Winning was Everything...until Sport Stopped PDF Download

Author: Evan Alexander Davis
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020-
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Sport participation is often associated with positive development; however, changes in youth sport culture have led to a privatized model grounded in a performance narrative (i.e., sport participation is based on winning and competition). This is concerning as scholars have found performance narratives at elite levels of sport often lead to negative consequences (e.g., role engulfment, negative affectivity) for athletes who internalize it. To date, little research has explored the presence and influence of the performance narrative in adolescent athletes, which is concerning since adolescence is a vital time for identity development. Furthermore, adolescent athletes who internalize a performance narrative may face greater risk of emotional disturbances, due to disruptions to their sport participation from the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine how the sport experiences of adolescent athletes and their negotiation with cultural narratives in sport has influenced their identity development. Additionally, the study sought to understand how disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic influenced the identity development of adolescent athletes. A narrative inquiry was employed to explore adolescent athletes’ experiences in sport and experiences of living through the COVID-19 pandemic. Data was collected through 3 semi-structured interviews with 12 adolescent (14-18 years old) athletes. Findings from the study indicated that participants had positive perceptions of their development through sport but differed in the extent they constructed their identity around sport. Additionally, most participants constructed their athlete identity through a performance narrative, leading them to tie their self-worth to their performance in sport. Lastly, participants experienced challenges from disruption to their sport experiences; however, the consequences they experienced from these challenges were dependent on whether they reset their sense of normalcy or experienced fluctuating normalcy. Implications from this study suggest administrators, coaches, and parents may look for ways to challenge the performance narrative and provide greater support for exploration and discovery for adolescent athletes.