Women's Sports Research Articles

Are some sports riskier than others? An investigation into child athlete experiences of interpersonal violence in relation to sport type and gender

Interpersonal violence in sport has serious consequences for athletes, sports organisations and society at large. Despite recent advances in safeguarding sport participants from interpersonal violence, empirical evidence regarding its prevalence and risk factors across different sports remains scarce. In this study, we investigated differences in the prevalence of interpersonal violence among a convenience sample of 9989 adults from six European countries who participated in organised sport before age 18. Utilising binary logistic regression analyses and CHAID regression tree analyses, we examined variations in reported experiences of neglect, psychological, physical, non-contact sexual and contact sexual forms of interpersonal violence based on gender and three sport classifications: type of sport (individual vs. team), sports attire (non-revealing vs. body-fitting/revealing) and weight-sensitivity (less weight-sensitive vs. weight-sensitive sports). Men participating in team sports reported significantly higher levels of victimisation across all types of interpersonal violence. Women in sports with non-revealing attire and men in less weight-sensitive sports also reported higher prevalence rates. The study underscores the need for a nuanced understanding of interpersonal violence characteristics and dynamics across different sports. Insights into the factors influencing victimisation enable tailored prevention and response strategies to be developed to better address the needs of athletes and sport organisations.

A Comparison of Match External Load Demands Across Women's Collegiate Field Sports.

Kuhlman, NM, Jagim, AR, Jones, MT, Feit, MK, and Fields, JB. A comparison of match external load demands across women's collegiate field sports. J Strength Cond Res XX(X): 000-000, 2024-Historically, soccer (SOC), lacrosse (LAX), and field hockey (FH) have been grouped together as "field sports" due to their intermittent nature of match play and similar physiological demands. However, questions have emerged regarding potential variations in demands between sports. The purpose of this study was to compare external match workloads between collegiate women's SOC, LAX, and FH, and examine within-sport positional differences. Athletes (SOC: n = 15; LAX: n = 15; FH: n = 14) wore a global positioning system device during all matches throughout a competitive season. External load metrics included in the analysis were total distance (TD), sprint distance (SD), accelerations (>3 m·s-2), sprint efforts (SE), player load (PL), PL per minute (PL/min), top speed (m·s-1), and distances covered in select speed zones. Soccer performed higher external load volumes (TD, PL) (p ≤ 0.025) but incurred lower intensities (SD, SE, accelerations) (p < 0.001) compared with LAX and FH. Within-sport positional differences were apparent in SOC (p < 0.001-0.018), LAX (p < 0.001-0.045), and FH (p < 0.001-0.004). However, FH exhibited more positional variance in external load metrics compared with SOC or LAX. Field hockey midfielders covered greater volumes (TD, PL) compared with attackers and defenders (p < 0.001), while attackers sustained greater intensities (SD, SE, top speed) compared with midfielders and defenders (p < 0.004). Results indicate that there are significant differences in external workload parameters between sports and across positions. Practitioners should tailor sport-specific and position-specific programs to match demands, and future research should explore the proposed categorizations of LAX as a "fast collision invasion sport," FH as a "fast contact invasion sport," and SOC as a "slow contact invasion sport."

Exploitation in College Sports: No Longer Just a “Man's Game”

Previous studies of college athlete compensation have generally focused on the “revenue sports” of football and men's basketball. Hence, wage exploitation is often considered a “man's game.” In the 50 years since Title IX, many women's college sports have reported millions of dollars in revenue, suggesting wage exploitation is possible in college softball. Data on 19,760 athletes from 294 universities from 2012 to 2021, combined with two different sources of athletic revenue reach the same conclusion: wage exploitation exists in college softball. Furthermore, thousands of players generate more revenue in college than the wages they are likely to earn playing professional softball.

Girls play basketball too? A study of the mechanisms of traditional social gender consciousness on female participation in contact leisure sports.

