Determining Women Athletes Identify As Influences On Their Participation

Upon starting college, I was done with sports as far as participating on a team. I knew I wanted to be involved wherever I could be. I enrolled in a class titled, “Girls & Women in Sport.” The class was built upon a sociological approach. In this class, I learned the importance of sex versus gender, the role of Title IX in sports, gender roles, as well as the psychological impacts of athletic participation on women.

Starting with how women are portrayed in media, Trolan (2013) states that in today’s society, individuals are shown magazines, newspapers, and television programs with articles and photographs, “of what it means to be a woman or man” (Trolan, 215). This is remarkably obvious when discussing the world of sport. Although women have achieved a somewhat higher level of respect in the everyday world, within the sporting world, “they are still viewed as women first and athletes second” (Trolan, 215). Krane, Choi, Baird, Aimar, and Kauer (2004) also articulate that women participating in sport live in two extremely separate cultures: the sporting culture and the culture in which they face the continual battle between being an athlete and being a woman. Being viewed as

This study is designed to bring attention to the lack of female coaches at the youth and colligate levels. Most youth and collegiate sports coaches are men in today 's world. There are many factors that play a role for this predicament. Many times in the recreation field mothers are viewed as the “team moms” and the fathers are usually the coaches. Research will show that the number of female coaches to male coaches at all levels of coaching is drastically different. The number of female athletes has increased but the number of female coaches has decreased. There have not been large amounts of research done in the recreation field surrounding this problem, but the research found in college athletics directly reflects what is happening at the youth level as well.

Traditionally women were viewed as equipped to participate in sports, and their involvement was viewed as unfeminine and undesirable. This Article Examples the women were viewed as unfeminine to the sports that men play and undesirable. Young girls who are given an early opportunity to participate in sports may be more prepared for the male in classrooms. Even though women have often been relegated to second-hand citizenship in the same socializing, integration, statues, and recognition that benefit male athletes. (By; Sandra L. Hanson)

Woman’s sustained involvement in ‘male’ team sports has only occurred relatively recently. Woman’s participation in sport has been blunted by

Many social factors directly or indirectly shape opinions and influence an individual’s decision to participate in physical activity. These factors change throughout an individual’s life. For example, some children start playing sport because it is fun; others may join a sporting group because their older brother or sister plays that sport. A new sporting complex may open nearby and provide a chance to try a new sport. Coaching clinics might inspire some people to give a sport a go. Teachers can provide both positive and negative sporting experiences.

Women have always had less involvement in sport than men. There may be reasons as to why women have less involvement. They may stop playing sport to focus on other thing like having children or a family. Women with family may also find it difficult due to a lack of money and time. These barriers can occur at any level of sports continuum from someone who may just want to exercise to keep fit (participation stage) but feels they can’t as the only classes available to them are mixed sex classes which they are not comfortable with. Other example, of the barriers to women may be that at the performance or excellence stage lack sponsorship, media coverage and government funding in women’s sport. This in turn means that women are unable to continue sport as a career and are limited to the level they are able to achieve as they can’t live by only playing sports and must get a job. There has been a large improvement in the amount of women involved in sport since scheme and government funded activities have been put in place to increase numbers of women’s only classes, competitive clubs and female teams in traditional male sport such as rugby, football and

Throughout many years there has been a great change of gender roles of men and women in our society, and especially in the world of sports. Over the last couple years female athletes have really strived to gaining equal representation and media coverage as much as the male athletes do. Female athletes are also starting to participate in more male dominated sports such as, MMA, hockey and even golf. These few sports have been perceived as “manly sports” which usually makes women feel that they shouldn't participate because they're not masculine enough. Even though there are many female athletes who feel discouraged to playing “manly sports” there are also plenty of female athletes who are trying to show younger generations that it's okay to participate and compete in sports that aren't necessarily “feminine sports”. The way that gender roles have been affecting sports for a long time are through behaviors, stereotypes and the perception of male and female athletes.

