‘Am I sexually abused?’ Consent in a coach-athlete lesbian relationship

Elite-athlete Karin was 17 years old when the considerably older team coach Selma became her girlfriend. Responding to calls to prevent harm and sexual abuse in sport, this study represents Karin’s story, investigates how she makes sense of her coach–athlete sexual relationship, and analyses what can be learnt about consent. Although sexual consent is often the defining criterion of sexual abuse, consent is rarely explicitly defined or its social implications examined. Moreover, there are no studies on coach–athlete lesbian or gay relationships despite sexual minority vulnerability. The interview with Karin was analysed using narrative case study methods; represented as a short story and discussed in reference to sexual consent theory. The analysis outlines contextual factors conditioning the negotiation of consent and problematises heteronormative, gendered perpetrator and victim stereotypes. Secrecy, alienation and isolation is recognised, extending into additional vulnerability inflicted on socially problematic and atypical coach–athlete relationships. In conclusion, social implications of consent are more complex than yes/no to sex or inherent incapability to consent. Consent is multi-layered, alternately absent and present; an ongoing process that includes compromises, contradictions and (re)negotiations influenced by structure and agency. Further research examining a diversity of sexual experiences among majorities and minorities is proposed.     

Sexual abuse and the grooming process in sport: Learning from Bella's story

Through a process of collaborative autoethnography, we explore the experiences of one female athlete named Bella who was groomed and then sexually abused by her male coach. Bella's story signals how the structural conditions and power relationships embedded in competitive sporting environments, specifically the power invested in the coach, provide a unique sociocultural context that offers a number of potentialities for sexual abuse and exploitation to take place. We offer Bella's story as a pedagogical resource for those involved in the world of sport to both think about and with as part of a process of encouraging change at the individual and institutional levels.     

‘Doing it for Dot’: exploring active ageing sport tourism experiences through the medium of creative analytical practice

ABSTRACT

This is a true story about the active sport tourists encountered at the 17th World Veterans Championships (WVC 2014), with a particular focus on the movements and memories of the world's oldest international table tennis player. Through the employment of creative analytical practice and, more specifically, creative non-fiction, I offer an (auto)ethnographical narrative designed to target your sociological imagination, engendering a deeper, personally applicable, appreciation towards the consumption and production of active sport tourism. A couple of overlapping evocative vignettes offer a candid insight into how new awareness, attraction, attachment and allegiance have been created from my personal involvement and social interaction with over 200 active ageing athletes, including an inspiring Australian centenarian named Dorothy (Dot) de Low. By sharing my story, I hope to encourage others to stop hiding in the shadows, embrace their subjectivity and share their lived experiences of active sport tourism engagement.     

Definition and model of life skills transfer

For a sport skill to be considered a life skill, it must be successfully transferred and applied beyond sport. Life skills transfer is an essential process, but it has yet to be fully delineated within the sport psychology literature. The purpose of the current paper is to present a definition and model of life skills transfer and outline future research needs. A critical review of the literature within sport psychology and other learning-based disciplines is offered to assess our current understanding of learning transfer. A definition and model of transfer are then presented, focusing on the athlete learner’s experience of life skills transfer. Within the model, we first examine how athletes bring personal assets and autobiographical experiences to sport. Second, we explore how sport is a learning environment with distinctive demands, programme designs, and coach characteristics and strategies. Third, we explain how transfer contexts provide environmental conditions, which, depending on how they are interpreted or experienced, can help or hinder the transfer of life skills. Ultimately, we postulate that an individual experiences life skills transfer as an ongoing process whereby he/she continually interacts and interprets his/her environments to produce positive or negative life skills transfer outcomes.     

