Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
University of Calgary
PRISM: University of Calgary's Digital Repository
Graduate Studies The Vault: Electronic Theses and Dissertations
2016-02-02
Aging Female Athletes: The Challenges of
Performance, Policy and the Pursuit of Health
Job McIntosh, Christiane
Job McIntosh, C. (2016). Aging Female Athletes: The Challenges of Performance, Policy and the
Pursuit of Health (Unpublished doctoral thesis). University of Calgary, Calgary, AB.
doi:10.11575/PRISM/24748
http://hdl.handle.net/11023/2818
doctoral thesis
University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their
thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through
licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under
copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.
Downloaded from PRISM: https://prism.ucalgary.ca
UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY
Aging Female Athletes: The Challenges of Performance, Policy and the Pursuit of Health
by
Christiane Job McIntosh
A THESIS
SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES
IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE
DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
GRADUATE PROGRAM IN KINESIOLOGY
CALGARY, ALBERTA
January, 2016
© Christiane Job McIntosh 2016
ii
Abstract
The growing population of older competitive athletes presents an opportunity for
exploring the ways older people negotiate the social construction of aging. It also
presents an opportunity to explore the function of high-performance physical activity in
aging. This dissertation seeks to investigate the narratives of women (60+) as they
discuss their pursuit of sport and activity at the highest levels. Specifically, I explore
how older women construct and maintain an athletic identity, in a Canadian sporting
culture where policies supporting both sport for participation and sport for performance
have impacted opportunities. For women beyond menopause, it is evident that
individuals can achieve significant health and strength benefits from exercise and
participation in sport.
In Masters Championships, in a variety of sports, senior women athletes are
demonstrating that they do not need to accept a major decline of aerobic power and
muscle strength as an inevitable feature of aging. They are demonstrating that they are
capable of conditioning their bodies through rigorous training regimens (Kirby & Kluge,
2013; Pfister, 2012). They are a testament to the remarkable resilience of the human
body when it is properly maintained and to the role of sport in successful aging (Akkari,
Machin & Tanaka, 2015; Baker, Horton & Weir, 2010; Bülow & Söderqvist, 2014). This
research highlights how the experiences and embodied knowledge of the participants in
my study have facilitated their continued participation in sport and the maintenance of an
athletic identity across the course of their lives.
Specifically, I explore the ways participants maintain their sporting bodies and
athletic identities. My findings show that my participants tend to identify as outsiders
within the current Canadian sporting context. They also reveal that healthy living
discourses were an important motivation for prolonged involvement in sport. A
considerable focus of this dissertation is directed at understanding how participants
construct and maintain identities that address the discourses of sport for performance and
sport for health. In doing this I show that Masters sport provides a site for the formation
of multiple interpretations and constructions of sporting identities throughout the course
of one’s life.
iii
Acknowledgements
I would like to offer my extreme gratitude to my co-supervisors, Dr. Patricia Vertinsky,
Dr. Nicole Culos-Reed and Dr. Douglas Brown for their patience, support and
challenging conversations over the past several years. There are so many lessons I have
learned from each of your leadership styles. Thank you for always being there for me
and for allowing me to grow personally and professionally throughout this program. I
would also like to thank my committee members Dr. Tish Doyle-Baker and Dr. Claudia
Emes for their kind words and genuine encouragement.
I am deeply thankful for the support and love I have received from my friends and
family. Stuart, Carrol, Lorna, Bob, and Sandi thank you for the talks, meals and laughter.
Satvinder, Cathie and Sandi, thank you for reading early drafts. A special thank you is
owed to “The Grandma’s”, thank you for looking after Marcus and Lachlan while “mum-
mum” was writing.
I would like to thank my wonderful husband Garth for his unwavering support. Thank
you for reminding me about my passion and love for learning when I experienced doubt.
Thank you for encouraging me on my darkest days. Thank you for talking to me and
making me laugh when it was clear I had spent too much time alone. Thank you for
being such a wonderful partner, father and friend.
iv
This research would not have been possible without funding from Social Sciences and
Humanities Research Council of Canada. I am grateful for this opportunity, and for the
assistance provided by the University of Calgary.
v
Dedication
To Marcus and Lachlan
vi
Table of Contents
Abstract ............................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................ iii Dedication ............................................................................................................................v Table of Contents ............................................................................................................... vi List of Tables ..................................................................................................................... ix List of Figures and Illustrations ...........................................................................................x List of Symbols, Abbreviations and Nomenclature ........................................................... xi
INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................1 CHAPTER ONE:1.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................1 1.2 Masters Sport .............................................................................................................4 1.3 Research Questions ....................................................................................................8 1.4 Structure of Dissertation ............................................................................................9
LITERATURE REVIEW ....................................................................13 CHAPTER TWO:2.1 Introduction ..............................................................................................................13 2.2 Biomedical Gerontology and the Science of Aging ................................................14 2.3 Social Theories of Aging and the Impact of Physical Activity ...............................20 2.4 Embodiment and Aging: Postmodern and Critical Studies of Aging ......................22 2.5 Masters Sport: Athletic/High Performance Identities for Older Adults ..................24 2.6 Impact of Gender: Canadian Female Sporting Experiences across the Life
Course ....................................................................................................................28 2.7 Development of Public Recreation and Sport Systems in Canada from a Policy
Standpoint ..............................................................................................................32 2.8 Impact of Health Policy and Healthy Aging Policies for Older Adults in
Canada ....................................................................................................................33 2.9 Theoretical Framework ............................................................................................40 2.10 Post-Structuralism ..................................................................................................40
2.10.1 Michel Foucault: Archaeology and Genealogy .............................................42 2.10.1.1 Archaeology .........................................................................................42 2.10.1.2 Genealogy ............................................................................................43 2.10.1.3 Bio-Power and Governmentality .........................................................45
2.10.2 Pierre Bourdieu: Field, Capital and Habitus ..................................................46
METHODOLOGY ..........................................................................52 CHAPTER THREE:3.1 Introduction ..............................................................................................................52 3.2 Phase 1: Literature Search, Ethics, Consent, Interview Guide and Pilot
Interview ................................................................................................................54 3.3 Phase 2: Recruitment, Interview Procedures, Coding and Analysis ........................56
3.3.1 Rationale for Qualifying Criteria .....................................................................60 3.3.2 Athletes ............................................................................................................63 3.3.3 Coaches ............................................................................................................65 3.3.4 Medical Professionals ......................................................................................66
3.4 Interview Procedure .................................................................................................68 3.5 Coding and Analysis of Data ...................................................................................71
vii
3.6 Themes .....................................................................................................................76 3.7 Limitations of Methodology ....................................................................................76
PLAYING OUTSIDE THE LINES: FORMATIVE MOMENTS CHAPTER FOUR:FOR OLDER ADULTS IN SPORT AND HEALTH POLICY IN CANADA........80
