Sport participation can be one of the single most empowering experiences of a woman’s life (Bolin & Granskog, 2000). This piece takes an auto-biographical look at the author’s collegiate rowing experience. This reflection serves as a reminder to all of us active in the fields of sport and women’s issues that great power can be derived from the simplest of moments. It teaches us that the lessons learned through athletic participation can carry great meaning into every aspect of our lives past, present, and future.
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More Beautiful in Motion than Standing Still
Jenny Lind Withycombe
Intersecting Selves: African American Female Athletes’ Experiences of Sport
Jenny Lind Withycombe
Stereotypes have the power to dynamically structure African American female athletes’ oppression (Buysse & Embser-Herbert, 2004; Kane, 1996), for example, by trivializing their athletic efforts (Douglas, 2002). The purpose of this paper was to examine how African American women athletes experience such stereotypes. Drawing from Collins (1990) and Crenshaw’s (1991) work on intersectionality, data were gathered from eight African American female athletes regarding their sport experiences. Qualitative analyses revealed two major themes: Gendered Stereotypes and Racial Stereotypes. Findings suggested that complex intersections of these stereotypes significantly impacted African American female athletes’ sport experiences. It is concluded that future research should explore in greater depth the sexist, racist, and classist incidences of African American female athletes’ experiences at all levels of sport participation.
NCAA Division-I Administrators’ Perceptions of the Benefits of Sport Psychology Services and Possible Roles for a Consultant
Craig Wrisberg, Jenny Lind Withycombe, Duncan Simpson, Lauren A. Loberg, and Ann Reed
In the current study National Collegiate Athletic Association D-I athletic directors (n = 198) and presidents (n = 58) were asked to rate their perceptions of the benefits of various sport psychology services and their support of possible roles for a sport psychology consultant (SPC). Participants gave higher ratings for (a) services that were performance-related (e.g., dealing with pressure) than for those that were life-related (e.g., preventing burnout) and (b) a role for a SPC that involved the provision of services but not a full-time staff position or interactions with athletes at practices and competitions. Results indicated that while administrators acknowledge the potential benefits of sport psychology services, some remain reticent to employ them on a full-time basis. Future research is recommended with administrators that have employed SPCs full-time to determine their perceptions of the impact of sport psychology services on their student-athletes.