Girl Athletes Research Articles

“Change needs to start at home”: A reflexive thematic analysis of girl athletes' and coaches’ experiences of body image in New Delhi, India

Despite the physical, psychological, and social health benefits of sport participation, multiple barriers keep girls and women on the margins of sport in India. Further, body image concerns are implicated globally as a hindrance to sports engagement among adolescents but are rarely acknowledged in India. Due to a lack of research, the unique restrictions to sport participation faced by girls in India are yet to be understood. Drawing on the Sociocultural Theory of Body Image, this study explored the intersection of body image and sports from the perspectives of Indian athletes and coaches. Twelve athletes (girls aged 11–17 years; football n = 6, netball n = 6) and six coaches (football n = 3, netball n = 3) from New Delhi, India, participated in semi-structured focus groups. Reflexive thematic analysis was used and we formulated three themes: 1) “To Do What We Love, We Must Struggle”; 2) “What Will People Say?”; and 3) “Hold On To Your Power, Be You”. The themes provide a nuanced understanding of the experiences of athletes and coaches on and off the playing field. The findings shed light on several individual and systemic factors, such as harassment, societal norms, feelings of empowerment, and internalising appearance ideals, that impact girls’ engagement with sport in New Delhi, India. Methods to improve sports engagement, discrepancies between athlete and coach perspectives, and recommendations for sports organisations to combat body image concerns and improve sports uptake among girls in an Indian setting are discussed.

Girl Power and Brand Power: Postfeminist Sensibility in News Coverage of Tokyo’s Girl “Prodigy” Skateboarders

This paper analyses news media coverage of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic skateboarding competition, which paid significant and celebratory attention to the extraordinary youth of the medallists in the women’s disciplines. The coverage was marked by a postfeminist sensibility that constituted the girl-child skater via a ubiquitous and enduring girl power discourse, and idealised them as sites of extraordinary feminine capacity. These narratives located girls’ success in their exceptional youth, market potential, and personal agency, reinforcing neoliberal norms which privilege individualism, entrepreneurialism and choice. However, while offering the girl athletes as testaments to feminist progress in a historically male sport and culture, news narratives tended to render girls’ athletic labour virtually invisible and to elide larger issues that may impact women skaters and girl-aged elite athletes. This paper addresses a call for further attention to postfeminist sensibility as it manifests in contemporary media coverage of women’s sport in order to understand the kind of contradictions that can manifest in media narratives that simultaneously celebrate women’s achievements while denying the existence of larger structural issues affecting them. Additionally, it addresses a gap in feminist sport media research that has largely overlooked the girl-child elite athlete.

Comparison of Life Skills between Intercollegiate Athletes and Non-Athletes of Government Girls Higher Secondary Schools of District Mardan, Pakistan

This study aimed to compare the life skills about interpersonal relationship skills, stress management skills, and decision-making skills amongst intercollegiate athletes and non-athletes of government girls’ higher secondary schools in district Mardan, Pakistan. The researcher followed a descriptive survey research design to meet the set objectives of the study. girl athletes and non-athletes from Government Higher Secondary schools of District, Mardan with age range 15-21 years of class 9th, 10th, 1st year, and 2nd year constituted the target population for the current study. A close-ended adapted questionnaire University of Pretoria (South Africa) using a Likert scale from “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree” was used to collect the required information from the participants consisting of girls’ athletes and non-athletes from government higher secondary schools of district, Mardan. A total of 568 questionnaires were administered among the participants and 468 questionnaires with (an 82.39%) ratios were received back. For an inclusive assessment of life skills, different attributes were labeled to each life skill, whereas all 34 items were assigned to 04 skills in the questionnaire. The collected data were properly tabulated and processed through descriptive and inferential statistical techniques. The findings of the study indicated that sport has produced a positive role in the development of life skills among athletes as compared with non-athletes. This finding can be helpful for those who intend to develop and promote the sport in their respective areas. It has been concluded that participants acknowledged the role that sport has essential in the development of life skills such as interpersonal relationships (2.90), stress management (2.37), decision making (2.66), and problem-solving skills (2.49). However, it was noticed that urban school athletes produced a higher mean score on one life skill such as interpersonal relationships (2.93) and the rest of life skills mean scores are lower. It is recommended that school sports participation of girls may be ensured/enhanced to develop and promote the positive life skills necessary for products as well as a dynamic role in society.