4.1 Canadian Sport, Health and Recreation Policy as Discourse ..................................82 4.1.1 Identifying Sport, Fitness and Recreation Policies in Canada (1940s-
1960s) ...............................................................................................................83 4.1.2 Impact of New Public Health on Canadian Sport Policy and Participation
Initiatives ..........................................................................................................85 4.1.3 Development of New Policies Focused on Aging and Active Living .............88 4.1.4 Reorganization and Reprioritization of Sport, Fitness and Health (1990s –
2002) ................................................................................................................90 4.1.5 Understanding the Impact of the Long Term Athlete Development Model
(LTAD) and Canadian Sport 4 Life (CS4L) ....................................................92 4.2 Conclusion ...............................................................................................................99
FROM THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN: THE IMPACT OF CHAPTER FIVE:SPORT AND HEALTH DISCOURSES ON OLDER FEMALE ADULTS SPORTING IDENTITIES ......................................................................................101
5.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................101 5.2 Outsiders in the Canadian Sport Scene ..................................................................102
5.2.1 We Don’t Really Belong ...............................................................................103 5.2.2 Managing Their Own Opportunities .............................................................107 5.2.3 Pay Your Own Way .......................................................................................108
5.3 Impact of Healthy Living Discourse: “I’m Doing this for my Health” .................111 5.3.1 Lifestyle Choices and Chronic Disease .........................................................113 5.3.2 Focus on Weight Management and Nutrition ...............................................117 5.3.3 Personal Responsibility .................................................................................120 5.3.4 Perceived Risk ...............................................................................................122
5.4 Conclusion .............................................................................................................124
WHAT DOES AGE HAVE TO DO WITH IT? CONSTRUCTING CHAPTER SIX:AN ATHLETIC IDENTITY AS AN OLDER FEMALE ADULT IN MASTERS SPORT .................................................................................................127
6.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................127 6.2 Aging and Identity .................................................................................................129
6.2.1 I’m Not Slowing Down .................................................................................129 6.2.2 Beyond Chronological Age: Age is More than a Number ............................132
6.3 Aging and an Athletic Identity ...............................................................................138 6.3.1 Importance of Training Regimes and Activity Levels ..................................139 6.3.2 Pathways to an Athletic Identity ....................................................................141 6.3.3 Performance Changes ....................................................................................147
6.4 Conclusion .............................................................................................................153
viii
INFORMATION, EXPERTISE AND AUTONOMY: CHAPTER SEVEN:MAINTAINING AN ATHLETIC IDENTITY BY EMBODYING THE ROLE OF THE EXPERT...................................................................................................157
7.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................157 7.1.1 Managing a Team of Experts—Coaches, Doctors, Specialists .....................159 7.1.2 Becoming an Expert ......................................................................................164 7.1.3 Health Consumers .........................................................................................169
7.2 Conclusion .............................................................................................................173
CONCLUSION ..............................................................................176 CHAPTER EIGHT:8.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................176 8.2 Chapter Highlights and Discussion ........................................................................177 8.3 Future Research .....................................................................................................186
REFERENCES ................................................................................................................189
APPENDICES .................................................................................................................235 Appendix A: Recruitment Flyer ..................................................................................235 Appendix B: Consent Form .........................................................................................236 Appendix C: Letter of Introduction .............................................................................239 Appendix D: Potential Interview Questions ................................................................241
Interview Questions For Athletes ...........................................................................241 Interview Questions for Medical Professionals ......................................................242 Interview Questions for Coaches ............................................................................244
Appendix E: Alberta Sport Organizations ...................................................................246
ix
List of Tables
Table 3.1: Criteria developed for interview participants .............................................................. 60
Table 3.2: Athletes who participated in the study ......................................................................... 64
Table 3.3: Coaches who participated in the study ........................................................................ 66
Table 3.4: Medical professionals who participated in the study ................................................... 67
Table 3.5: List of themes .............................................................................................................. 76
Table 4.1: Timeline of Sport/ Health Public and "Grey" Literature Discussed in Chapter 4 ............................................................................................................................... 81
x
List of Figures and Illustrations
Figure 4.1: Canadian Sport For Life (CS4L) - LTAD Stages Rectangle ...................................... 94
xi
List of Symbols, Abbreviations and Nomenclature
Symbol Definition Bill C-131 Fitness and Amateur Sport Act Bill C12 Physical Activity and Sport Act CAAWS Canadian Association for the Advancement of
Women and Sport and Physical Activity CAHPER Canadian Association for Health, Physical
Education and Recreation CAM Complimentary Alternative Medicine CPHA Canadian Public Health Association CS4L Canadian Sport for Life CDA Critical Discourse Analysis CSP Canadian Sport Policy FAS Canadian Federal Ministry of Amateur Sport LTAD Long-Term Athlete Development NACA National Advisory Council on Aging NSOs National Sport Organizations NPH New Public Health IMGA International Masters Games Association IOC International Olympic Committee WMG World Masters Games
1
Introduction Chapter One:
1.1 Introduction
While working on this dissertation project I have often reflected upon my interest
in the sporting experiences of older adults. My quest to understand how and why some
individuals participate well into their later years began when I was conducting research
for my master’s thesis at the University of British Columbia. As a former varsity
women’s basketball team member, I participated in the Richmond senior women’s
basketball league, and it was while playing against one particular team, that I became
interested in learning more about older women who choose to participate in sport in their
sixties and beyond. The team is well known in Western Canada and they call themselves
the Retreads. They are a team exclusively made up of renowned Canadian basketball
players. Several of the players began playing together over fifty years ago on Canada’s
first national women’s basketball team. Now, with a median team age of seventy-two,
they continue to play competitively.
If you can imagine, there I was, playing against a sixty-eight-year-old woman in
the post position, trying not to foul while being ‘schooled’ on proper technique. These
women were amazing. They were so athletic, so keen to remain active and willing to
help me with my studies. I had the benefit of spending a lot of time with several of the
players off the basketball court and learned a lot about them personally. In fact, many of
the questions I had about lifelong activity and the interesting challenges older women
may face when participating in sport at such an intense level were derived from our
interactions on and off the basketball court.
2
In addition to these experiences, I remember discussing with fellow students the
secret to interesting research. One lesson I learned from one of my mentors was that the
secret is to keep it personal and write about something that has personal relevance. As a
former varsity athlete, I was interested in knowing what it would be like for me to sustain
participation in sport throughout my lifetime. I began to consider the experiences of
older women and how they dealt with a sporting culture that privileges not only a
particular type of body (fit, athletic and strong), but also one that is youthful.