With the development of women's sports, the mechanism of barriers to women's leisure sports participation has attracted extensive attention from the academic community. Despite its significant impact, there are few empirical studies on intra-personal barriers. Consequently, a structural equation model was established to examine the relationships between traditional social gender awareness, gender bias, gender stereotypes, and barriers to participation in leisure sports. In this study, a total of 508 questionnaires were collected and analyzed using AMOS 24.0 software for structural equation modeling. After model testing, the relationships between the variables were examined. The results of the statistical analyses indicated that traditional gender awareness could serve as an antecedent variable for barriers to participation in leisure sports, and that gender stereotypes mediated the relationship between traditional gender awareness and barriers to participation in leisure sports. The study also concluded that gender bias could not mediate the relationship between traditional gender awareness and participation barriers in leisure sports, but gender bias and gender stereotypes could act as chain mediators in the process of the influence of traditional gender awareness on barriers to contact leisure sports. This study emphasizes the need for women to break down the traditional social gender awareness, gender bias, gender stereotypes, and other intra-personal barriers when engaging in leisure sport participation. According to this study, the promotion of sustained and healthy development of women's sport requires the breaking down of traditional social gender awareness education and the creation of more gender-inclusive sports policies and environments. The significance of the study is that by proposing and confirming the internal participation barriers to women's participation in contact leisure sports, it will lead to the ideological liberation of women's gender perspectives, so that they can break down the participation barriers to contact leisure sports, participate in sports activities, and enjoy the right to play sports on an equal footing.

Brazilian Women in Paralympic Sports: Uncovering Historical Milestones in the Summer Paralympic Games.

The journey of Brazilian female Paralympians transcends mere statistical increases in women's participation. Behind the modest athlete growth lies the reality of women who are doubly marginalized by the intersection of gender and disability in an arena tailored for able-bodied men. Our study aimed to catalyze critical discourses surrounding the historical trajectory of Paralympic women's sports. Through a comprehensive documentary analysis based on the Brazilian Paralympic Committee's official documents from 1976 to 2021, we sought to shed light on this complex scenario. Numerically, Brazil's representation comprised 229 women who, predominantly, had physical impairments and engaged in individual sports. In addition to a sporting legacy deeply entrenched in physical rehabilitation with limited opportunities for team-based sports, we observed negative influences stemming from ableist and sexist narratives. A thorough investigation into Paralympic milestones revealed a multitude of social barriers and highlighted the significant impact of societal changes in reshaping athletic opportunities and challenging traditional stereotypes.

Lived Experiences of Shame: An Exploratory Study of Women in Sports

Lived Experiences of Shame: An Exploratory Study of Women in Sports

Women coaches leadership development programme: an evaluation study of programme effectiveness.

Women's sport has been experiencing continuous growth, yet the low levels of women coaches in the United Kingdom (UK) suggests that the sport is missing out on potential talent. Guided by empirical research, a women-only leadership development programme was designed and implemented by UK Sport to a cohort of 20 coaches from January to June 2021. The main characteristics of the programme included raising awareness of gender bias while at the same time focusing on women coaches' leadership purpose and skills within a safe environment that supports coaches to build their leader identity. Kirkpatrick's (1998) four-level model was employed to guide the evaluation of programme effectiveness: reactions, learnings, applications and results. Interviews were conducted with 17 participating coaches. Content analysis of the qualitative data revealed five general categories (a) evaluations were mainly positive highlighting the aspects of the programme they liked, enjoyed and made most impression onto them; (b) learnings that impacted their work directly and immediately emerged as was the importance of on-going development; and (c) the majority of the women desired progression and transitioning to senior coach leadership positions was felt within their grasp; nonetheless, (d) challenges emerged and were described as organisational (e.g., recruitment, remuneration) and personal (e.g., work-life balance, childcare). Overall, the effectiveness of the programme was captured in its capacity to raise awareness, develop knowledge, build connections, and inspire so much so that its effects translated to many of these women moving to more senior leadership positions post-programme. Practically, this evaluation highlights that investment in individual coaches is part of the systemic change required to bring about gender balance in the coach workforce.

The privilege to do it all? Exploring the contradictions of name, image and likeness (NIL) rights for women athletes and women's sports

The <i>privilege</i> to do it all? Exploring the contradictions of name, image and likeness (NIL) rights for women athletes and women's sports

“And Yet…”: Title IX Fifty Years on An Introduction

The half-century since Title IX was enacted has seen an explosion of opportunities for women and girls. While Title IX has opened doors in a wide array of areas, it will always be associated primarily with women's sports. The effect on women's sports has indeed been profound. Participation and funding has ballooned at all levels, from grade school to the professional ranks. Still, much remains to be done, as participation, attitudes, and support of girls’ and women's sports continue to lag behind those of boys and men. The articles in this volume examine the growth of a variety of women's sports in the wake of Title IX. Collectively, they show how much has been achieved and how much remains to be done.

