Digging Deeper (Asynchronous - Online Only)
Empirical Evidence on Sports Participation and Leadership: An Analysis of Team vs. Individual Sports
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Michael Insler
There is no shortage of anecdotal and testimonial “evidence” on the notion that participation in sports is a pathway to developing leadership skills and, in general, leaders. Little to no empirical evidence of such a relationship, however, exists. Arguments for such a relationship usually focus on the expectation that being on a sports team and learning how to work closely with others to achieve a shared goal develops traits that are transferable to other areas of life’s endeavors. Experiencing team-building skills through sports, the argument seems to go, develops behaviors or techniques that will increase productivity in other organizations. Based on a survey that we administered to nearly 6000 graduates of the United States Naval Academy (USNA), and our ability to link the survey results to the extensive student records maintained by USNA, we empirically investigate two hypotheses: 1) Participation on intercollegiate athletic teams is statistically significantly correlated with, other observable characteristics equal, attaining a leadership position during one’s active-duty Navy or Marine Corps career. 2) Participation in a “team” sport (soccer, football, basketball, baseball, etc.) is a more significant determinant, other things equal, of attaining a leadership position than participation in an “individual” sport (golf, track, wrestling, swimming, etc.) during one’s active-duty Navy or Marine Corps career. We test these hypotheses using standard multivariate regression techniques. Our dataset contains a host of “leadership outcomes” beyond simply rank attained, and we also observe the scope of one’s sports participation (e.g., whether and which years a varsity letter was attained).
“I Just Wish More Would Go Back to Coach” : Voices of Female Coaches in the Growing Sanctioned Sport of Girls’ High School Wrestling, and Why They Matter
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Marilyn Castro, Jaquelyn Valenzuela
USA Wrestling reports that wrestling sits as the seventeenth most popular high school sport for girls, with eighteen states holding a girls’ state wrestling championship. While numerous factors may contribute to the overall experiences of female high school athletes, coaches are often cited as having extensive influence over team cultures, ultimately impacting their development; therefore, as high school girls are changing the landscape of wrestling, their female coaches are leading the way. While literature preparing coaches for an influx of female participants in the sport exists, the purpose of this study is to invoke the voices of those female coaches spearheading the way. Using an exploratory qualitative approach, five female coaches were interviewed in this study on their perspectives of the sport and its rising increase in popularity amongst girls. A semi-structured interview protocol allowed the participants to expand on areas they found critical as females navigating a male-dominated sport. An inductive data analysis approach was therefore taken to allow prominent themes to emerge. Results show that participants shared commonalities that stretched from their first experiences in wrestling, their perspectives regarding the sport's development, lessons from the mat, and their perceived roles as females propelling the sport forward. Implications from this study further the importance of the female perspective in the male-dominated world of wrestling, particularly those of an already shrinking minority: female coaches.
Mental Health Impacts of Transgender Sports Ban in the United States
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Jennifer Pharr
Transgender and gender nonbinary (TGNB) persons have gender identities, expressions, and/or behaviors not traditionally associated with the sex they were assigned at birth. In the U.S., evidence continues to show wide disparities in the social determinants of health and emotional health outcomes compared with cisgender (non-transgender) populations. Studies have found a higher prevalence of emotional health issues such as anxiety, depression, suicidality, and substance use among TGNB persons compared to their cisgender counterparts. These disparities are thought to be due to, at least in part, structural stigma in the form of discriminatory laws and policies. In 2021, 31 states in the U.S. proposed laws to ban transgender athletes from participating in sports. The purpose of this study is to examine the emotional health impacts of these laws as well as explore the multiple pathways through which these proposed sports bans influence health. This will be a cross-sectional survey of transgender people from across the U.S. Data will be analyzed using a moderated mediation analysis. This research is necessary to understand more deeply the pathways through which structural stigma impacts the emotional health and well-being of TGNB people and to educate stakeholders, policymakers, and communities about the impact of structural stigma created through law and policy on the health of TGNB people.
Power to the People: The Politics of German Soccer Fans View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Arne Koch
Soccer stadiums have always been political battle grounds. And as the sport permits thousands of fans to gather in essentially spaces while (social) media coverage of their activities bridges the temporal gaps between games and thereby contributes to the stabilization of fans’ identity profiles, the intersection of political engagement and soccer fandom provides far-ranging insights. Select studies have already considered the juncture of group identities and political involvement for select fan groups in German soccer (Daniel & Kassimeris 2013; Totten 2014), however, this paper seeks a broader comparative approach to highlight how cultural (qua regional) differences inform political dissent and action among distinctive fan groups. By looking at the question of how fans from different regions have increasingly become focal points at the highest levels of political, media and social media debates, analysis of their positions and agendas (from widespread resistance to owner control of clubs, to involvement in players’ refugee status, and from calls for exclusion of club members with particular party political affiliations, to divestment demands) will allow us to understand how German soccer fandom has evolved to serve as a principal site for articulating and contesting notions of contemporary identity beyond narrow ideas of national belonging. The understanding of how fan groups conceive of their communities as quasi-political bodies will help explain their concern with organizational constructs, norms, and borders of fan groups as well as their sense of self as public actors in discursive spaces.
Aging and Adventure Sport: Interpreting Edgework Across the Lifespan
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Moira Howes
A common narrative indicates that as adventure sport and recreation participants age, they eventually focus less on bold pursuits and high performance, and more on enjoyment and the social and health benefits of their sporting activity. While this narrative reflects certain empirical generalizations about older athletes and recreationalists, I argue that it overlooks important phenomenological and philosophical dimensions of aging in adventure sport. These oversights problematically influence evaluations of boldness, vulnerability, sublime experience, and self-transcendence for older adventure sport participants. Working with concepts of relational autonomy, ontological and situational vulnerability, and impermanence, I suggest that older participants engage in "edgework" in meaningfully different ways than younger participants. Understanding these differences stands to enrich interpretations of adventure sport and its relation to character, meaning, and enjoyment across the lifespan.
