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THE MAKING OF A CHAMPION: A CONSTRUCTED REALITY by TONI GADDIE submitted in part fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS IN CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY at the UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA SUPERVISOR: PROF F J A SNYDERS AUGUST2001 lillll/llfll/llli!i 0001867189 For Sam and Honey UNISA LIBRARY 1 8 OCT 2006 CLASS ............................................. lllllli/1111111~11 0001867189 II 796.01 GADD ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to thank: My supervisor, Prof. Ricky Snyders, for his proficient supervision during an incredibly taxing time as a supervisor, Head of the University of South Africa's Psychology Department, as well as acting Deputy-Dean of the Sub-faculty of Social Sciences. I am privileged to have been supervised by a person who is not only a specialist in supervision, but an inspiration for overcoming any obstacle in life. His gifted manner encourages me and brings forth the "champion" in me. Maryna, for her friendly and helpful manner as a communication channel between Prof. Snyders and myself. My fiance, Allon, for his abundant love and support, his creative ways of motivating me, and his sense of humour, which cheered me up throughout this challenging process. My brother, Judd, for the countless hours he spent assisting me with computer crises. His ingenuity makes me proud and his ever-present and unconditional love warms my heart. My sister, Rikki, for her constant support and understanding during this difficult, lengthy process. My parents, Joan and Joe, for their love and encouragement in all the tasks I have taken on throughout my life. My father for his patience and acceptance of all the challenges life offers, and my mother for modelling such strong will and discipline, which contributed to my achievements. My friend, Bibi, for the empathy, support and motivation she gave me on our early morning walks. Ill CONTENTS CHAPTER Page Acknowledgements 111 Summary VI 1 INTRODUCTION: MYREALITY 1 2 MAKING SENSE OF REALITY 4 The new way of thinking 4 A discussion of reality 5 General system theory 13 First order cybernetics 14 Second order cybernetics 16 Post-modernism 19 Constructivism 20 Social constructionism 23 3 RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY 30 Focus of the study 30 Who contributed to the study? 30 Research paradigm 32 Literature review 33 Data collection 34 Epistemology for the analysis 36 Method of analysis 37 Credibility of the study 38 4 THE REALITIES OF CHAMPIONS: THEMATIC DISCOURSE ANALYSIS 41 Phase one: vertical analysis 42 Wayne Ferreira 42 Maria Mutola 50 Brian Mitchell 58 Reg Park 63 Amanda Coetzer 70 Herman Chalupsky 76 Concluding observation 80 Phase two: horizontal analysis 80 Contexts 80 lV The pattern in a champion's reality 83 Discourse of support 83 Discourse of confidence 84 Discourse of doubt 85 Discourse of hard work 86 Summary 87 5 MAKING SENSE OF A CHAMPION'S REALITY 88 Summary of study 88 Findings and constructions 91 Critique 93 Recommendations and implications 93 Appendix A: Structured and semi-structured interviews 95 Appendix B: Transcriptions of interviews IOI REFERENCES 142 llHllll~lll~ll 0001867189 v SUMMARY This dissertation explores the construction and experience of the sports champion's reality. In studying reality and its construction, I became familiar with the post-modem perspective of reality and with theories such as systems theory, cybernetics, radical constructivism and social constructionism, which fall under the post-modem epistemological umbrella. The dissertation gives an exposition of my journey through this maze of theories, from a position of "knowing" how champions are made towards a more complex position of uncertainty aud possibility. This is followed by an account of the qualitative research that I undertook, within a social constructionist framework, in which I used thematic discourse analysis. Finally, I interpret the discourses emerging from the analysis in order to demonstrate their operation or effect in the construction of a champion's reality. KEY TERMS Reality; Reality construction; New epistemology; Systems thinking; Cybernetics; Constructivism; Radical constructivism; Social constructionism; Champions; Sports champions; Discourse analysis vi CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION: MY REALITY "In the moment that you carry this conviction ___ in that moment your dream will become a reality." (Robert Collier in Davis, 1988, p. 4) Is that how realities are constructed? Do all champions have dreams and the conviction that they will come true? The impetus for writing this thesis emanated from my dream of becoming a champion on the women's professional, international tennis tour. My dream was to get a ranking among the top ten professional players in the world and many opportunities to achieve this goal came my way. But however close they came to my grasp, these opportunities somehow seemed to slide from my fmgers. I