Migraine epidemiology in collegiate student-athletes: Findings from the Concussion Assessment, Research, and Education (CARE) Consortium.

This cross-sectional study evaluated de-identified data from the National Collegiate Athletic Association-Department of Defense Grand Alliance from 2014 to 2020 to determine the prevalence of migraine and migraine medication and to describe differences in migraine prevalence by sex, race, and sport. Epidemiological studies can help identify underdiagnosed and undertreated populations. Understanding migraine prevalence in collegiate student-athletes is essential for positive healthcare outcomes including development of prevention and treatment plans. From a concussion baseline assessment, participant's self-reported demographics (e.g., age, sex, sport), migraine diagnosis (i.e., yes/no), and migraine medication usage (e.g., yes/no, type) determined prevalence of migraine and medication use in collegiate student-athletes. Migraine was reported in 5.6% (2617/47,060; 95% confidence interval [CI] 5.4%-5.8%) of the student-athletes, with higher prevalence in females, 7.5% (1319/17,628; 95% CI 7.1%-7.9%), than males, 4.6% (1298/28,116; 95% CI 4.4%-4.9%). Medication usage was reported by 36.2% (947/2617; 95% CI 34.3%-38.0%) of individuals with migraine. Migraine reporting differed by race, with Caucasian reporting highest (5.9%; 1990/33,913; 95% CI 5.6%-6.1%) and Asian the lowest (2.7%; 55/2027; 95% CI 2.1%-3.5%). Women's sports, including golf, gymnastics, and lacrosse, and men's diving and squash had higher migraine reporting than other sports. Caucasian females reported higher rates than other groups and sport influenced rates of migraine diagnosis.

3D Wetting Gradient Janus Sports Bras for Efficient Sweat Removal: A Strategy to Improve Women's Sports Comfort and Health.

Developing Janus fabrics with excellent one-way sweat transport capacity is an attractive way for providing comfort sensation and protecting the health during exercise. In this work, a 3D wetting gradient Janus fabric (3DWGJF) is first proposed to address the issue of excessive sweat accumulation in women's breasts, followed by integration with a sponge pad to form a 3D wetting gradient Janus sports bra (3DWGJSB). The 3D wetting gradient enables the prepared fabric to control the horizontal migration of sweat in one-way mode (x/y directions) and then unidirectionally penetrate downward (z direction), finally keeping the water content on the inner side of 3DWGJF (skin side) at ≈0%. In addition, the prepared 3DWGJF has good water vapor transmittance rate (WVTR: 0.0409gcm-2h-1) and an excellent water evaporation rate (0.4704gh-1). Due to the high adhesion of transfer prints to the fabrics and their excellent mechanical properties, the 3DWGJF is remarkably durable and capable of withstanding over 500 laundering cycles and 400 abrasion cycles. This work may inspire the design and fabrication of next-generation moisture management fabrics with an effective sweat-removal function for women's health.

Two‐Minute Drill

Women's mental agility better while menstruating Study reveals women's sports fandom moving into mainstream

Epidemiology of Hamstring Tears in National Collegiate Athletic Association Athletes: Findings From the National Collegiate Athletic Association Injury Surveillance Program Between 2014/2015 and 2018/2019.

To describe the epidemiology of hamstring tears in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) sports. Descriptive epidemiology study. Athletic trainers from NCAA schools reported injuries to the NCAA Injury Surveillance Program. A convenience sample of NCAA hamstring tear injuries during the 2014/2015 through 2018/2019 academic years. NCAA student-athletes. Sport, sex, event type, season segment, injury history, and activity at the time of injury. Injury counts, rates, and proportions were used. Two thousand ninety-six hamstring tears from 8 474 400 athlete-exposures (AEs) were reported (2.47 per 10 000 AEs). Rates were highest in Men's Soccer (5.97 per 10 000 AEs) and Women's Soccer (3.13 per 10 000 AEs), among all Men's and Women's sports, respectively. Competition-related rates in Men's and Women's sports were highest in 2015 to 2016 then followed a decreasing pattern across the remainder of the study period. Among sex-comparable sports, rates were higher in men's (compared with women's) Baseball/Softball, Soccer, and Track and Field. The prevalence of recurrent injuries was comparable among men's (14.8%) and women's (11.5%) sports. Time loss hamstring tears were more prevalent in Men's sports than Women's sports [injury proportion ratio = 1.33; 95% confidence interval, (1.21, 1.47)]. Overall, hamstring tear rates were higher across all Men's sports compared with Women's sports. Rates across event type were comparable in several sports; and so, adjustments to practice are needed considering that practice environments are more modifiable than competitions. Indeed, improving hamstring tear prevention programs to reduce the burden of this injury in NCAA athletes remains critical.

