Gender and leadership positions in recreational hockey clubs

Abstract

While gendered participation in sport is widely researched, less is known about the culture of women in leadership roles at recreational level sporting clubs. Women are not traditionally associated with leadership roles in sport and the culture of sport is often a space where males are in positions of power. This manuscript explores the experiences of women from two mixed-gendered and one female-only recreational level field hockey clubs in Melbourne, Australia, and examines the gendered leadership (specifically male dominance), at these hockey clubs. The principal aim of this study is to examine (using Connell's theory of gender relations, which focuses on gender imbalances of power) the differences in the level of involvement of women in leadership roles between mixed-gendered and single-gendered hockey clubs, the culture of patriarchal power at play at all three hockey clubs and how such power affected the opportunities for women in leadership roles.