Examining Women's Tackle Football in Canada
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University of Windsor Scholarship at UWindsor Electronic Theses and Dissertations Theses, Dissertations, and Major Papers 2014 Shaping and Being Shaped: Examining Women's Tackle Football in Canada Katrina Krawec University of Windsor Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/etd Recommended Citation Krawec, Katrina, "Shaping and Being Shaped: Examining Women's Tackle Football in Canada" (2014). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 5156. https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/etd/5156 This online database contains the full-text of PhD dissertations and Masters’ theses of University of Windsor students from 1954 forward. These documents are made available for personal study and research purposes only, in accordance with the Canadian Copyright Act and the Creative Commons license—CC BY-NC-ND (Attribution, Non-Commercial, No Derivative Works). Under this license, works must always be attributed to the copyright holder (original author), cannot be used for any commercial purposes, and may not be altered. Any other use would require the permission of the copyright holder. Students may inquire about withdrawing their dissertation and/or thesis from this database. For additional inquiries, please contact the repository administrator via email ([email protected]) or by telephone at 519-253-3000ext. 3208. Shaping and Being Shaped: Examining Women’s Tackle Football in Canada By Katrina Krawec A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies through the Department of Kinesiology in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Human Kinetics at the University of Windsor Windsor, Ontario, Canada 2014 © 2014 Katrina Krawec Shaping and Being Shaped: Examining Women’s Tackle Football in Canada by Katrina Krawec APPROVED BY: ______________________________________________ M. Holman Department of Kinesiology ______________________________________________ J. Drakich Department of Sociology, Anthropology & Criminology ______________________________________________ V. Paraschak, Advisor Department of Kinesiology May 12, 2014 DECLARATION OF ORIGINALITY I hereby certify that I am the sole author of this thesis and that no part of this thesis has been published or submitted for publication. I certify that, to the best of my knowledge, my thesis does not infringe upon anyone’s copyright nor violate any proprietary rights and that any ideas, techniques, quotations, or any other material from the work of other people included in my thesis, published or otherwise, are fully acknowledge in accordance with the standard referencing practices. Furthermore, to the extent that I have included copyrighted material that surpasses the bounds of fair dealing within the meaning of the Canada Copyright Act, I certify that I have obtained a written permission from the copyright owner(s) to include such material(s) in my thesis and have included copies of such copyright clearances to my appendix. I declare that this is a true copy of my thesis, including any final revisions, as approved by my thesis committee and the Graduate Studies office, and that this thesis has not been submitted for a higher degree to any other University or Institution. iii ABSTRACT I explored how Canadian female football players were shaping football and being shaped by their participation in the sport using a duality of structure framework. Through ten semi-structured interviews with two administrators and four players in the Western Women’s Canadian Football League (WWCFL) and four players in the Legends Football League (LFL) Canada, I examined the leagues’ structures and participants’ experiences in their leagues. I also analyzed media representations in 230 newspaper articles. Results indicated that the leagues’ divergent purposes as well as hegemonic understandings of football differently shaped their structures and consequently players’ experiences and media representations. The WWCFL’s close alignment with men’s football and the LFL’s divergence, especially in terms of its uniform, contributed to these differences, although all players shared an enjoyment of physicality, supportive teammates, and extensive volunteer expectations. WWCFL players had many opportunities to shape their league, while opportunities for LFL players were extremely limited. iv DEDICATION To my mom and brother—my team. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I must first thank my advisor, Vicky, who immensely contributed to the positive experience that I had completing my master’s degree at the University of Windsor, and profoundly influenced the way that I view the world. I would like to thank my committee members, Drs. Marge Holman and Janice Drakich, for their time and feedback, which helped improve my work. Thanks as well to Dr. Toni Bruce for being a sounding board and providing useful insights for me to consider as I worked to make sense of my data (and for her hospitality while I was in New Zealand). Thank you to the Sport Management faculty and staff members who help create the “HK Family” environment, including the professors who treat all graduate students as if we are their own students. Thank you to my family, both alive and passed, for their lifetime of unconditional love and support, and to my friends, from grade two and all those I have made along the way, for their support, understanding, and continual invitations to social events to ensure that I did not become a recluse—special shout out to the Rankin house. I have to especially thank Brian who (unknowingly) used strengths perspective to help me see the bright side of every situation. Thanks for always being there to listen (regardless of distance, time zone and time of day) and to help me de-stress. I want to thank the administrators and players from the Western Women’s Canadian Football League and Legends Football League. Without their interest, enthusiasm, and cooperation, my research would not have been possible. Finally, I would like to acknowledge the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada for their support of all of my thesis-related research. It is encouraging to see that research about women in sport is valued. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION OF ORIGINALITY ......................................................................... III ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................... IV DEDICATION ................................................................................................................... V ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................... VI LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ........................................................................................ IX CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................... 1 Women’s Football in Canada ........................................................................................... 1 Lingerie Football .............................................................................................................. 3 Current Literature ............................................................................................................. 6 Purpose ............................................................................................................................. 7 Operational Definitions .................................................................................................... 8 Assumptions ..................................................................................................................... 9 Research and Practical Contributions ............................................................................ 10 Theoretical Framework .................................................................................................. 11 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................................ 21 Sub-Question 1: Structure of the Leagues ..................................................................... 21 Sub-Question 2: Participants’ Experiences .................................................................... 29 Sub-Question 3: Media Representations ........................................................................ 35 CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS .............................................. 44 Research Design and Methods ....................................................................................... 44 Reliability and Validity .................................................................................................. 54 Delimitations and Limitations ........................................................................................ 55 CHAPTER 4 RESULTS: LEAGUE STRUCTURES ................................................... 57 Purpose ........................................................................................................................... 57 Distribution of Power: Decision-Makers and Decision-Making Processes ................... 61 Alignment with Existing (Male) Football Organizations .............................................. 71 Safety ............................................................................................................................. 78 Time-Consuming Commitment ..................................................................................... 88 Chapter Conclusion ........................................................................................................ 96