Troubling dualisms: Understanding the creation and implementation of protective policies in elite women's sport

In today's political environment, questions of “fairness,” “protection,” and “woman” remain contentious topics, particularly in sport, and draw from different types of knowledges to support corresponding regulatory documents. Considering the heterogeneity of knowledge informing protection for (women) athletes, there remain questions around how to create (policy) guidelines, which ostensibly convey consensus on complex topics (e.g. female eligibility, trans eligibility, and athlete health). In this article, we draw from Anne Fausto-Sterling's “dueling dualisms” and Michel Foucault's theory of governmentality to examine what, how, and why specific ways of knowing make their way into written policies whereas others are left out or re-interpreted. To do so, we examine three International Olympic Committee (IOC) and World Athletics (WA) policy texts (i.e. the IOC's consensus statement on relative energy deficiency in sport [REDs] and WA's female and transgender eligibility policies) and interviews with IOC and WA experts. We find disconnects between expert knowledge, written texts, and anticipated policy implementations, despite the perception of consensus in written documents. These discrepancies especially manifest in the ideas of policies as both a scientific process and a felt experience, and controlled unfairness.

A Model for Causality of Pitching-related Overuse Injuries in Women's Fastpitch Softball.

Fastpitch softball is a popular women's sport, and athletes, particularly pitchers, are at high risk for overuse injury. Softball-related injury rates are low; however, the prevalence of overuse injuries is high. Injuries at the high school and collegiate levels occur early in the season, and approximately 50% of shoulder and elbow injuries in softball are attributable to overuse. Survey research showed 77% of high school pitchers pitch with pain, and 73% of collegiate pitchers reported an overuse injury in the previous season. Modifiable and non-modifiable intrinsic and extrinsic risk factors contribute to injury risk in a model that can be used in history taking, clinical examination, and management of softball-related injuries. In this manuscript, we present a scoping review of fastpitch softball injury research by competitive levels from 1990 to present. We also introduce a model for overuse injury causality in this athlete population. With this information, clinicians will be able to identify risk factors related to injury in softball pitchers. More research is needed to make evidence-based recommendations for injury prevention in this athlete population.

Studying professional women footballers: A reflexive commentary on being benched from recruitment

In this reflexive commentary we provide critical reflections on the challenges of recruiting professional women football players as experienced by the researchers. We posit that the same social, systemic inequities that make continued study of women's professionalized sport so important, also generate challenges to recruiting women athletes. As we share our reflections on the difficulties we experienced throughout our recruitment process, we hope to illuminate challenges and strategies to advance sport research with professional women athletes and answer calls to amplify marginalized voices across sport studies. Namely, we identify three (inaccurate) outsider researcher assumptions that contributed to our recruitment challenges related to social, systemic inequities: (a) many professional women football players will (at some point) secure a financial sponsorship deal, (b) the football club staff would be our gatekeepers, and (c) women's football has professionalized working conditions, resources, and support. We argue that it is important to understand the challenges and gatekeepers that researchers encounter while studying professional women's sport, to address gender inequities while working towards a more socially just landscape.