Negotiations of the ageing process: older adults' stories of sports participation

The purpose of this paper is to examine the talk of older athletes, with particular focus on how the context of sport helps them negotiate the ageing process. It draws on personal stories provided by 44 World Masters Games competitors (23 women; 21 men; aged 56–90 years; M = 72). Four themes emerged: ‘There's no such thing as old’ (a story of avoiding old age); ‘Keep moving’ (a story of fighting the ageing process); ‘Fun, fitness, friendship … [and] competing’ (a story of redefining self and ‘old age’) and; ‘Making the most of your life … with the capabilities that you still have’ (a story of adaptation and acceptance). Together, the four themes show how through sports participation older individuals can simultaneously resist, redefine and accept the ageing process. These stories of a ‘sporting later life’ allow for alternative meanings to the dominant ‘declining body’ narrative of ageing. Therefore, these narratives present the possibility for personal, pedagogical and social transformation.     

Promoting athlete welfare: A proposal for an international surveillance system

Efforts to ensure the welfare of athletes have long existed in sport but have heightened recently across numerous countries in response to shocking revelations of sexual abuse in sport. Cases such as the sexual abuse of female gymnasts by a team doctor in the U.S. and sexual abuse of male footballers by a coach in the U.K. have drawn significant attention and scrutiny by stakeholders in sport and the public alike. These and other cases indicate that in spite of existing athlete welfare policies, educational programmes, and efforts to ensure compliance, numerous athletes were abused, the perpetrators were permitted to continue over an extended period of time, and some adults knew of the abuses and were complicit in failing to intervene. In this article, the authors use Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Theory to review the current landscape with respect to initiatives to prevent and address athlete maltreatment at each level of the theory. The authors also propose that to advance athlete welfare, more attention needs to be devoted to the development of interventions at the macrosystem or international level. Using Bruno Latour’s concept of the oligopticon (1992) an argument is forwarded to create an international surveillance system to promote athlete welfare.     

Moving into and out of high-performance sport: the cultural learning of an artistic gymnast

Background: High-performance sport has been described as a formative environment through which athletes learn sporting skills but also develop athletic selves. Within this process, career movements related to selection for and de-selection from representative teams constitute critical moments. Further, retirement from sport can be problematic as the athletic self becomes ‘obsolete’. This dilemma is acute in sports that demand an early entry, extreme time investments and a high risk of retirement before adulthood. Women's artistic gymnastics (WAG) is such a sport.

Purpose and scope: This article considers an artistic gymnast's (Marie) experiences of movement into and out of this sport. Marie's construction and reconstruction of her athletic self when she entered gymnastics at the age of six, relocated to a different city in order to train with the national team at the age of 15, and retired from the sport one year later receives particular attention.

Method and theoretical perspective: An in-depth biographical interview was conducted with Marie. Further, the first author's personal knowledge of this gymnast's career experiences was used for contextualisation. The analysis of data involved the identification of learning outcomes during her time in high-performance WAG and post-retirement. Storied accounts surrounding the key learning experiences were compiled. In order to understand Marie's learning, cultural perspective of learning developed by education scholars and the respective metaphors of ‘learning as becoming’ and ‘horizons for action’ and ‘horizons of learning’ are employed.

Findings: Marie's choice of relocating to train with the national team involved her assuming a temporary orientation towards the requirements of the high-performance WAG context she entered. To achieve this, Marie suppressed the dispositions she had brought to this setting and adjusted her training philosophy, relationship with her coach, diet and socialising. Further, despite Marie intending to only momentarily adjust to the practices of the high-performance context, her learning was deep. Upon retiring from gymnastics, she could not leave the high-performance gymnastics self behind. The subsequent process to adjust to life without gymnastics was difficult and testing, and could only be realised with professional treatment.

Conclusion: Learning in sport is not limited to athletic skills. Athletes’ selves are formed in interaction with sporting contexts and actors. This embodiment can become durable and cause significant conflict when moving out of sport. To handle life without sport, adjustment may be challenging and lengthy.

Recommendations: Sporting cultures should allow for more interactive learning and athlete diversity. Coaching practices that allow athletes to voice difficulties should be provided. Athletes should be encouraged to reflect upon their sporting experiences and upon leaving high-performance sport, should be (professionally) supported.     

