Date of Award

10-30-2020

Publication Type

Master Thesis

Degree Name

M.H.K.

Department

Kinesiology

Keywords

Athletic Directors, Coaches, Policy, Sport, Transgender

Supervisor

Victoria Paraschak

Rights

info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess

Abstract

In September 2018 U SPORTS released for the first time a transgender policy; CCAA had released their policy seven seasons earlier. Currently there exists no research on how sport administrators (i.e., coaches and athletic directors) might implement these policies, which leads to the purpose of this exploratory study, which was to examine how coaches and athletic directors (ADs) might implement transgender related policy in U SPORTS and CCAA. Framed within a strengths and hope perspective (Paraschak, 2013b), participants’ shared preferred futures were established (Jacobs, 2005) as well as an understanding of how they shaped and simultaneously were shaped by others. A multi-method approach was used for this study. Nine semi-structed interviews were completed: three ADs and six coaches. Interviews were coded using open and focused coding (Van Den Hoonaard, 2012). Further, U SPORTS 80.80.5 Transgender Student-Athlete and CCAA Operating Code Article 5 – Eligibility Section 16 Policy on Transgender Student-Athletes were examined using discourse analysis, which looks at how documents can be recontextualized (Spratt, 2017). Three forms of success emerged: athletic, academic and intra/interpersonal well-being; however, only intra/interpersonal well-being was linked to policy implementation by the interviewees. Strengths that emerged were communication, openness, inclusion and prior experiences. Further, participants identified the following resources to further their ability to achieve a preferred future: material and especially human resources. Finally, participants believed they could be a resource for others by using their communication skills with an openness and willingness to discuss prior experiences tied to the policy.

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