Hijab, Girls’ Sports, and the Ongoing Effects of Colonial Feminism

Abstract Since 9/11 and the Global War on Terror, the West has fixated policy on the hijab, framing it as oppressive and as a threat to women's rights. This entrenched colonial perspective affects Muslim girl athletes globally. Public discourse on hijabs in sports often overlooks their complex symbolism and the athletes’ choices. Drawing on Indigenous, postcolonial, and critical feminist theories, we explore in this article how Muslim girl athletes navigate hijab politics, expressing their agency through refusal and resistance.

“They are men, they will be looking even if you put on pants or a sweatshirt”: Girl athletes' and coaches' experiences of body image in Mexico City sport settings

Body image concerns are a barrier for girls’ participation in sports. Scarce evidence from Mexico suggests adolescents experience high levels of body dissatisfaction, and national statistics report low levels of physical activity among girls. This study aimed to explore girls’ body image concerns and coaches’ perceptions of girls’ body image experiences in sport. We used reflexive thematic analysis on secondary data from semi-structured focus groups conducted in Mexico City with 12 girls aged 11–17 years and six coaches from two sports organizations. Girls expressed feelings of self-consciousness about their performance, body-related teasing, the male gaze, and harassment within and outside sports contexts. Lack of support from coaches resulted in making excuses for withdrawing or supporting one another. Coaches’ accounts demonstrate gender stereotypes about girls in sport. They acknowledge that girls abandon sport because of appearance-related teasing and body image concerns. In addition, colorism and discomfort with speaking directly about bodily functions are fundamental sociocultural influences affecting their communication. This is the first qualitative study exploring girls’ body image concerns and coaches’ perceptions of such concerns in Mexico City. Further research in lower- and middle-income countries is key in developing effective intervention programs to help girls benefit from sport.

One of these is not like the other: The retrospective experiences of girl athletes playing on boys’ sports teams during adolescence

ABSTRACT Adolescent sport is predominately organised by single-sex sport environments, where girls and boys compete separately. Enhancing opportunities for all youth to compete together may be important for providing broad sport opportunities for girls in sport, reframing preconceptions about the inferiority of girls’ athleticism, and for situating boys and girls within mutually respectful relationships. Yet, limited research has explored girls’ experiences of competing on boys’ sports teams. The current qualitative study explored young adult women’s retrospective experiences of playing on a boys’ sports team as an adolescent. Eleven women (M age = 20 years) who had played on a boys’ sports team during adolescence participated in individual semi-structured interviews. Using reflexive thematic analysis, three overarching themes were generated including (1) the culture of boys’ dominance and superiority in sport, (2) girls are positioned as the ‘other’, and (3) strategies to navigate the boys’ sport environment. Overall, the women reflected on the boys’ sport environment as superior regarding its opportunity for skill development and competition. However, they also described having to navigate tensions and problematic assumptions of girls’ inferiority in sport that limited their inclusion in the boys’ sport environment as an adolescent. The results highlight the complexity of navigating sex and gender in sport, and unique challenges associated with adolescent girls competing on boys’ sports teams. Researchers and policymakers should continue to understand and widely implement strategies for promoting positive sport environments to support adolescent girls and boys in competing together on sports teams.

Analysis on the Difficulties Related to the Training Activity Specific to Women’s Rugby

In Romania are just 4 women's rugby teams, and just 60-70 players, the selection and the competition in rugby is difficult. Also, the lack of skills of coaches in the women's rugby sector creates the need to promote education in and through sport with special focus on skills development of coaches interested in women's rugby. The objective of the study is to highlight the vulnerabilities faced by rugby coaches and female rugby athletes and find solutions for eliminating or diminishing prejudices like parents' fears of letting their girls practice a sport that can be considered harsh. The survey contains 27 questions and was applied online via google forms in four countries: Romania, Poland, Portugal and Spain. The research was carried out over a period of 2 months, in 2020. Participants were 126 rugby specialists: coaches, doctors, teachers, managers, referees. Results aim to provide important data for understanding the challenges faced by coaches and specialists in women's rugby 7: how to select girl athletes, what are the things that determine athletes to continue playing rugby, if their training should be different from that of the boys and how the women's rugby game could be promoted. Possible solutions can be: coaches may need to use a full range of questioning and demonstration strategies (use of experienced players to demonstrate, use of video). Physical differences between male and female children aged ten to twelve years of age are usually minimal. Rugby girls seven needs more media coverage.