The politicisation of sport in the interwar period: a case study of British jūdoka Sarah Mayer

ABSTRACT

British actress, Sarah Mayer’s light and racy attitude to the bathing arrangements after judo training sessions in Japan in the 1930s belies a dangerous and volatile time in Anglo-Japanese relations. This paper seeks to demonstrate that her pioneering achievement as the first western woman to be awarded a black belt in Japan, was part of the political machinations of the day. As Japan campaigned for the 1940 Tokyo Olympic Games, the use of Mayer’s image and persona to promote not only nationalism, but internationalism and modernity, was related to a rift forming in the League of Nations. Mayer’s story shows the use of sport as a political tool. Originally developed as part of a wider doctoral thesis on the contribution of Mayer to the history of judo, and using mainly primary source research, this article charts Mayer’s life leading up to and following her time in Japan, detailing how her position in society and her work as an actress and theatre entrepreneur impacted on the development of women in judo. Understanding the history of women in judo is integral to an understanding of the sport itself and this paper hopes to contribute to the scant literature in the field.     

Does your left hand know what your right hand is doing? Impacts of athletes’ pre-transgression philanthropic behavior on consumer post-transgression evaluation

Despite the importance of an athlete’s image and reputation as an individual brand, the academic literature lacks investigations on whether and how an athlete’s brand can be protected when they engage in unethical transgressions. Focusing on athletes’ pro-social activities, the authors presented an experimental study to test how an athlete’s pro-social efforts can alleviate negative impacts from his/her transgression. In particular, the authors test the impacts of athletes’ involvement level (high vs. low) with a pro-social cause and level of fit between an athlete and a cause (high vs. low) on sport consumers’ perceptions. Results demonstrate that an athlete’s pre-scandal charitable behaviors can mitigate adverse impact of a transgression on consumer response only when the athlete has deeply engaged in charitable behaviors. The results also show that a higher fit between an athlete and a cause can generate more severe damaging impacts on consumer evaluation than a lower fit due to consumer skepticism caused by a combination between a negative reputation and a high-fit cause.     

“So begins the demise of #Superman from Metropolis”: Consumers’ Twitter reactions to an athlete’s transgression

When athlete transgressions occur both on and off the field, there can be negative impacts on stakeholders. Therefore, it is essential to explore how consumers react to transgressions to gain a better understanding of how they can be successfully managed. The purpose of this study was to explore consumers’ Twitter reactions to an athlete’s transgression using a homophobic slur, drawing on critical discourse studies as a conceptual framework. Using Visual Twitter Analytics (Vista), tweets were collected over the 2017 Toronto Blue Jays’ season. For this study, the subset of tweets related to the incident were isolated. We found a duality in discourses, in that consumers shared perspectives for and against the use of homophobic language in sport. Practically, many consumers supported the idea of athletes being assigned a punishment for this type of language use. While consequences may satisfy some consumers, a cultural change within the organization and fan base is required to create an inclusive sport environment regarding language use.     

Snapchat and child sexual abuse in sport: Protecting child athletes in the social media age

Child sexual abuse is a pervasive problem that sport organizations must confront to protect the integrity of sport. While previous researchers have examined this topic, few have explored the role that technology plays. The authors address this gap by examining how coach perpetrators utilize Snapchat to facilitate sexual abuse, using Cense and Brackenridge’s (2001) Temporal Model of Sexual Abuse with Children and Young Persons in Sport as a framework. Analysis of 99 media reports from 2013 to 2018 found that Snapchat provides motivation for coach perpetrators to sexually abuse that allowed them, in varied ways, to overcome internal inhibitions, external barriers, and break down victim resistance. The results indicate that youth sport organizations must develop clear policies that govern coach-athlete communication and relationships in the digital age. To further protect young athletes, youth sport organizations must develop programming to educate parents and athletes on these boundaries, to increase understanding about how sexual abuse and sexual maltreatment occur in virtual spaces.     

