Cindra S. Kamphoff

Bargaining with patriarchy: former female coaches' experiences and their decision to leave collegiate coaching.

The purpose of this study was to better understand the experiences of former female coaches and their decision to terminate their careers. A feminist perspective and mixed-methods (surveys and interviews) were used to allow for a richer understanding of their experiences. The survey findings, which included 121 former female coaches, suggest that time and family commitments were the main reasons they left coaching. Also, a small number (18%) left coaching for reasons such as opportunity for promotion. Six women from the survey sample were individually interviewed. Through a descriptive analytic strategy and indexing process (Creswell, 1998), three general themes emerged: (a) gender disparities in womens work, (b) technical demands of coaching, and (c) college coaching and normalized sexualities. Overall, the interview findings confirmed the open-ended responses on the survey and described gender discrimination, the centrality of male coaches, and rampant homophobia in U.S. collegiate coaching. In addition, some female coaches discussed perceptions of conflict between working as a coach and motherhood, or women with children as being “distracted” by motherhood. Collectively, the survey and interview results revealed that women have multiple, complex, and overlapping reasons for leaving collegiate coaching.

A Motivational/Empowerment Model Applied to Students on Academic Probation.

This article outlines a motivational/empowerment model for students on academic probation implemented at The University of North Carolina Greensboro (UNCG). The model draws from several theoretical orientations, and includes individual and group interaction as well as discussion in four key topic areas: personal responsibility, positive affirmations, goal setting/life planning, and self-management. Since implementation, the percentage of UNCG students eligible to return to the institution after being placed on academic probation has increased from 40% to 58% over a four-year period. When comparing the net gain in grade point average of students completing the program to a control group, students enrolled in the program had a significantly higher academic achievement (p = .036). Generalizability of the model and future research recommendations are explored in the article.

A Content Analysis of Cultural Diversity in the Association for Applied Sport Psychology's Conference Programs

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which the Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP) conference programs address cultural diversity. A content analysis was conducted by analyzing 5214 AASP conference program abstracts from 1986 to 2007. Only 10.5% of all abstracts included discussion of a cultural diversity issue and 31.9% included a diverse sample. Of those abstracts that addressed cultural diversity issues, the majority addressed gender, with almost no attention to race and ethnicity, nationality, sexual orientation, social class, disability, or older adults. These results highlight the continuing neglect, but compelling need to address cultural diversity in sport and exercise psychology, and specifically within AASP programming.

Think aloud: An examination of distance runners’ thought processes

Distance running is popular throughout the USA, and to date it has received much attention in the sport psychology literature. One limitation, however, is the retrospective nature of most current research. Subsequently, the present study examined real-time thought processes of runners recorded during a long-distance run. The think-aloud protocol was used with 10 participants ranging in age from 29 to 52 years old (M = 41.3 years, SD = 7.3). Qualitative analysis of the data identified meaning units, which were grouped into major themes. A final thematic structure revealed three major themes that characterised the participants thought processes: Pace and Distance, Pain and Discomfort, and Environment. Taken together, the present results extend previous research on running and provide a number of suggestions for sport psychology consultants working with runners.

Jealousy in sport: Exploring jealousy’s relationship to cohesion.

The present study continued the development and revision of the Sport Jealousy Scale (SJS) and investigated the relationships among jealousy, cohesion, and satisfaction with athletes. The original SJS (now SJS-II) was revised and given to 236 Division I athletes along with the Group Cohesion Questionnaire (GEQ; Carron, Widmeyer, & Brawley, 1985), the Revised Self-Report Jealousy Scale (SRJS-II; Bringle, Roach, Andler, & Evenbeck, 1977), and the Satisfaction Questionnaire (Widmeyer & Williams, 1991). Jealousy was negatively correlated with both cohesion (r = −.23, p < .01) and satisfaction (r = −.22, p < .01). Following Baron and Kennys (1986) three-step model for testing mediation, satisfaction partially mediates the relationship between jealousy and cohesion. The results confirm the existence of jealousy in sport, provide psychometric evidence for a measure of sport jealousy, validate expected relationships among jealousy, cohesion, and satisfaction, and provide initial information on gender and sport differences in jealousy and cohesion. These findings will help researchers continue to examine jealousy and its correlates in sport teams, and may help coaches and professionals working with teams maintain positive team dynamics.