Girl Athletes in Ethiopia Finding Voice Empowerment Through Sport

Since sport extends well beyond the routine of practice and competition and leads to the development of skills that affect other areas of life, my study explored whether girl athletes experience greater voice empowerment as a result of playing sport. The term voice empowerment is unique to traditional leadership and character programming; it emerged from recent scholarship in the fields of education, sport, and psychology. In this study, 30 Ethiopian girl athletes aged 13 to 18 completed a 24-item questionnaire that focused on the constructs of sport, voice, and gender equity. My findings suggest that sport along with emotional and academic support, coupled with an effective life skills program, does affect voice empowerment.

“If you let me play”: girls’ empowerment and transgender exclusion in sports

ABSTRACT This article examines discourses of (cisgender) girls’ empowerment in American sports and the concurrent legislative debates in U.S. politics to exclude trans girls from gender affirming teams. I deploy discourse analysis of Nike advertising featuring sportswomen and girl athletes and the political debates in state governments about transgender inclusion in sports. One discourse relies on affective circulation of hope and positivity generated from the image of the cis white girl while the other draws upon fear and hyperbole to disenfranchise trans athletes. These transmisogynistic legal measures exclude trans girls under the auspice of protecting cis white girl athletes from “biological men” who may hurt them or steal their confidence and opportunities. I argue that there is a strategic connection, or discursive formation, made between cis girls’ empowerment and trans exclusion that is fueled by patriarchal notions of protecting cis girls. This formation works primarily by infantilizing cis white women and adultifying trans girls and cis Black girls. As a result, feel-good representations of cis white girls serve as justification for the persistent subjugation of all women and girls by deflecting the cause of gender inequality away from the cis-white supremacist-patriarchy and onto trans girls—especially those who are Black.

Understanding Relationships Between Social Identity, Sport Enjoyment, and Dropout in Adolescent Girl Athletes.

The sport team social environment plays an important role in athletes' experiences, including their enjoyment of sport, and these experiences may influence athletes' decision to continue or dropout of sport. In the current study, enjoyment was examined as a mediator of the relationship between social identity and sport dropout. Adolescent girls (N = 150) who participated on a community sports team completed a questionnaire assessing social identity with their team and enjoyment of sport, and their sport participation status was measured 1year later. Controlling for age and socioeconomic position, a path model showed that enjoyment mediated the relationship between social identity and sport dropout, bootstrapped unstandardized indirect effect = -0.04, 95% confidence interval [-0.08, -0.01]; p < .01. Fostering social identity with one's sport team may contribute to greater enjoyment of sport and reductions in sport dropout in adolescent girls.

Supplemental Material for Validation of the Body-Related Envy Scale (BREV) in Adolescent Girl Athletes

Supplemental Material for Validation of the Body-Related Envy Scale (BREV) in Adolescent Girl Athletes

Divergent Perspectives: Post-Title IX Sportkids’ Views of Female Athletes

Previous research suggests that sport media provide one avenue for boys and girls to learn what and who is valued in sport. We explored girl and boy athletes’ perceptions of photographs of female college athletes, which provided insight into young athletes gendered perceptions of athletes and sport. Sixty-nine sportskids participated in focus group interviews where they discussed what they liked and disliked about a series of photographs of college female athletes. Framed by feminist cultural studies, the authors situated their analysis within the current historical moment bounded by young athletes’ post-Title IX and postfeminist sensibilities. The authors present their appraisals of a few exemplar images that characterize themes that appeared across the whole photo collection. Emergent themes included gendered sport terrain, which situates their comments within the gendered milieu of their sport experiences. Data also revealed themes associated with the select images: female athleticism, inspiration versus objectification, transgressing heteronormative femininity, and sporty cute. Overall, both girls and boys struggled with images that were interpreted as too feminine or too muscular/masculine. These data also point to how little has changed in the past 50 years regarding how female athletes are culturally constructed. While the borders of acceptability may have shifted, female athletes continue tenuous navigation of socially acceptable boundaries of athleticism, femininity, and muscularity while masculine privilege in sport continues and the presence of females in sport is framed by a heterosexual male gaze.