In recent years there has been considerable interest in the dynamics of masters
athletes and sporting participation (Baker, Horton, & Weir, 2010; Dionigi & O’Flynn,
2007; Dionigi, Horton, & Baker, 2013a, 2013b; Kirby & Kluge, 2013; Liechty et al.,
2014; Phister, 2012; Oghene et al., 2015; Tulle, 2008c). This is not surprising, as the
global population is aging, and the potential challenges of dealing with the unique needs
of this particular demographic from economic and health perspectives are being explored
at length (Coakley & Pike, 2014; Minkler & Estes, 1991; Minkler, Blackwell, Thompson,
& Tamir, 2003; Pickard, 2013). In Canada alone seniors make up about 15% of the
population and as the baby boomer population ages (those born between 1946 and 1964),
the senior population is expected to rise to 6.7 million by 2021 and to 9.2 million by 2041
(Baker et al., 2010, Statistics Canada, 2011).
Most of what is known about the type, frequency and intensity of exercise
participation of aging women in Canada has been based on regional and national census
surveys (Falck et al., 2015; Hanson et al., 2014). These have provided evidence to
support the view that ongoing participation in sports tends to decline as one ages (Ashe,
Miller, Eng, & Noreau, 2009; Nelson, 2007; Prohaska et al., 2006; Strain, Grabusic,
3
Searle, & Dunn, 2002). Social critiques of this phenomenon suggest that declines in
participation are more likely due to perceptions of aging that emphasize frailty and
disability, than to those related to the benefits of physical activity (Cousins, 1992;
O'Brien Cousins, 1995, 1998; Heuser, 2005; Hui & Rubenstein, 2006; Pike, 2015). At
the same time, exercise is regularly promoted as a health intervention to mitigate and
postpone many of the chronic diseases that are linked with advancing age, such as
osteoporosis (Cockerham, 2007, Paterson & Warburton, 2010). Among biomedical
professionals, this is considered important because they have labeled women over the age
of fifty as among the most inactive in Canadian society (Bryan & Walsh, 2004), leaving
them increasingly susceptible to chronic illness and disease as they age (Biggs,
Phillipson, Money, & Leach, 2006; Smith et al., 2012).
While physical activity and sport are encouraged for older people as a health
benefit, health promoters and medical personnel typically advocate moderate to vigorous
levels of activity, rarely high-performance sporting activities. Instead, participation is
often encouraged as leisure or recreation. This is ironic, given that traditional
interpretations of age and high-performance sport are increasingly challenged by aging
individuals who see themselves as athletes.
Growing numbers of elderly women are participating and achieving success in a
wide variety of high-performance/competitive sports and at events like the World
Masters Games. The numbers are impressive; the World Masters Games in New Zealand
in 2017, for example, will host an estimated 25,000 athletes from more than 100
countries.
4
The increased participation of aging women in competitive sport is thus creating a
new generation of athletes who acknowledge the potential limits of their aging bodies and
yet submit to regimes of intense exercise and training in their pursuit of sporting
excellence. In this pursuit they become active consumers of advice around physical
activity in the fields of sports medicine, alternative medicines and enhanced coaching
practices. This is all the more remarkable given that sports medicine and enhanced
coaching have traditionally served a field of sport production that has tended to exclude
anyone other than the young and athletically gifted (Kemp, 2014; Safai, 2003; Safai,
2007; Theberge, 2007).
This study investigated aging women’s personal experiences in high-performance
sport through an analysis of their personal narratives. In light of what they told me, I
examined the ways in and the extent to which their sporting experiences have been
shaped by medical and popular discourses, including national and provincial sport
policies. I also explored the perceived importance of health as a primary motivation for
their sustained participation, in order to examine the impact of healthy living discourses
in influencing their sporting pursuits.
1.2 Masters Sport
The concept of Masters sport is an excellent example of something that started as
a grass roots movement, that has grown to encompass an international governing body
and recognition from the International Olympic Committee (IOC). In its most basic
form, the movement began with individuals who were deemed past peak performance age
(typically 35) who sought to continue participation in competitive sport. The qualifying
5
age is different for many sports, although the age of 35 remains the most common. In
some sports, such as gymnastics, individuals may be considered at the Masters level at a
younger age, because athletes typically peak at a younger age.
A lot of momentum for the Masters sport movement is directly linked with track
and field and running events. Most accounts of the development of Masters sport
indicate that the major growth in participation began with the running community in the
1960s (Baker et al., 2010; Dionigi, 2004, 2006; Tulle, 2008b; Tulle, 2008c). According
to Weir, Baker and Horton (2010), David Pain, a runner from California created the first
Masters mile race in 1964 for athletes who were labeled as “past their prime” (p. 8).
In Canada, the first running competition for individuals 35 (and over) took place
on July 1 1964 at a Dominion Day celebration in the North York Township of Ontario. It
was here, accounts recall, that approximately fifteen contestants lined up to run a mile
race in front of over 500 people (Farquharson, 1981). After the race, a running group
was formed, and participants began to regularly train and compete around North
America.
The first US Masters Track and Field Championship was held in 1968. Women
officially began participating in this competition in 1971. The first World Masters
Championship in athletics took place in Toronto in 1975, with 1400 competitors.
Masters swimming began in a similar fashion, as a one-time event that quickly
grew to include national and international competitions. The first national Masters
Swimming Championship was held in Amarillo, Texas in 1970 (Weir et al., 2010).
Canada began its first Masters swim club in 1971 at the University of Toronto, and
Australia created the AUSSI Masters Swimming organization in 1975 (Dionigi, 2004).
6
Tokyo held the first World Masters Swimming Championships in 1986. Swimming and
track and field remain popular sports for Masters participation, although competitions
today include a wide variety of dry land, aquatic, summer and winter sports.
The first World Masters Games (WMG) was held in Toronto in 1985 with 8305
participants from 61 countries. Today, World Masters Games occur every two years,
with games alternating between summer and winter venues. The games are overseen by
the International Masters Games Association (IMGA) and are now recognized by the
International Olympic and Paralympic Committees.
Weir et al. (2010) contend that “although starting out as isolated events in
individual sports, Masters-level participation has evolved into a sophisticated form of
competition with a comprehensive organizational structure” (p. 10). Further, Tulle
(2008c) points out that those competing in Masters sports competitions “embody
modalities of physicality which are quite remarkable”(p. xi). Many Masters athletes
train, compete and display commitments to sport and physical activities with similar
determination and passion as national level athletes. Yet, Masters sport is also unique in
that the focus is intended to remain on fun, as indicated by the IMGA official mission
statement, “Masters events offer physical activity while stimulating social interaction in a
festival atmosphere. There are no qualification requirements, other than the minimum
age limits set by the international sports federations” (International Masters Games
Association, 2010, para. 4).