was playing among the very best players in the world. I beat them during practice and reached match-point situations in actual contests, but somehow this was just not enough to realize my dream. I became confused by my inability to perform at my optimum at the most critical moments, and for a long time I struggled with the fact that my dream had not become a reality. I finally retired from the circuit after six years, and in the months that followed I often reminisced about my experiences on the world tour. I would analyze the dynamics between me and other players, significant experiences I had had and my perceptions about myself, my performance and the tour. I replayed my inner dialogue on the tour many times in an attempt to identify what had prevented me from realizing my dream. After much reflection and striving to be honest with myself, I realized that I had not really believed that my dream would ever become a reality. "How futile!" I thought. Dreaming about something without ever believing in its realization makes the dream redundant. For me, it is the belief that facilitates the realization, not the dream itself. In my reminiscing, I became fascinated with the champions and the people around them_ Their confidence was clearly portrayed in their attitudes and actions. The coaches or parents of some champions boasted about their talents and expertise. The champions themselves projected belief in their ability and their status. This had a powerful effect on others. The performance of the opponents of those who held such inner confidence was at times crippled before the match even began because of their defeatist thoughts or negative mental constructions around facing a champion. However, during the process of the study I undertook on reality and champions for the purposes of this dissertation, I arrived at the understanding that becoming a champion was not just about believing in a dream. There are many interacting factors at play on many interconnected levels of context in the construction of one's reality. This study does not attempt to explore all these factors and levels; it is, nevertheless, an attempt to fmd a meaningful construction of how a champion's reality is constructed. The focus is on the construction of a champion's reality within the effects of the significant social discourses she perceives and is exposed to. In addition, I search for common discourses that seem to inform and support the reality of champions, and which serve to differentiate them from others. In this dissertation sports champions are therefore at the centre of the discussion. The word "champion" is defined by Microsoft Bookshelf (1998) in a number of ways. The defmition that is pertinent to this particular study is, "one that is clearly superior or has attributes of a winner." For the purposes of identifying a target sample, I have defined a champion as an individual who has achieved remarkably well in her particular sport. Because of these achievements, she is or was, at one time, rated as being one of the top ten in the world by the professional body for that particular sport. The title of the dissertation implies that a champion is made by the marmer in which she constructs reality. One of the definitions of "reality" put forward by Microsoft Bookshelf (1998) is: "The totality of all things possessing actuality, existence, or essence." Due to the importance of the nature of reality and how it is experienced in the context of this dissertation, I have devoted the whole of chapter two to my understanding of reality and of how it exists. The chapter begins with a discussion of a new way of thinking which affects the perception of reality and its construction. It then explores the theories ofreality that began emerging from the new marmer of thinking about the world. 2 Second order thinking is discussed in an historical context, beginning with General Systems Theory, moving on to the development of first order cybernetics, and proceeding to second order cybernetics. The chapter also elaborates on post-modern epistemology, and explains the theories of reality congruent with snch an epistemological umbrella, namely radical constructivism and social constructionism. The third chapter deals with the research design and methodology that are appropriate to a post-modern epistemological stance. The research design is social constructionist, with the texts of six interviews providing the data for analysis. The methodology is qualitative and thematic discourse analysis is utilised. Chapter four contains the actual analysis of the data and the interpretation of the results. The last chapter summarizes the study and sets out the conclusions reached and the implications and recommendations flowing from these. Before we begin constructing what is contained in this dissertation, I realize that in terms of my epistemology, there are an infinite number of ways in which this topic could be explored. Thus different explanations of the way in which the reality of a champion is constructed could be given.