I am fast but I do not fit: an autoethnography of a swimmer’s experiences of ‘competitive performance’ stigma in two sporting contexts

Given that research outside of sport and exercise has found that stigma may cause severe consequences (e.g. depression), it is important to explore the concept in regard to its connection to socio-cultural issues in the development and persistence of stigmatisation in sporting contexts. Analytic autoethnography and Goffman’s theory of stigma was used to explore one female swimmer’s experiences of ‘enacted’ and ‘felt’ competitive performance stigma occurring in elite swimming and a masters swimming context. Competitive performance stigma has not been conceptualised or explored as a stigma type in sport research, however through the presentation and analysis of two vignettes and the use of Goffman, this is achieved. The social agents that contributed to both ‘enacted’ and ‘felt’ competitive performance stigma and the consequences/effects (e.g. withdrawal from sport, feelings of shame) for this swimmer are highlighted. Our analysis further highlights the role of particular cultural insiders (e.g. coaches, team managers and other swimmers) in the reproduction of competitive performance stigma through acts of labelling, discrimination and social isolation. These acts positioned the female swimmer as an ‘outsider’ because of her competitive performance which in turn led to her withdrawal from these two sporting contexts highlighting the implications for recipients of stigmatisation.     

Defining and categorizing emotional abuse in sport

Abstract

In this study, we used a qualitative research design to explore athletes’ experiences of emotional abuse in sport. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 retired, elite female swimmers, and data were analysed inductively using open, axial, and selective coding procedures. Findings revealed that emotionally abusive behaviours of the coach occurred in three ways: through physical behaviours, verbal behaviours, and the denial of attention and support. Based on our findings, a definition of emotional abuse in sport is proposed. This definition of emotional abuse is the first definition derived from the experiences of emotional abuse within an athletic environment. It encapsulates previous definitions of emotional abuse, types of emotionally abusive behaviours, and outcomes of these behaviours. The need for an athlete protection initiative in sport is discussed and recommendations are made for future research.     

The journey of transitioning: Being a trans male athlete in college sport

While research is emerging about transgender athletes, little is known about their experiences during their transition. Through the lens of transfeminism, this case study followed one U.S. transgender male college athlete as he transitioned from a women’s to a men’s team. The research questions were: (a) what are the experiences of this athlete as he comes out about his trans identity, (b) how is he received by teammates and coaches, and (c) what are his emotional, social, psychological, and athletic experiences during his transition. The athlete participated in a series of interviews across nine months during his transition. Narrative analysis (Smith & Sparkes, 2009) of the data resulted in five themes presented in a series of vignettes: setting the scene: early memories and identity, coming out, being a competitive college athlete, an emotional roller coaster, and contemplating the future. This case offers insights conceptually as well as practically.     

Duct tape,icy hot & paddles: narratives of initiation onto US male sport teams

In the United States, initiation or hazing activities in high school and university sport are increasingly being recognized as a serious issue facing coaches and sport administrators. These events include humiliation, degradation or abuse of new team members, presumed to enhance team bonding. This study is grounded in Waldron and Krane's conceptual framework linking social goal orientation and overconformity to team norms. We conducted focus group interviews with nine former male high-school athletes examining their hazing experiences. A narrative approach to the data analysis was used to provide a comprehensive account of their combined experiences. The data were integrated into monologues describing experiences of being hazed, one positively perceived and one negatively perceived experience. A third monologue presents the perspective of the athlete doing the hazing. These stories highlight the perceived rationale and acceptance of hazing, the emotional toll of being hazed and the power dynamics that allow hazing to continue.     