Gender in Sport and Exercise Psychology

In this chapter, gender psychology meets sport and exercise psychology. For many readers, this is a first meeting, and an introduction is in order. Sport and exercise psychology is located in a much different context than most of the other psychology areas covered in this handbook. Although academic and clinical psychologists have engaged in sport and exercise psychology research or consulted with athletes and exercisers, for the most part, sport and exercise psychology faculty, courses, graduate programs, and research activities are found in departments of kinesiology or exercise and sport science.

Coaching boys’ high school teams: Female coaches’ experiences and perceptions

Research has suggested that a minimal number of females serve as head coaches of male teams around the world. When they do coach males, female coaches have reported having difficulty establishing credibility, being one of the only female coaches, and feeling unsupported by administrators. The current study used open-ended responses and interview data to understand the experiences and perceptions of females coaching males at the U.S. high school level, as well as addresses the perceived barriers that may prohibit females from coaching boys. In general, the female coaches interviewed felt more support from their athletic administrators, parents, and other coaches than in previous research. The female coaches stated they enjoyed coaching boys, yet they believed they needed to be physically competent in order to prove themselves while coaching a boys’ team. They also described struggling to be respected and often felt they needed to employ masculine characteristics in order to be successful. These details provide evidence of the continuing uphill climb and yet, simultaneously documents that females’ experiences coaching male athletes may be improving. Further research is recommended examining the experiences of women coaching males at the high school level in the U.S. to determine if this trend is widespread.

Photographic Images in Sports Illustrated for Kids: An Analysis of Sport Coverage and Gender Representation

In this study we examined sport coverage and gender representation in photographic images in Sports Illustrated for Kids over a 3-year period. A content analysis of 4205 photographic images was conducted and data were analyzed using a chi-square analysis. Our research revealed that females were substantially underrepresented within the magazine (12%) and only appeared on the cover once over a 3-year period (<1%). The top three sports represented for men in SI for Kids were baseball, basketball, and football, whereas the top 3 “sports” for women were basketball, not in a sport (e.g., a fan), and soccer. Females were more likely than males to be represented in photographic images off the court, in individual sports, in feminine sports, in a posed position, as nonathletes, in tighter clothing, sleeveless shirts, with more of their legs showing, and with their midriff visible. When considering these findings in light of social learning theory, it is likely that media coverage within SI for Kids plays an impor...

Understanding the Change Process: Valuing What it is That Coaches Do A Commentary

In her article regarding change in the coaching profession, Tania Cassidy argues for the application of Giddens’ Structuration theory and specifically the concepts of “knowledgeability,” “practical consciousness,” and “slippage.” She suggests that coaches incorporate time-honored practices and day-to-day conventions into their coaching that they may have learned or seen from a mentor. Simply put, she is suggesting that we examine these day-to-day routines and the regimes of coaches to better understand change, and specifically the lack of change within the coaching profession. THE CHANGE PROCESS AND FEMALE COACHES As I was reading Cassidy’s argument, I was reminded of the experiences of women coaches and how her argument applies to their experiences. This is likely because Cassidy’s examples are from a paper which I reviewed by Leanne Norman [1], and the experiences of women coaches has been my primary research focus for the last several years. Although her argument applying Giddens’ framework is not specific to women coaches, I find it interesting that both examples she provides are related to women. I wonder if her inclusion of these examples is intentional and that Cassidy is suggesting Giddens’ framework should specifically be used to examine the lack of change related to women coaches, or if she is suggesting this framework should be applied more broadly to the coaching profession. When focusing specifically on women coaches, research has clearly documented how the patriarchal and homophobic nature of sport has impacted women coaches’ experiences in sport, leading some women to leave the coaching profession [2-4]. Norman’s paper is just one example that documents the lack of opportunities for women in coaching, and research supports the conclusion that this trend is occurring worldwide [5-6]. Women coaches need to work twice as hard as any male coach to establish credibility and respect [1], and many feel isolated and describe an atmosphere of gender discrimination and the centrality of male coaches [2]. In general, women coaches receive fewer resources, have lower salaries, more responsibilities, less administrative support, and older facilities [2]. These findings clearly point to the day-to-day routines and regimes that Cassidy is arguing we examine. Discussing some of those day-to-day routines and regimens in athletics more closely, the “good old boys” network constrains women coaches and impacts the hiring of coaches. The “good old boys” network has been demonstrated by findings supporting the notion of homologous reproduction or the tendency in which the “dominant group systematically