Фізичний розвиток юних спортсменів — вихованців училища фізичної культури

Актуальність. Особливості фізичного розвитку юних спортсменів — вихованців училищ фізичної культури залишаються недостатньо вивченими. Мета. Порівняльна оцінка фізичного розвитку юних спортсменів і школярів України залежно від статі та віку. Матеріали та методи. Вивчені та порівняні з «Критеріями оцінки фізичного розвитку дітей шкільного віку» України антропометричні показники фізичного розвитку 1188 учнів училища фізичної культури (777 хлопців і 411 дівчат) віком 12–17 років. Результати. Показники фізичного розвитку спортсменів-хлопців вищі, ніж у школярів, практично тотожні у спортсменок і школярок і у спортсменів-хлопців на відміну від дівчат, тотально зростають з віком. Висновки. Юні спортсмени характеризуються домінуванням середнього та вищих градацій зросту, 12-, 15-, 17-річні хлопці та 17-річні дівчата — більшою частотою гармонійного розвитку, старші за віком — схильністю до надмірного, молодші — до недостатнього фізичного розвитку.

Ideas for action: Exploring strategies to address body image concerns for adolescent girls involved in sport

Despite the extensive benefits of sport participation, girls consistently participate at lower rates, are more likely to drop out, and report worse sport experiences compared to boys. Body image is a critical factor identified to influence sport participation for adolescent girl athletes. Strategies to mitigate the impact of body image in sport are needed. The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify feasible and realistic strategies to mitigate and address body image concerns for adolescent girls involved in team sports at recreational or competitive levels. Seventy-one participants were involved in individual interviews across sport stakeholder groups, including 20 girl athletes, 11 parents of girl athletes, 13 coaches, 13 referees, and 14 sport administrators. Using a thematic analysis approach, 35 actionable strategies were identified that spanned four main themes: eliminating body image stigma, reconsidering uniforms and sport attire, from top to bottom - everyone has a role, and body-positive role modeling. The strategies spanned various systemic, environmental, social, and individual levels that are operationalized within an ecological model. Findings suggest that body image concerns in the sport environment are complex and call for multifaceted strategies that prioritize both the management of body image concerns and fostering of positive body image as a focal outcome.

Exploring adolescent girls’ experiences of body talk in non-aesthetic sport

IntroductionBody image concerns may contribute to poor sport experiences and low sport participation in girls. Objectification theory and evidence from studies in non-sport contexts suggests body talk may elicit an environment that fosters negative body image. However, the phenomenon of body talk within adolescent girls sport is not well-understood from an in-depth person-centered perspective. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to explore adolescent girl athletes’ experiences of body talk within sport. MethodsTwenty Canadian girl athletes (ages 14–18 years) enrolled in team-based non-aesthetic sports participated in one semi-structured interview. Using a qualitative description approach, an inductive thematic analysis was used to generate three themes. Results“Body talk as a performance tactic” highlighted complimentary and negative body talk pertaining to sport performance came from coaches, opposing players, and parents. “Casual conversations and body talk” reflected body talk from teammates and male spectators that was not specific to sport but occurred in the sport context. “Coping with body talk” reflected strategies athletes used to combat negative body talk from teammates, and reflected the athletes’ perceptions that negativity towards the body is normative. ConclusionsBody talk served many purposes within sport; researchers should further explore the diverse motivations and perceived utility of body talk across sport stakeholders. Creating standardized resources and policies to eliminate body talk may foster more positive and supportive sport experiences for girls.