In addition, there are no official national teams or national representatives.
Individuals organize and support their own participation. Experience levels also
encompass a spectrum of expertise; some athletes may have years of experience and
7
training, while others compete with little or no experience. These Masters events
represent competing expectations of performance. For some, they are an opportunity to
achieve performance standards and excellence, while for others performance is entirely
about participation.
These competing expectations of performance are used in this study to describe
competing discourses embedded in the practice of Masters sport. Discourses are the
unwritten rules that shape social practice, produce and regulate the production of
statements that in turn influence what can be perceived or understood (Denison, 2010;
Pringle, 2007). Therefore, it is argued that social life is constantly being negotiated,
challenged, reinforced and altered through language and discourse. In sport, the use of
the term ‘performance discourse’ has traditionally been used to represent dominant
understandings of high-performance, where value is placed on being considered the
strongest, fastest and most fit.
An important focus of my study was the social construction of an athletic and
aged identity. I examined identity from the perspective that one’s identity is not fixed
and is something that evolves throughout the course of one’s life (Biggs, 2005; Bauman,
1995, 2004; Collinson & Hockey, 2007; Grant, 2008; Oghene et al., 2015; Shilling 1993).
Furthermore, individuals construct their identities and draw upon multiple discourses to
express the meanings they attach to themselves, their interaction or their experiences
(Giddens, 1991).
With these competing discourses in mind, my project explores why the selected
participants engaged in Masters sport competitions and examines their motivations and
experiences as aging female athletes. I was interested in understanding how the physical
8
realities of aging and the current sporting culture in Canada have affected their desire to
compete, the values they place on individual performance expectations and the
motivations they have shown in enduring sophisticated training regimes while being
relatively unacknowledged and unsupported by current sport policy in Canada.
1.3 Research Questions
The questions guiding my research were:
• How do older Canadian women (60+) in Western sporting cultures who
participate in vigorous sport construct and maintain identities as athletes?
o Do these women identify as athletes?
o How do popular views of aging, sport and physical culture shape their
experiences as athletes?
o Are performance discourses that privilege excellence over
participation important to an older adult’s athletic identity?
o Are there specific attributes or behaviours that participants engage in
that help them to maintain athletic identities?
As this research was designed to understand the social and cultural processes that
shape our sporting experiences, I drew extensively from the theoretical frameworks
established by social theorists Michel Foucault and Pierre Bourdieu. Their writings have
been helpful in examining the ways in which age and aging behaviours are constructed in
contemporary Western culture (Biggs & Powell, 2001; Lupton, 1999, 2003; Powell &
Wahidin, 2006; Turner, 2004).
9
Foucault’s investigations into the subjectivity of knowledge and how relations of
power have operated around both knowledge formation and appropriation are particularly
helpful. Foucault examined how particular types of knowledge become privileged and
sought to investigate the development of expert knowledge in particular fields.
Bourdieu’s work has helped us to understand that our actions, tastes and presence
within different social interactions are represented in our embodied experiences. Thus,
the ways we come to understand and see age as contributing to a unique set of
dispositions, perspectives and social hierarchies help us to understand what an athletic
identity may represent for an older adult.
1.4 Structure of Dissertation
My study is organized in the following way. Chapter 1 describes the research
objectives and a general overview of the structure of the study. Chapter 2 presents a
review of the extant literature related to sport and aging, including both theoretical and
broader social science, literatures relevant to the thesis.
The literature review addresses how aging has been framed in contemporary
Western culture and the consequences of traditional representations of aging on both
health and sport policies in Canada. I also introduce several studies that have sought to
establish the meanings associated with an athletic identity for older adults. Typically
when addressing an athletic identity, particular attention is directed at examining the
impact of performance discourses and how participation and motivation have been
described for aging athletes. The chapter concludes with an overview of a theoretical
10
framework I drew upon to conduct my analysis, specifically focusing on the ideas
presented by both Foucault and Bourdieu.
The focus of Chapter 3 is the methodology used to conduct this study. It begins
by outlining the use of qualitative methods as a means to describe and account for the
experiences and perceptions of older adults participating in sport. The use of narrative
analysis uncovers the stories individuals tell about their lives and provides a window into
the dominant discourses they use to make sense of their social worlds. I highlight the
process of conducting my research activities, including recruitment, interviews, data
analysis and coding techniques, and introduce the participants and their respective
Masters sports. I also address several challenges and limitations involved in conducting
this type of research. I draw specific attention to my roles as both an insider and outsider
in this sporting community and reflect upon my personal views and nature of
involvement in the research process.
Chapter 4 explores how sport policy has evolved in Canada with a focus on how
various policies have affected (or not) opportunities for and inclusion of older adults.
Particular attention is given to the turbulent relationships among health and fitness
advocates in establishing an official position within Canadian sport policy to ensure
participation and excellence are both achieved. I also describe the impact of the new
public health movement and neoliberal discourses of personal responsibility for health.
These discourses have had a direct impact on the development of active living discourses
in shaping both participation patterns and an understanding of the role of sport in
maintaining lifelong physical activity. This chapter concludes with a discussion of the
Long-Term Athlete Development (LTAD) model and the Canadian Sport for Life (CS4L)
11
movement, highlighting the impact of these models on both establishing and addressing
the unique needs of older adult populations in Canada.
Chapter 5 is the first of three chapters that present the results of my interviews
with older female athletes, which were designed to tease out the impact of powerful
discourses embedded in both Canadian health and sport policies that have had significant
roles in shaping the participants’ understanding of their motivations to engage in lifelong
sport and physical activity. In this chapter, I draw attention to participants’ relationships
to Canadian sport policy and their perceptions as outsiders. I then discuss the impact of
neoliberal discourses of personal responsibility for health and healthy living as a primary
motivation for their continued participation in sport.
In Chapter 6, I explore how my participants felt about negotiating what it means
to be an athlete (or not) in relation to their age. Through their discussions about their
embodied experiences, I show how participants give meaning to the physical and social
world of Masters sport. Particular focus is placed upon how participants constructed
identities as athletes in light of performance changes that are a result of the aging process.
In Chapter 7, I examine how my participants maintain identities as athletes.
Specific attention is directed towards participants’ perceptions of empowerment and
autonomy in exerting control over the management of their sporting bodies, their injuries
and training practices. I discuss how, in order for older women to maintain their
identities as athletes, they feel pressed to embody the role of the expert in all facets of
their training regimes, and in doing this they perceive themselves as empowered and
aging well.
