The Game of ‘Their’ Lives

Eli Wolff, Northeastern University, Ted Fay, SUNY, Cortland and Mary Hums, University of Louisville

Inclusion, Integration and Human Rights: From the Athlete Perspective

This presentation will describe research conducted on the views and opinions of a cross-section of “Paralympic” athletes concerning their perspectives on their status within the Olympic Movement, the Olympic Games, and related international sport federations and their respective competitions and championships. This presentation will examine the significant mainstream symbols and institutions of international sport in terms of their relevance in providing credibility and legitimacy to athletes with disabilities as elite athletes. The results of this exploratory study will also outline using a critical theory perspective of the relationship between the athlete perspectives on integration and inclusion into elite sport and their corresponding views concerning overall human rights. Further, this paper will present a framework for assessing the value and apparent respect or disrespect given to disability-specific sport opportunities being added as divisions or parts of existing mainstream sport governance, sporting events, programs and/or organizations. An assessment will also be presented as a means to discuss sport in this context as a means of transformation or the reinforcement of existing hegemony within sport governance models and organizations. Comparative linking of other related histories of marginalized identity groups (e.g., race and gender) in sport and societies will serve as the basis for discussion followed by recommendations for future research needs in this nascent area of sport sociology as it more openly addresses issues of ableism in sport.

Eli Wolff, Northeastern University, Howard L. Nixon II, Towson University and Ian Brittain, University of Warwick

Incorporating Perspectives on Athletes with a Disability into the Sport Sociology Curriculum
This presentation proposes important perspectives, issues and research about athletes with a disability in sport that could be included in introduction to sport sociology courses to enrich them and expand their usual focus. The significance and historical context of athletes with a disability in sport introduces this presentation. Athletes with a disability are discussed in relation to major sociological topics, such as stratification and the sports opportunity structure, discrimination, integration, segregation, power, social identity and socialization, gender, race, minority relations, cultural diversity, the role of the media and the organizational hierarchy of sport, which suggest places to fit the discussion of athletes with a disability into the sport sociology curriculum. Terms and ideas specifically related to disability sport and the involvement of athletes with a disability in sport are also presented. Key issues and debates about the involvement of persons with a disability in disability and mainstream sport are proposed as additional ways of integrating topics about disability and sport into the curriculum.
Andrew Yiannakis, University of Connecticut

Quo Vadis Sport Sociology? Is There a Future for You in the Horizon?

The presentation provides a brief outline of the development of the society from its inception in 1978 to the first conference in Denver in 1980. It also identifies and discusses the issues and problems that confronted (and some still continue to do so today) the organization over the years, from the early days to the present. The discussion also alludes to significant contributions by key sport sociologists, their impact on the growth and development of the society and their influence in shaping the future of both the field and the organization. The paper concludes with a discussion and analysis of current conditions, opportunities for growth, the emergence and influence of sport management and the current and future roles of the original parent “disciplines”, sociology and sport studies. Finally, the author suggests a wider role for the sociology of sport in the 21st century and proposes the use of a sociocultural perspective in the analysis of sport in history; a perspective that we may call sociocultural historiography of sport (e.g., a sociocultural analysis of the ancient Olympic Games).

Kathleen S. Yep, Claremont Colleges

"Orientalism and its Discontents": Basketball and Performing Nation and Racialized Masculinities
In 1939-1940 and 1940-1941, the first and only professional Chinese American men's basketball team, known as the Hong Wah Kues, traveled around the United States and Canada. On the barnstorming circuit, the Hong Wah Kues competed against local Caucasian teams as well as other "ethnic theme teams" such as the African American Harlem Globetrotters, a Native American team, and a White ethnic team representing a religious colony. Described in racialized and gendered terms by local newspapers as "tiny little oriental rug cutters" or the "foreign attackers," the newspaper coverage and the promotional marketing defined the borders of "America" through contradictory but simultaneous themes of alien invasion and assimilation. Through an analysis of newspapers, advertisements and key informant interviews, this paper explores the use of novelty and sport to (re)articulate racialized notions of masculinity and nation.
Alana Young, University of Ottawa

The Flipside: Female Skateboarders and Risk Discourses

This study follows on a presentation made at NASSS 2003 that documented young women’s experiences in the skateboarding subculture. Although the concept of risk was not the focus of this study, women’s understanding of risks was integral to their explanations of women’s minimal participation in skateboarding. Specifically, young women referred to the physical and social risks associated with skateboarding and with identifying with a masculine, street-based subculture. This study explores young women’s skateboarding experiences and how ideas of ‘risk’ converge with ideas of femininity in shaping the skateboard subculture and practices as ‘inappropriate’ for young women. Despite the evidence of counter risk discourses, a majority of research has situated young women’s risk taking behaviours as negative and within the dominant discourse of masculinity and risk. Lupton (1999) argues that women’s risk-taking behaviours can be beneficial, as counter discourses encourage the ability to surpass expectations of performing gender.
Chia-Chen Yu, University of Wisconsin, La Crosse

Reaching Minority Customers through Athlete Endorsement

In the past, the major target market for most corporations was men between the ages of 18-35. Today, due to the change of society and a new direction of business, corporations have started to expand their target market to other groups of customers, such as women and ethnic populations. Consumers now receive numerous forms of advertising information daily through television, radio, magazines, newspapers and the World Wide Web. As a result, corporations are using different advertising strategies to reach their target market in order to deliver the message in the most effective way; minority athlete endorsement is one of them. For example, Parra, a speed skater who is the first Mexican-American to win the Winter Olympics gold, and Yao Ming, an NBA star originally from China, have several endorsement deals. Having minority athletes endorsing the products not only serves as a role model for youth, it also provides marketing potential among minority groups. The presenter will first discuss the current trend of advertising strategies for minority populations. Further, the presenter will introduce a variety of examples of minority athletes’ endorsements and discuss how it might affect the growing trend of sports globalization.
Chia-Chen Yu, University of Wisconsin, La Crosse and Brenda Soto-Torres, Community Health Education Consultant

Social Influences among Minority Women Engaging in Exercise for Health Purposes

Engaging in regular exercise to maintain health-related fitness and to raise the quality of life is currently a significant issue for the population ranging from children, youth, adults, and senior citizens in every country. According to the research (Wedderkopp, Froberg, Hansen, & Andersen, 2004), low physical fitness and obesity have been shown to be associated with cardiovascular disease risk. As a result, the government in various countries such as the USA and Taiwan, and scholars and practitioners in health and physical education have developed numerous plans to encourage individual’s engagement in exercise for health purposes. In recent years, research and planning have been focusing on the studies from physiological concerns, such as child obesity and menopausal women with osteoporosis. However, little research has been discussed from the cultural and social influences for individual’s participation in exercise to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Furthermore, because of traditional cultural and social biases, women are not encouraged to participate in physical activities among some ethnic and racial groups such as Asians and Hispanics. Thus, this presentation will describe the cultural and social effects for Asian and Hispanic women’s engagement in physical activities for health purposes. Information and suggestions will also be provided for designing and promoting exercise for health purposes among Asian and Hispanic women.