Ignoring taboos: Maria Lenk, Latin American inspirationalist

Maria Lenk is widely recognized as an exceptional athlete who participated in women's sport from around 1930 until 1950. In 1932, at the age of seventeen, she was the first woman to be included in a Latin American delegation to the Olympic Games. As a swimmer, she still sets world records at the age of eighty-six. This super-champion's sporting achievements and her persistent dedication to the advancement of sport still impress and surprise todays professional swimmers and researchers. Contextualised in the male-dominated society of Brazil during the first half of the twentieth century, this chapter traces the achievement, and rise to international fame, of Maria Lenk. It examines the factors that enabled her to emerge not only as an important figure in sport but also as an icon of female emancipation in Brazilian and Latin American society. The focus is on Lenk's influence on the issues which affected the development of women's sport in Latin America. It also highlights the significance of Lenk's contribution to the changing place of women in Brazilian and South American society.     

Experiences of amateur athletes’ non-participating entourage at participatory sport events

ABSTRACT

The proliferation of participatory sport events is attracting scholarly attention, with extant research primarily focusing on profiling participants, and understanding participants’ experiences. The experiences and perspectives of those who travel to participatory sport events to support competing athletes, the ‘non-participating entourage’ (NPE), have largely been overlooked. This stakeholder group is arguably under-recognised by those staging participatory sport events. The purpose of this study was to explore NPE experiences at participatory sport events, adopting a phenomenological approach and employing stakeholder theory as an interpretive lens. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 21 NPE of amateur athletes in Australia. Findings highlighted that NPE provide emotional and logistical support to their athlete at events. However, while providing support, NPE also experienced positive and negative emotions arising from contextual factors including their relationship to the athlete, group composition, athlete performance, and event design and conditions. This research highlights a vexed, though crucial stakeholder relationship between NPE and event management organisations, requiring unique stakeholder management strategies.     

Autonomous Authorization of Deception in Sport

Two recent articles in this journal – one by Morris, the other by Pfleegor & Rosenberg – have revived the philosophical discussion of the ethics of deception in sport which had largely laid dormant since the 1973 publication of Pearson’s ‘Deception, Sportsmanship, and Ethics’. Morris and Pfleegor & Rosenberg both share with Pearson the view that ethical deceptive sport acts are those that relate to sport-specific skills. However, whereas Pearson ultimately grounds this view in the agreement she takes to obtain amongst sport participants, both recent treatments overlook this fundamental aspect of her account and offer alternative justifications for that view. I argue, though, that in both cases the arguments offered are incomplete precisely because they require an appeal to the agreement amongst participants that lies at the foundation of Pearson’s account. On all three treatments, I argue, what ultimately determines an action’s ethical status is not its relation to sport-specific skills, but its conformity to, or violation of, that agreement. I conclude with a discussion of what this implies for future work on deception in sport.     

Transforming,storing and consuming athletic experiences: a coach’s narrative of using a video application

The analysis of sport performance in competitive contexts has become synonymous with the use of a range of software applications and hardware e.g. heart rate monitors and gps systems. With the prevalence of technology in mind, a small but growing corpus of literature has begun to consider this phenomenon and its influence upon the coaching process. This study adds to this literature by detailing the autoethnographic experiences of a case study coach; Derek. A contextualised and richly described narrative account of Derek’s experience of using coaching applications is provided. Analysis of Derek’s narrative suggests that technology can be a useful means by which individuals make sense of their experience. Specifically, (1) technology can be a ‘ready-to-hand’ instrument that enhances the coaching process. Unfortunately, (2) technology may become the only and ‘calculative’ means by which individuals come to understand their performance. In such instances, it is important to note that (3) the videos we use to understand our performance are transformed and incomplete representations of lived athletic experiences. Thus, Derek’s story illustrates how technology can be both an enabler and barrier to athletes who wish to holistically understand their own lived experiences and engage in coach-athlete relationships. The accompanying analysis draws upon concepts from Heideggerian philosophy to add insight into the use of technology within the coaching process. In so doing, the study prompts coaches to critically view their coach-athlete relationships as situated in a wider world which contains, and can be mediated by, technology. In addition, Derek’s story (re)directs researchers and coaching practitioners interested in technology to a useful literature (philosophy of technology) which may further inform their understanding of coach-athlete relationships.