12
Finally, the concluding chapter of this dissertation (Chapter 8) begins by
highlighting the major findings of each chapter, including the overall research
contributions of this dissertation. The chapter is brought to a close with a proposal of how
this research may be used as a meaningful starting place for the generation of future
research examining both Masters sport participation in Canada and more generally health
promotion initiatives targeting older adults to engage in physical activity in meaningful
and purposeful ways.
13
Literature Review Chapter Two:
2.1 Introduction
Studies examining the sporting experiences of older adults have become
increasingly frequent (Baker et al., 2010; Carmichael, Duberley & Szmigin, 2015;
Dionigi & O’Flynn, 2007; Dionigi, Horton & Baker, 2013a; Dionigi, Horton & Baker,
2013b; Grant, 2008; Liechty et al., 2014; Oghene et al., 2015; Pfister, 2012; Rathwell &
Young, 2014; Tulle, 2003; Tulle, 2008b; Tulle, 2008c). This is not entirely surprising as
the positive role physical activity is thought to play throughout one’s lifetime is
increasingly being presented from the standpoint of healthy aging and active aging (Pike,
2011a, 2015). However, there has been less attention paid to older adults, especially
older females who have incorporated high level competitive sport into their lifestyles in
Masters sport activities and elsewhere (Pfister, 2012).
This review of the literature begins with an overview of the impact of recent
discourses grounded in the biomedical model of aging. From there, I highlight the impact
of social sciences and, in particular, the influence of critical theory in articulating new
ways to look at aging and the role of physical activity. I then discuss several studies that
have sought to analyze the experiences of older adults participating in sports from the
perspective of identity formation and maintenance.
I describe the evolution of sport and health policy in Canada, with a focus upon
the ways in which policy initiatives and programs have or have not been appropriately
designed to meet the needs of older sporting adults.
14
Lastly, I provide an overview of the theoretical underpinnings of this study,
highlighting the relevance of some of the theories of Michel Foucault and Pierre
Bourdieu to my study of aging Canadian females who participate in high-performance
sport.
2.2 Biomedical Gerontology and the Science of Aging
There exists a general understanding that physical activity makes a positive
contribution to the experiences of aging (World Health Organization, 2002). Age
ideology and representations of women as they age have been strongly influenced by the
biomedicalization of aging. The focus of a majority of studies related to aging has been
on the physical responses and adaptations of the body in response to physical activity and
exercise regimes (Fell & Williams, 2008; Keysor, 2003; Nessel, 2004; Paterson &
Warburton, 2010; Taylor et al., 2004). In these works, aging has been framed through the
language of biomedicine, which according to Faircloth (2003) remains “the most
prevalent and powerful discourse of the body” (p. 5).
Aging has long been perceived as both a medical and social problem
encompassing an overarching theme of decline. Despite a softening of such attitudes, the
prestige of the aged has rarely been high in western society; negative stereotypes of aging
continue to be pervasive representations of the aging process (Horton, 2010). In fact
there are several studies showing that until relatively recently, images and understandings
of age have too often been associated with images of frailty, loss, disability,
disempowerment and an increased dependency on the health care system (Christensen,
Doblhammer, Rau, & Vaupel, 2009; Cousins, 1992; Horton, 2010; Hui & Rubenstein,
15
2006; Hurd, 2000; Hurd-Clarke & Bennett, 2013; O'Brien Cousins, 1995, 2000; O'Brien
Cousins & Horne, 1999; Reinhardt, 2003; Van Heuvelen, Kempen, Ormel, & Rispens,
1998).
Although they may be considered the healthiest generation in history, the
experiences of women in the baby boom generation (those born between 1946 and 1964)
as they enter menopause remain highly medicalized (Kirby & Kluge, 2013; Lorentzen,
2008; Oakley, 2007; O'Brien Cousins & Edwards, 2002). Menopausal women are often
described as weakened by a life stage that is incorrectly described as problematic and
“unhealthy”. Because menopause is linked to social and medical descriptions, such as
“that time of life” and “hormonal deprivation,” midlife women are perceived to be
“vulnerable for medical intervention whether they feel unwell or not” (O' Brien Cousins
& Edwards, 2002, p. 326).
O’Brien Cousins & Edwards (2002) suggested that the way that researchers in the
area of gerontology have traditionally framed old age has focused on the end of a
lifespan, where people are often discussed in relation to illness, cancers, dementia, heart
disease and incontinence. Furthermore, biomedicine became a disciplinary strategy that
extended influence over the minutiae of the conditions of life and conduct of individuals
and understandings of their bodies (Powell, 2006; Powell & Wahidin, 2006). This
disciplinary strategy, where doctors and scientists share “truths” about the aging body
and the biological and physiological changes that ensued as a result of age, has led to the
development of biomedical gerontology.
The focus on the “science” of aging has thus had a profound effect on the
construction of powerful discourses about the aging body in modernity (Powell, 2006).
16
Gerontology claims to be a broad discipline that seeks to encompass the physiological,
social and psychological aspects of aging. However, contemporary social theorists such
as Powell (2006), O’ Brien Cousins (2000), Katz (1996, 2000), Grant (2001) and Tulle
(2008) would argue that traditionally this approach has placed a much greater emphasis
on the physiological and psychological aspects of aging as compared to the social and
cultural. Biological aging refers to the internal and external physiological changes that
take place in the body and psychological changes due to the developmental declines in
mental functioning (emotional and cognitive) that occur as a result of age (Powell &
Wahidin, 2006). This biomedical viewpoint of age has been used to determine evidence-
based best practices in health care, as well as create a culture of people who view age
negatively or as a burden.
The association with aging as a process leading to malfunction and decline has
been described as the narrative of decline (Gullette, 2004, 2008, 2011). Such ageist
attitudes have in the past contributed to negative stereotypes and have limited the types of
physical activities promoted for people in their later years of life. As a result,
overexertion and strenuous competitions have been viewed as too demanding for
individuals and particular sports have been perceived as inappropriate (O'Brien Cousins,
2000, 2003b). It is thought that perceptions of old people as sick, helpless and in need of
medical intervention may in fact influence new generations of old people to act the part
and internalize negative stereotypes of the elderly (Horton, 2010; Montepare &
Zebrowitz, 2002).