Integrated women's football teams can attract larger stadium crowds

ABSTRACT Research Question Women's sports have seen a trend of diversification recently, with women's and men's teams merging to form integrated football clubs. While such integrated clubs (e.g. Paris Saint-Germain), in particular, have determined the media headlines with record attendances, governing bodies have begun drafting policies to accelerate such strategic integrations. However, empirical evidence on whether integrated women's football teams (which may benefit from brand spillover effects, among other things) attract larger crowds to their stadiums is limited at best. Naturally, this raises the question of whether being an integrated football club matters for women's football stadium attendance demand. Research Method Using ordinary least squares regression with season-level fixed effects with a dataset of 1,506 games played over 11 seasons before and after the COVID pandemic in Germany, France, and Sweden, we are the first to present robust evidence on the association between being an integrated football clubs and stadium attendance demand for European women’s football across multiple markets. Results and Findings We find that integrated women's football teams can attract larger crowds. Intriguingly, such demand synergies, however, are not a given emerging from a strong brand effect, per se. Instead, women's football club executives must proactively unlock these synergies to avoid adverse effects. Implications Our findings suggest that women’s football may achieve a higher potential through integration, but only if the women’s team is managed as more than an ancillary second team. As such, despite being formulated with the best intentions, forced integration policies might backfire.

Ethical Risks of Systematic Menstrual Tracking in Sport.

In this article it will be concluded that systematic menstrual tracking in women's sport has the potential to cause harm to athletes. Since the ruling of Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization (2022) in the United States, concerns regarding menstrual health tracking have arisen. Research suggests that the menstrual tracking of female athletes presents potential risks to "women's autonomy, privacy, and safety in sport" (Casto 2022, 1725). At present, the repercussions of systematic menstrual tracking are particularly under-scrutinized, and this paper seeks to combine novel research in the sport sciences with present ethical debates in the philosophy of sports. Utilizing Beauvoir's feminist philosophy (2011), this paper argues that systematic menstrual tracking may contribute to the wider system of women's oppression by exploiting female athletes, as well as enabling the internalization of submissive behaviour in cultures where athletes are expected to comply unquestioningly. Five policy recommendations are made concerning autonomy, informed consent, education, safeguarding and data access. The overall findings of this paper propose that a more in-depth understanding of the links between data, privacy, and the menstrual cycle are required by sports organizations and governing bodies if athletes are to be protected in a future where systematic menstrual tracking is inevitable.

“It's sort of help yourself” – DIY medical care and team-doctoring in amateur women's sport

It has become something of a truism, that within various athletic subcultures pain and injury are regularly normalised as ‘part of the game’. One clear consequence which flows from this empirical reality is that athletes often need medical care in various forms. Recent developments in the gendered structuring of sport means that sportswomen are increasingly centred within this process. Yet, there is a broad consensus from sportswomen and academics alike that access to medical support and the availability of associated resources in women's sport is inadequate. Based on interviews with 17 women located in the United Kingdom, we cast new light on how medical support and care appears to be structured across various women's amateur sports. Two key findings are highlighted, firstly, that the majority of medical support was via first aid kits, which is problematic in their inconsistent restocking, and the availability of someone trained to use them. And, secondly, that there was a DIY approach to medical care which we explore via a discussion of athlete-to-athlete ‘team-doctoring’ – wherein sportswomen provided medical advice, care and treatments to each other. Our analysis of these two findings shows how medical care might be inconsistent, compromised and otherwise poor in quality, especially when viewed through the lens of critical scholarship about the sociology of sports medicine. This has specific consequences for the sports women we spoke with, and wider implications for our understanding of amateur sportspeople generally.

“Now she has everything, a happy family story and an Olympic medal”: Representations of Gloria Kotnik in the Slovenian media landscape

Over the last four decades, feminist sports media research has developed into an established transdisciplinary branch of research that contributes to highlighting the contradictions and unevenness of social change at the level of women's sports and its positioning in society. In this context, the increasing media visibility of athlete mothers as an expression of an emerging social phenomenon provides an opportunity to examine and reflect on the patterns of media portrayal of sportswomen. This article focuses on the media representations of Gloria Kotnik, the Slovenian snowboarder and bronze medalist at the 2022 Winter Olympics. Through textual analysis, it attempts to identify how Kotnik was portrayed in selected Slovenian media and what role her motherhood, in particular, played in this. While ambivalence was identified as a predominant pattern in the media representations of Kotnik, the role of motherhood was presented both as something seemingly incompatible with the role of an elite athlete and in a way that perceived these two roles as compatible. Due to the reproduction of traditional gender ideologies and hierarchies, the article problematizes both patterns and concludes by linking the desire for social change with the need to redefine the ethics of care.