Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
How do people become involved in sports? What can their experiences teach us?
These are two of the many questions asked by this unique collection of personal stories of people involved in sport. Told by researchers who have interviewd participants and observed what happens in the setting where people play sports, the contributions not only show how sport studies contribute to the wider study of society, but also describe the difficulties and challenges faced when doing research of this kind.
Inside Sports is divided into four main sections reflecting the social processes and developments over time that make up the experience of sport for most people, however diverse their circumstances may otherwise be:
* Early experiences: being introduced to sports
* Experience and identity: becoming an athlete
* Deep in the experience: doing sports
* Transition experiences: facing life beyond the playing field.
In its extensive coverage of the sporting experience from within, as well as its discussion of research methods, Inside Sports will be essential reading for all students studying sport in society.
Table of Contents
Pt. 1. Early experiences : being introduced to sports -- Young children's social constructions of physicality and gender / Cynthia A. Hasbrook -- Through the eyes of youth : "deep play" in PeeWee ice hockey / Alan G. Ingham and Alison Dewar -- Playing sports and social acceptance : the experiences of immigrant and refugee students in Garden City, Kansas / Mark A. Grey -- Late to the line : starting sport competition as an adult / Kitty Porterfield -- Little League mothers and the reproduction of gender / Janet Saltzman Chafetz and Joseph A. Kotarba -- Pt. 2. Experience and identity : becoming an athlete -- Rock climbers and rugby players : identity construction and confirmation / Peter Donnelly and Kevin Young -- Making decisions : how young people become involved and stay involved in sports / Jay Coakley and Anita White -- Becoming an international athlete : making decisions about identity / Christopher Stevenson -- Coming of age in North America : socialization of Dominican baseball players / Alan M. Klein -- Becoming 100 percent straight / Michael A. Messner -- The game begins at home : women's labor in the service of sport / Shona Thompson -- Pt. 3. Deep in the experience : doing sports -- High school football : deep in the heart of South Tejas / Douglas E. Foley -- Skateboarding : an alternative to mainstream sports / Becky Beal -- Being physical : sources of pleasure and satisfaction in women's ice hockey / Nancy Theberge -- Jay White Hawk : Mesquaki athlete, AIM hellraiser, and anthropological informant / Douglas E. Foley -- College athletes in high-profile media sports : the consequences of glory / Patricia A. Adler and Peter Adler -- Fans, status, and the gift of golf / Todd Crosset -- Wives incorporated : marital relationships in professional ice hockey / Wendy Thompson -- Pt. 4. Transition experiences : facing life beyond the playing field -- Threats to sport careers : elite athletes talk about injury and pain / Kevin Young and Philip White -- When the balance is gone : the sport and retirement experiences of elite female gymnasts / Anna Dacyshyn -- Moving on : leaving pro sports / Derek A. Swain -- Retiring from the sideline : becoming more than "hockey's daughter" and "football's wife" / Bette McKenzie.