Collecting Cultural Feedback on Ethiopian Views on Girls, Sport, and Voice

This qualitative study used data collected from five interviews conducted to gather cultural and linguistic feedback on a 21-question instrument created for a future study focused on Ethiopian girl athletes. Participants met the following criteria: (a) native to Ethiopia (b) at least 15 years old and (c) proficient English reading and speaking skills. Participants did not complete the questionnaire, rather, they read it and provided cultural and linguistic feedback on its content. Participants provided feedback via interviews both in person and over the phone during a two-week period. The instrument was designed to collect data from members of Girls Gotta Run Foundation, a non-profit organization in Ethiopia that uses sport to promote gender equity. It consists of questions that focus on girls’ perceptions on the constructs of gender, sport, and voice empowerment. Findings demonstrated the importance of providing greater flexibility in questions that related to age and career goals, while the impact running has on Ethiopian culture was reinforced. Conducting this pilot study demonstrated the importance of testing cross-cultural instruments prior to final instrument administration to gain the most culturally accurate data possible.

OYUN VE RİTM TEMELLİ BASKETBOL ÇALIŞMALARININ KIZ ÇOCUKLARIN KUVVET GELİŞİMİNE ETKİSİ

Bu araştırma, 12 haftalık oyun ve ritim temelli basketbol çalışmalarının kız çocukların kuvvet gelişimlerine etkilerini incelemek amacıyla yapıldı. Çalışma, Kars ili Sarıkamış ilçesinde yaşayan toplam 16 kız çocuğun (yaş 9,0±0,89 yıl, boy 133,8±7,7 cm, vücut ağırlığı 29,9±7,7 kg) gönüllü katılımıyla yapıldı. Olguların kuvvet gelişimlerini belirlemek amacıyla sağ-sol el pençe kuvveti, 30 sn. şınav ve mekik, barfiks, dikey sıçrama, sağ-sol ayak penta jump ve yatay sıçrama testleri kullanıldı. Olguların anaerobik güçleri ise, vücut ağırlığı ve dikey sıçrama değerleri ile formulize edilen lewis nomogramı ile tespit edildi. Araştırma sonunda verilerin istatistiksel analizi için SPSS 24.0 istatistik programı kullanıldı. Verilerin dağılım düzeyleri ‘Kolmogorov Smirnov’ testi ile incelenmesi sonucunda, tüm parametrelerin normal dağılım gösterdikleri tespit edildi. Katılımcıların ön test- son test ölçümler arasındaki farkların anlamlılık düzeyi Paired Samples T-Test kullanılarak p<0,05 değeri referans alındı. Araştırmada; uygulanan 12 haftalık oyun ve ritm temelli basketbol antrenmanları sonucu katılımcıların kuvvet gelişimlerinin istatistiksel olarak anlamlı olduğu tespit edildi (p<0,01). Sonuç olarak, oyun ve ritim faktörleri ile tasarlanan basketbol antrenmanlarının, çocukların kuvvet ile ilgili sportif performanslarını olumlu yönde etkilediği ve kuvvet gelişimlerine katkı sağladığı söylenebilir. Araştırmaya katılan olguların ölçülen tüm kuvvet parametrelerinde pozitif gelişme kaydedildi (p<0,05). Dolayısıyla çocukların, özellikle küçük yaşlardan itibaren basketbol sporuna yönlendirilmesi, fiziksel ve fizyolojik gelişimleri için faydalı olacağı söylenebilir.

