand the systems and structures within which trans college athletes must participate and comply. Analysis indicated predominance of entrenched essentialist feminism and limited performative postmodern/queer perspectives, leaving trans college athletes vulnerable to discriminatory/exclusionary policies and practices. To conclude, we offer three recommendations to promote better trans athlete inclusion across college sports.
“I’m the Kind of Trans They Don’t Care About”: Experiences of Trans-Masculine Athletes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association
Perry A.Z.
Q1
In 2022, transgender swimmer Lia Thomas reignited longstanding debates about fairness in sport, and by August 2023, 23 states had enacted legislation restricting transgender athletic participation. While trans-feminine athletes are often seen as a “threat” to women’s sports, the experiences of trans-masculine athletes are often overlooked. Based on interviews with 13 trans-masculine athletes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association, I explore how they navigate gender identity while participating in gendered, competitive sport. I find that their (trans)gender identities and identities as athletes became inseparable and were mutually constituted. Additionally, I argue that their experiences in sport are contingent on their trans-masculine identities. While not the primary targets of antitrans policy, their experiences were impacted by broader, antitrans rhetoric and legislative efforts to restrict transgender participation.