Furthermore, as Powell and Gilbert (2009) contend, the dominance of the
biomedical model has reinforced the idea that science can be the saviour of the aging via
17
the biotechnological advancements that offer the potential to reconstruct the body and
prevent/limit the aging process (Powell & Longino, 2001; Powell & Biggs, 2004; Shim,
Russ, & Kaufman, 2006). This idea of limiting the effects of aging has produced
numerous studies that link prolonged involvement in sport and physical activity with the
maintenance of strength (Llopis & Padrón, 2007; Nessel, 2004; Spirduso, Francis, &
MacRae, 2005), balance (Debra, 2003; Faber, Bosscher, Paw, Marijke & van Wieringen,
2006), functional capacity (Pelkonen et al., 2003) improved cardiovascular performance
(Gent & Norton, 2013; Mazzeo & Tanaka, 2001; McArdle, Katch, & Katch, 2010;
Spirduso et al., 2005), and enhanced flexibility and range of motion (Billson et al., 2011;
Spirduso et al., 2005). These studies indicate that prolonged involvement in sport and
physical activity produces positive physical effects. However, the majority of these
studies failed to identify the specific activities individuals are engaging in, nor did they
identify ways to promote increased activities to the masses.
To date most of what is known about the actual physical activity patterns of older
adults is based on national and regional surveys. These surveys are often cross-sectional
and use self- reported assessments of current levels of physical activities (Falck et al.,
2015; Hanson et al., 2014; Paterson & Warburton, 2010; Prohaska et al., 2006). A major
concern stemming from this area of research is that while persons over fifty represent the
most sedentary segment of society, most interventions fail to account for the most senior
population sector, i.e. individuals over seventy-five.
Paterson and Warburton’s (2010) article “Physical Activity and Functional
Limitations in Older Adults: A Systematic Review Related to Canada’s Physical Activity
Guidelines” provided a review of sixty-six studies that seek to establish a relationship
18
between functional independence and physical activity. This detailed review played an
integral role in establishing the revised Canada Health and Fitness Guidelines in 2011.
Paterson and Warburton (2010) identified several challenges the authors of the sixty-six
studies encountered, particularly when it came to defining output activity levels ranging
from moderate to vigorous. Furthermore, most of the studies reviewed failed to
incorporate multiple aspects of physical activity: for example, targeted populations were
often not encouraged to partake in endurance activities, strength training and balance
activities.
Paterson and Warburton (2010) concluded that there is a significant relationship
between functional independence and cognitive outcomes when physical activity is
maintained. Based on their findings, the following three points reflect Canada’s updated
guidelines for individuals sixty-five and older:
1. Increased endurance activities, 4-7 days a week
2. Increased flexibility activities, daily
3. Increased strength and balance activities, 2-4 days a week
Under the new guidelines, older adults (individuals 65+) are told they should
participate in moderate-intensity aerobic activity for a total of 150 minutes/week or
vigorous-intensity activity for a total of 90 minutes/week. Moderate- and vigorous-
intensity activities are defined as approximately 50% and 60-70% of maximal aerobic
capacity (Kesäniemi, Riddoch, Reeder, Blair, & Sørensen, 2010; Paterson & Warburton,
2010).
Although policy makers and governments are attempting to shift their traditional
discourse of age and physical activity from that of a decline narrative, it is obvious that
19
perceptions of overexertion and potential dangers of strenuous activities continue to
inform components of targeted interventions to date. In fact, Hirvensalo et al., (2005)
found the advice often given by physicians to older adults regarding exercise and
physical activity simultaneously conflicting. Exercise was often recommended, followed
by a warning of the risks. These warnings often resulted in older adults exercising
extreme caution when engaging in everyday activities and hindered their desires to
engage in even moderate physical activities. O’Brien Cousins (1998) found that many
older adults fear exercise, and believe they could literally die from a heart attack or stroke
while engaging in vigorous activities.
Findings from several studies that have examined the health promotion messages
incorporating physical activity as a means to achieve/maintain health have shown that all
too often professional experts define physical activity from middle-aged and youthful
perspectives rather than listening to the experiences and desires of older persons
themselves (A. Clarke & Warren, 2007; Reed, Cook, Childs, & Hall, 2003).
Tulle (2008a) examined the guiding principles on aging in sport science literature
and determined exercise to be fundamental in the fight against disease and aging. Her
analysis found the relationship between exercise and aging to be regarded as “truth”
amongst professionals, hence supporting the use of exercise as prevention against aging.
Pike (2011a) cautioned individuals and policy makers to critically assess the basis for
recommendations regarding physical activity for older adults. She highlighted the fact
that “despite the ‘moral panic’ surrounding the ‘problems’ of increased longevity, it is not
yet possible to delay, reverse, or prevent aging” (p. 222). Instead Pike suggests a need
20
for a genuine understanding of what active aging entails and the benefits of lifelong
physical activity.
2.3 Social Theories of Aging and the Impact of Physical Activity
Physical activity and aging have been incorporated into social theories of aging in
various ways. Social theories of aging have tended to focus on the interpersonal
experiences and relationships one has with society and culture as people move throughout
their life course. Several theories addressed the connection between physical activity and
health status (Havighurst, 1963; Rowe & Kahn, 1998), while others use the physical
changes often associated with aging as evidence of declining social positions as part of a
larger process of social withdrawal (Cumming & Henry, 1961).
Activity theory, developed in the 1960s, seeks to encourage older adults to
maintain engagement throughout their life course through continued activity (Havighurst,
1963). The use of the term ‘activity’ in this theory encompasses more than physical
activity. It is meant to represent a general sense of engagement in all facets of one’s life.
For instance, as people retire and their social roles change, they have been encouraged to
explore new interests and hobbies (including recreation) so as to not withdraw completely
from society. Popular ‘use it or lose it’ slogans are associated with this type of thinking.
This theory is often criticized for being simplistic and lacking recognition of the
functional limitations older adults can face.
In the late 1980s several aging paradigms were proposed to provide new ways of
classifying and conceptualizing the differences individuals experience beyond simply
chronological age. An examination into the social and political differences among birth
21
cohorts was led by Laslett (1991), who argued that those entering retirement, a time often
called the third age in contemporary society, had become part of a new generation of
older adults, quite unlike their predecessors and previous generational cohorts. Gilleard
(2002) built on Laslett’s identification of the uniqueness of the third age cohort and
suggested that the impact of increased wealth, consumption and leisure—core elements
of the post war culture—continued to shape third agers’ experiences in non-traditional
ways.
A pervasive discourse relating to aging that emerged in the late 1980s was the
theory of successful aging (Rowe & Kahn, 1987, 1998). The notion of successful aging
offered a way of looking at aging that accounted for the physiological processes that
contribute to disability, the presence/avoidance of chronic illness and disease, as well as
social engagement throughout the life course (Bülow & Söderqvist, 2014; Kahana,
Kahana, & Kercher, 2003; Rowe & Kahn, 1987, 1998). Rowe and Kahn (1998) have
argued that successful aging is an ongoing process that varies depending on the activity
and the particular moment in time the individual is pursuing said activity. Moreover this
theory is dependent on an individual’s ability to transcend personal barriers and work
towards successful aging at all times.