When considering enjoyment, known factors that affect the participation for youth sport participants are motivational climate and coaching behaviors. . The very first coach that a child encounter plays a very important role in the child’s sports life. In fact, the first coach a child encounters can be the determinant if the child will return to participating in the sport or not. Coaches need to motivate the children to play and continue athletic involvement. However, there are numerous external factors that are involved in the child’s sports life such as: peers, academics, parents, anxiety, and of course the relationship between the coach and the athlete.

In youth sports, motivation is a key factor for an athlete’s satisfaction. There are many reasons why people participate in sports. Some are for internal motivation and others external. Intrinsic motivation is a motivation that is inside yourself, such as playing purely out of love and enjoyment of the game. This is a high level of self-determination. Extrinsic motivation is the decision to participate in a sport due to external reasons such as social status, rewards, or financial reasons which affects one’s self-determination. Introjected regulation is the third form of extrinsic motivation. It is an external source, but can be confused as an intrinsic motivation because of the feeling of guilt or self-worth from the demand and result of the outcome of your performance. Amotivation does not perceive the links between behavior and the consequences which are the lack of autonomy, feelings of incompetence, and non-rewarding actions. In the SDT, results in people with low self-determination are at a higher risk of burnout. Also, previous studies concluded that athletes with high levels of amotivation and controlled regulations lead to burnout.

Women’s participation in sports has changed over the centuries. In ancient times, men dominated societies. Women were viewed as the caretaker, a provider for life. Women who did participate were criticized and were thought of as threatening. In 18th century America, women were considered inferior to men because of the belief that women are the weaker sex. A woman’s purpose in life was to take care of the house, children, and husband. When they did want to participate in recreational sport, they need to be able to negotiate with men and with other women because societies did not make it easy for women to participate. For example, there was a

In the last one hundred years women have made tremendous inroads in many facets of life. Of that there can be little doubt. Women may now hold jobs, own property and participate in professional sports. Today women can compete in sports, once a vestige of male domination; there is now room for women in that arena. But even today women in sports are not portrayed in the same light as their male counterparts. To a large degree this is because of today's cultural ideal of women.

Motivation is crucial for an athlete in order to want to win. It is hard to want to win if you have no motivation. The main aspect of motivation in terms of the self-determination theory is intrinsic motivation. The self-determination theory can be defined as “a highly appropriate conceptual framework from which to study sport persistence and dropout” (Calvo, Cervelló, Jiménez, Iglesias, & Moreno Murcia, 2010). Intrinsic Motivation can be defined as “an athlete taking up playing a sport just for the enjoyment of playing a sport” (Pelletier, Tuson, Fortier, Vallerand, & Briére, 1995). It is important to realize that the self-determination theory affects an athlete’s motivation intrinsically (internally) because the self-determination theory uses factors like “autonomy” and “competence” to motivate an athlete to play better in their sport. Most athletes, now and in the past, find it easier to motivate themselves intrinsically if they enjoy the sport or have fun while playing the sport (Ryan & Deci, 1985).

Women. Men. They are both a unique and special being that is on earth. In a perfect society, men and women would have the same physical strength and they would be completely equal. The idea of women and men being able to play against each other is wonderful but realistically it might not work out as great. Of course, women can do anything men can do, but in a competitive situation like this, the results of this change could bring forth more negative impacts than positive ones. In professional sports, women and men should be kept separate due to being biologically different and because of the possibility of the quality of the performances in the sports decreasing.

Women have always been the minority in the world even today: that is in the work force or even in sports. Title IX, an act that was made by the United States Congress in 1972, said that no one should be denied to play, receive financial aid, or discriminate to any education program or activity that pertains to only one sex (Senne 1). This act was a step towards improving female participation and lessening discrimination, but the stereotypes that most of society believes in still exist. This is one of the main reasons why women are discriminated when it comes to sports; by limited payroll, limited media coverage, and stereotypes.