Femme qui court by Gérard de Cortanze

Reviewed by: Femme qui court by Gérard de Cortanze Roland A. Champagne Cortanze, Gérard de. Femme qui court. Albin Michel, 2019. ISBN 978-2-226-40021-5. Pp. 416. Historical fiction usually approximates events that happened. This novel about the super-athlete Violette Morris does such an approximation of her struggles in searching for her place in the male-dominated arena of athletic competition. The story begins in 1910 when she is seventeen and in her final year at a convent school for girls in the Meuse Valley. She excels competitively in swimming, running sprints, cycling, javelin throwing, weightlifting, and cross country. She is especially admired by her schoolmate Sarah. But Violette's promising athletic career is soon untracked when she is raped by Octave, the school gardener, who is also a voyeur of the girl athletes taking showers on campus. The man is relentless and lurks wherever Violette is. Transferring to another school recommended by her female coach, Violette is again victimized but this time by Claire, a financial protector and lesbian predator. This encounter results in Violette's being expelled from the academy and losing all her trophies and medals to avoid further scandal for the school. Nearing twenty years old, she challenges men in athletic competitions as boxing becomes her preferred sport. Her protector Claire encourages Violette's bearded marriage to Cyprien, who is immediately mobilized as the Great War begins. Not to be outdone by another competitive male, Violette enlists and sees action as an ambulance driver on the front and then as a motorcycle courier when pleurisy causes her to be transferred to the rear in a hospital with women who have had illegal abortions. Constantly bothered by the misogyny of the soldiers, she cuts her hair, wears a helmet, and disguises herself as a man with cigarette in mouth. This masquerade as a man conveniently shields her after the war, without the helmet of course. Surviving the war changes both Cyprien and Violette. They divorce, and she reunites with Sarah, her former schoolmate who still competes athletically as a runner and a swimmer. Violette retains her masculine hair style and dress, adopts feminist social and political stances, and receives much rejection from contemporary men and women for her appearance. Ignoring the advice to specialize in a single sport, Violette insists on playing multiple sports and even adds soccer at twenty-seven years old. She flaunts her lesbian orientation, thus provoking the press and French women outside the world of sports. Violette earns the friendships of Jean Cocteau and Josephine Baker but piques many French with her alternate lifestyle. She even [End Page 238] antagonizes the organizers of women's sports and has to turn to race-car driving in her continuous search for spectators and admirers. Newspaper citations from her reactionary contemporaries lend an air of documentary fiction to this story whose heroine seems so audacious as to lack credibility even in our own time. While she was a scapegoat for those threatened by changes in gender roles, she did her best to create a space for herself wherein she could excel and be self-determined. Her story gives history and breadth to present-day gender struggles. Roland A. Champagne Trinity University (TX) Copyright © 2020 American Association of Teachers of French

SPORT WORKOUT AND PARTICIPATION ASSOCIATED MENSTRUAL PROBLEMS AMONG ADOLESCENT ATHLETES OF ALIGARH

Background: Menstruation and related problems are issues of great importance for adolescent athletes. The concern becomes more crucial when it comes to the sports participation of athletes. The social and cultural setup in India leaves very less space for adolescent athletes to talk freely about menstruation. This raises a great concern regarding menstruation from health perspective. Objectives: To study sport workout and participation associated menstrual problems among adolescent athletes. Materials and Methods: A questionnaire based survey study was carried out during open sports meet 2017 in Aligarh, India. A sample of 158 girl athletes participated in this study. Data was collected using a 23-item semi structured questionnaire. Data collection lasted for two weeks and analysis was done using descriptive statistics, percentages and proportions. Results: Showed that the mean age of menarche was 13.5 years. 37.19% had irregular menstrual cycle. 73.23% (20.11% severe and 53.12% mild) athletes had abdominal pain and cramping during menstruation. While, mere, 7.98% athletes seek any medical practitioner or OB-GYN about their menstruation problems. 56.97% athletes think that sports training and participation effect their menstrual periods. 49.78% reported that diet provided to them was not well balanced and 59.09% reported that imbalanced diet had caused many problems like that of irregular menstrual periods, dizziness, sleeping difficulties, mood swings, constipation and feelings of depression to them. Conclusion: The knowledge of the participants of this study about the menstruation and related problems was very weak and did not know the safe maintenance procedures. They also have the ill faith that sports participation hampers the menstrual periods. Besides this the significant weight loss could be due to training load and dietary imbalances. This seems to have had played major role in the irregularity of the menstrual cycles.

Girl Guides, Athletes, and Educators

Abstract Algeria is often seen as a major instance of women’s emancipation in the Middle East of the mid-twentieth century. Whereas the scholarly focus has often been on colonial policies, French views, or the female participation in the war of independence, this article looks at the impact that new bodily practices, such as scouting and sports, had on gender relations within Muslim Algerian society during the last three decades of French rule. It contrasts the reformist discourse of the Islamic islah movement on women’s “emancipation” and education with the aspirations of young women themselves who started to challenge patriarchal authority.