As Dillaway and Byrnes (2009) pointed out, “successful aging literature also
intimates that individuals can control whether they contract disease, their risk of disease,
their mental health and well being, and their level of engagement with others” (p. 706).
Successful aging remains such a popular concept in gerontology today that scholars who
study aging describe it as ubiquitous (Dillaway & Byrnes, 2009; Martin et al., 2014).
22
This positive aging discourse has also given rise to several other discourses that
reflect many of the same principles, for example, productive aging, resourceful aging,
independent aging, healthy aging, active aging, aging well, positive aging, normal aging
and civic engagement (Angus & Reeve, 2006; Estes, 2001; Chapman, 2005; Kaufman,
Shim, & Russ, 2004; Laliberte Rudman, 2006). These approaches to positive aging have
led to multiple studies highlighting the need for social interaction and an array of physical
activity interventions—with a focus on fun leisure activities—for aging women (Dionigi,
2006a, 2006b; Grant, 2001; Grant, 2008; Paulson, 2005; Pike, 2011).
It is important to note that, although discourses on positive age are focused on
opportunities for women to experience aging from a multifactorial viewpoint, there is a
dichotomy embedded in this discourse, in which the potential to experience negative
aging or unsuccessful aging still exists (Cavanagh, 2007; Katz, 2001; Oghene et al.,
2015; Pike, 2011a, 2011b). Negative aging refers to those who are socially dependent in
later life (Hepworth, 1995). As Cruikshank (2009) notes, the ultimate counterculture
stance “is to forcefully declare one’s worth in the face of irreversible physical decline”
(p. 21). In other words, these types of studies suggest that individuals can choose to
transcend the biomedical model and the idea of aging negatively, by embracing the
changes that occur in the body as a result of age, and by placing more of an emphasis on
the positive role physical activity can play in identity management across the life course.
2.4 Embodiment and Aging: Postmodern and Critical Studies of Aging
Studies that examine the social worlds of older adults seeking sustained
involvement in sporting cultures are a relatively new phenomenon. The term
23
embodiment is often used to describe the lived experiences of individuals and accounts
for both the processes of action and interaction in social contexts (Phoenix & Grant,
2009). Experiences of aging and the ways we describe our collective experiences,
particularly when it comes to describing bodily processes, are representations of our
embodied selves (Gilleard & Higgs, 2000, 2013; Laz, 2003).
Typically those who embark on this realm of inquiry draw upon postmodern and
critical studies, the theoretical underpinnings of which are argued to relate back to
phenomenology and the writings of Husserl (Powell & Gilbert, 2009, Ritzer, 1996,
Seidman, 1994). Phenomenology as a broad theory of inquiry seeks to understand the
possibilities of social realities and the role individuals have as creative agents in
constructing their social worlds. Through the use of a variety of theoretical techniques
and qualitative methods, phenomenology “illuminates the human meanings of social life”
(Powell & Gilbert, 2009, p. 8). These types of studies primarily utilize in-depth
interviewing techniques to uncover rich descriptions of individual’s perceptions of their
social life. Several studies have addressed aging from a phenomenological perspective
(Biggs, 1999; Featherstone & Hepworth, 1995; J. L. Powell & Gilbert, 2009; Turner,
1995).
Studies of critical gerontology focus on gaining knowledge about the meanings
and individual experiences of growing older. Age is identified as something achieved or
accomplished as one engages with one’s social and cultural surroundings. Researchers
who align within these realms of thought have often utilized qualitative methods,
including in depth interviewing. Several studies have examined the life worlds of older
persons as described through their discourses and descriptions of their bodies. They have
24
drawn attention to the challenges older people claim to face with regards to their
changing bodies, body image and the many issues relating to human embodiment (Hurd,
2000; Hurd-Clarke & Bennett, 2013; Oakley, 2007; Paulson, 2005; Paulson & Willig,
2008; Phoenix, Smith, & Sparkes, 2010; Phoenix & Griffin, 2013).
The work of Laz (2003) is of particular importance to my study. Laz, conducted
interviews with individuals in their 50s, 60s and 70s and drew attention to the social
construction of aging. Her research suggests that age, like perceptions of gender, do not
just happen, instead they are constituted through interaction and gain meaning through
the processes of interaction and cultural production. Utilizing a similar argument,
Cruikshank (2009) contended that bodily decline is often overemphasized in the social
construction of aging. As a result of this biomedical emphasis, the meaning of old age
then becomes about physical loss. To counter this perspective, authors such as Higgs
(2013), Gilleard and Higgs (2013) and Phoenix and Sparks (2006) have suggested it is
important to examine how age is accomplished and performed, because meanings are
constantly in flux as social situations, worldviews, values, social policies and embodied
understandings change.
2.5 Masters Sport: Athletic/High Performance Identities for Older Adults
According to Biggs (2005), a new world of aging is emerging, where the
identities offered to older adults are increasingly becoming more diverse. Identity is
often described as “a personal theory of self” (Kleiber, 1999, p. 94). In this context,
contemporary identities are often understood as managed identities (Bauman, 1995;
Giddens, 1991), where the performance of an aged identity requires constant negotiation
25
between intention, external pressures and one’s own interior world (Biggs, 2005, p.
S118). The social construction of aging highlights identity as being simultaneously
social and cultural. According to Oghene et al. (2015) aging and athletic identities derive
their meaning as the product of the interaction between individual, social and cultural
narratives.
Studies that examine identities across the life course interrogate how individuals
interpret, express and make sense of social roles as they age. As sport provides a social
context where individuals engage in meaning making and experience different social
roles, it provides a social world to explore identity management and construction.
In recent years a number of studies have examined the phenomenon of Masters
sport (Akkari, Machine & Tanaka, 2015; Baker et al., 2010; Dionigi, 2005, 2006a, 2006b,
2010; Dionigi & O’Flynn, 2007; Dionigi et al., 2013a, 2013b; Grant, 2001; Grant &
Kluge, 2007, 2012; Grant, 2008; Kirby & Kluge, 2013; O'Brien Cousins, 2000, 2003a,
2003b; Oghene et al., 2015; Pfister, 2012; Phoenix & Griffin, 2013; Ronkainen, Ryba, &
Nesti, 2013; Tulle, 2008a; Tulle, 2008b). A recent study conducted by Ronkanien et al.
