Hamish Crocket

‘This is men’s ultimate’: (Re)creating multiple masculinities in elite open Ultimate Frisbee

Over the past 10 years, there has been an increasing focus on the complexity and diversity of masculinities produced in sporting contexts. In this article, I draw on Foucauldian notions of power and discourse to examine the performances of elite male Ultimate players. Based on a year-long ethnographic study with an elite male Ultimate team, I contribute to this growing body of literature by analyzing the performance of multiple masculinities by players within this team.

‘I’m just going to be silly with this person’: exploring the ethics of humour and irony in Ultimate Frisbee

In this article, I argue for an extension of existing sociocultural conceptualisations of ethics within sport and physical culture through analysing pleasurable ethics within Ultimate Frisbee. Drawing on postmodern theories of humour and irony and Foucauldian ethics, I argue that humour and irony are practices through which many Ultimate Frisbee players embody their preferred ethical athletic self. However, I balance my argument for the ethical possibilities of humour and irony by considering a stark counter example. Subsequently, I conclude by advocating for ongoing consideration of the productive possibilities offered by sociocultural analyses of ethics within sport and physical cultures.

An ethic of indulgence? Alcohol, Ultimate Frisbee and calculated hedonism

In this article, I use Featherstone’s concept of calculated hedonism to analyse consumption of alcohol amongst Ultimate Frisbee players. Drawing on a multi-year ethnographic project, I examine Ultimate players’ reasons for drinking and contextualize this drinking within Ultimate’s broader lifestyle. This examination and contextualization contributes to a growing body of literature that goes beyond the dominant perspectives on sport-related drinking through its conceptualization of consumptive pleasures in the formation of player identity and relationships between players.

Tie-dye shirts and compression leggings: an examination of cultural tensions within Ultimate Frisbee via dress

ABSTRACT In this article I offer insights into tensions within the lifestyle sport, Ultimate Frisbee (Ultimate) through an examination of differing forms of dress. Like many other sporting subcultures, sartorial choices, both on and off pitch, are important markers of insider status. Ultimate dress I argue is ‘a mélange of whimsical, ironic and athletic styles’ [Crocket, Hamish. 2015a. “Confessions of the Disc: A Foucauldian Analysis of Ethics within Ultimate Frisbee.” In The Psychology of Sub-Culture in Sport and Physical Activity: A Critical Approach, edited by Robert J. Schinke and Kerry R. McGannon, 184–195. Hove, UK: Routledge, 184], which contains significant potential for aesthetic exploration amongst participants. Subsequently, much of Ultimates dress, particularly that worn at themed tournament parties, can be read as a carnivalesque celebration of a subculture that prioritizes fun at both social and competitive levels, via ‘a controlled decontrol of the emotions’ [Featherstone, Mike. 2007. Consumer Culture and Postmodernism. 2nd ed. Theory, Culture & Society. London: Sage, 77; see also Crocket, Hamish. 2014. “An Ethic of Indulgence? Alcohol, Ultimate Frisbee and Calculated Hedonism.” International Review for Sociology of Sport, Advance online publication: 1–15. doi:10.1177/1012690214543960]. Yet, Ultimate is far from being a homogenous subculture and close attention to varying forms of dress offers insight into debates over the meaning and direction of the sport. Subsequently, I will examine the role of dress within a central debate amongst Ultimate players; namely, whether Ultimate should strive to maintain values and practices which currently differentiate it from mainstream sports, or work to become more recognizably mainstream. I argue that despite the tendency of advocates on both sides of this debate to construct the issue in oppositional terms, the fluidity of dress, identity and meaning within Ultimate is suggestive of an ongoing hybridity which intermingles elements of subversive, carnivalesque aesthetics with the more predictable and uniform aesthetics of mainstream sport.

Problematizing Foucauldian Ethics A Review of Technologies of the Self in Sociology of Sport Since 2003

Foucault’s technologies of the self have been used by sociological scholars of sport for nearly two decades. Yet Markula’s seminal articulation of a feminist Foucauldian ethics in 2003 stands as a watershed publication, insofar as the majority of publications following this article have framed much of their analyses in relation to this work. In this article, then, I review sociological studies of sport and exercise that draw on Foucauldian ethics from Markula’s article onward, paying careful attention to how Foucault’s ethics and Markula’s Foucauldian feminism have been deployed. Although I interpret this body of work as productive and insightful, I offer a critical reading of the emphasis on explicit problematizations and, relatedly, develop a methodological critique of researchers’ reliance on interviews as a prime form of research method.

The Changing Face of Ultimate Frisbee and the Politics of Inclusion

A growing body of scholarship has revealed the increasing role of digital media in action sports. In this chapter, I build on this research through an examination of intersections between digital media, emergent semi-professional leagues and debates over gender inequities in Ultimate Frisbee (Ultimate). Although gender inequities have a long history within Ultimate, public debate over these inequities has visibly increased in recent years in tandem with the simultaneous development of Ultimate-specific digital niche media and semi-professional men-only leagues. While digital media has been an important vehicle for players raising concerns over gender inequities in Ultimate, in a similar manner to other sports, there has been a notable, hypermasculine backlash directed at those voicing concerns.

Grappling with ambiguity and contradiction: an examination of the role of reflexivity in coach education research

Abstract In this article, I analyse the complex process of developing a beginner coach education programme for ultimate Frisbee (ultimate) in collaboration with New Zealand Ultimate and volunteer coaches within New Zealand’s ultimate community. I construct a reflexive account of this participatory action research project, which sought to generate pedagogically informed coach education that would benefit New Zealand’s ultimate community and meet Sport New Zealand’s coaching policies. I focus on particular contextual challenges and opportunities, such as ultimate’s lack of resourcing, and SportNZ’s Coach Development Framework, and, in a reflexive manner, consider how my biography impacted this project.

Coaching and ethical self-creation: problematizing the “efficient tennis machine”

Abstract In this paper we draw from Foucault, particularly his writings on the technologies of self, to problematize and reimagine understandings of what it means to coach effectively and ethically. In recognising the difficulty of operationalising Foucauldian ideas, we provide a narrative-of-self to reveal how an elite tennis coach, Göran Gerdin, adopted Foucauldian ideas in a process of ethical self-creation. The narrative reveals how Göran experienced the tragedy of youth player suicide and how he critically reflected on his coaching role in relation to this tragedy. Through specifically problematizing the insidious influence of technologies of dominance on athletic subjectivity, Göran reveals how he drew from Foucault to develop alternative coach practices and a related telos. We conclude by reflecting on pragmatic issues associated with coaching with Foucault.