(2013) utilized life story interviews to explore the identities of older adults participating
in Masters endurance running contests. These authors found that reaching the limits of
physical performance had an impact on career trajectories and continued motivation for
participation, often causing individuals to re-evaluate their ‘athletic life project’
(Ronkainen et al. 2013).
Dionigi and O’Flynn (2007) examined the stories of older athletes (55-94 years)
competing in Masters games competitions in Australia. They provided an informative
glimpse into how participants simultaneously resist and conform to discourses of aging
26
through both words and actions. Oghene et al. (2015) through an examination of media
images of two prominent Canadian Masters athletes argued that representations of older
adult athletes can be understood as both positive and negative. They contended that
stories heralding athletic accomplishments reinforced positive aging discourses and
provided a ‘reconstituted’ understanding of dominant views of aging (Oghene et al.,
2015, p. 752).
These studies are useful in that they provide insights into the language of
performance discourses in sport, and illuminate how older adults often alter the meanings
associated with traditional understandings of performance discourse to support their own
needs.
Performance discourses are equated with the performance expectations or
descriptions of goal based outcomes often associated with participation in competitive
activities (Carless & Douglas, 2013; Ingham, Chase, & Butt, 2002). For example, a
typical performance discourse describes the pursuit of personal bests or the desire to be
the fittest, strongest or fastest. As older adults face unique physical challenges, these
traditional discourses are often not helpful in describing the performance expectations for
older adults. Therefore, in order to understand how performance discourses are related to
athletic identities more broadly, I examined several studies that have investigated
performance discourses and athletic identities with younger cohorts (Carless & Douglas,
2013; Shogan, 1999). Warriner and Lavallee (2008) suggested that “achieving
excellence in elite sport typically involves incredible sacrifice and dedication, which
often prevents athletes from engaging in an adequate exploration of different roles and
behaviours associated with identity formation” (p. 302).
27
The disciplinary techniques involved in producing and maintaining status as a
high-performance athlete were examined in Shogan’s The Making of High-Performance
Athletes: Discipline, Diversity and Ethics (Shogan, 1999). Shogan explored the
meanings associated with the development of high-performance athletics by focusing on
the individual athlete. Specifically she addresses the technologies that go into the
production of these finely tuned bodies and what these highly disciplined individual
performances mean to athletes both in the athletic context and beyond. Shogan used her
own experiences as a high-level basketball coach to explore how power relations and
particular discourses shape and govern individuals’ practices and experiences.
Shogan’s work has been foundational in describing the specific practices utilized
by athletes in order to achieve optimal performances. She defined the high-performance
participant as an individual who has the ability “to stay on task and to execute skills
correctly without being distracted … who can persevere, who do not give into competing
desires, and who are strong willed” (Shogan, 1999, p. 18). Thus, the overarching themes
of high performance are discipline and the coaching strategies and practices that both
encourage and produce disciplined individuals.
Several authors have explored the importance of disciplined training regimes
(Shogan, 1999), the use of sport medicine (Safai, 2003; Safai, 2007; Theberge, 2007) and
complementary alternative therapies to achieve high performance standards (Bundon &
Hurd-Clarke, 2014). Together these studies provide insights into the practices individuals
often undertake as they become increasingly involved in the social world of sport and
their identities become aligned with high-performance sporting cultures.
28
2.6 Impact of Gender: Canadian Female Sporting Experiences across the Life
Course
Gender, according to Gilleard and Higgs (2013), provides one of the most
“important vehicles through which the embodiment of aging can be examined” (p. 33).
Women’s bodies, in particular, have been subjected to multiple layers of meaning and
have been marginalized and medicalized by doctors and those in positions of authority in
Western patriarchal society (Oakley, 2007). For much of the nineteenth century, the
ideas of medical experts were used to justify the relegation of women to the domestic
sphere, where their activities could be patrolled and regulated.
For centuries, Lupton (2003) noted, “the female body has been constructed as the
‘other’ or deviant in medical discourse, the sick or incomplete version of men” (p. 132).
This exercise of control is evident in the types of activities prescribed for women, both
historically and in contemporary Western culture. Feminist theorists, such as Kennedy
and Markula (2011), Markula (1995) and Hargreaves (1994, 2000) have examined the
meanings associated with women’s fitness and bodies, and there is increasing interest in
the experiences of the aging woman’s athletic body (Heuser, 2005; Kirby & Kluge, 2013;
Paulson & Willig, 2008; Pike, 2011b; Pfister, 2012).
In both disciplines that explore aging, and disciplines that examine women’s
experiences, studies have provided insight into women’s orientations towards their aging
bodies (Calasanti, 2004; Hurd, 2000, 2008, Verbrugge, 2002). These studies have
emphasised how the body is a site where relationships of gender are both expressed and
resisted. Several authors such as Powell (2013) and Shilling (1993) have identified that
for women, their relationship to power is often about their relationship to their bodies.
29
Women are more likely than men to develop their bodies as objects to be
perceived by others. For older women, a great focus is placed upon their physical
appearance and they often identify their sense of self as closely related to their bodies
(Hurd-Clarke, 2011). This practice of embodiment is thus problematic as women age, as
they loose a key asset and often perceive themselves as invisible (Gilleard & Higgs,
2013).
Pfister (2012) identified that sport provides an “excellent arena for ‘doing’ gender
and age” (p. 371). In her study examining the participation of older female adults in
Masters sport she identified that participation in sporting activities for older women
provided opportunities to resist aging and gendered stereotypes that have historically
limited opportunities for females.
In the past several decades, sport history scholars have added to knowledge about
women in sporting domains, including older women, and have provided a basis for a
better understanding of sporting participation today (O’Brien Cousins & Vertinsky,
1995). Studies have shown that women’s experiences in sport and physical activity in
Canada defy neat historical generalizations, partly because women do not constitute a
single group, and their behaviours and attitudes do not conform to a single general pattern
(Grundy, 2000). Sometimes women are active participants in a sport, while at other
times they are behind-the-scenes producers or promoters. Thus, an examination into the
gendered nature of female sports participation was fundamental in understanding the
social climate experienced by women as they participate in sports throughout their
lifetime (Pfister, 2012).
30
There is substantive literature underscoring women’s entrance into the traditional
male sporting domain as highly contested terrain (Birrell & Cole, 1994; Birrell &
McDonald, 2000; Cahn, 1994; Hall, 2002; Hargreaves, 2000; Vertinsky, 1994, 1992).
This research provided a useful basis for examining the sporting culture experienced by
the participants of my study, as well as highlighting both barriers and challenges to
participation they may have experienced while maintaining a close connection to sport
throughout their adult lives.
Hall’s The Girl and the Game: A History of Women’s Sport in Canada and Bruce
Kidd’s The Struggle for Canadian Sport are two of the most comprehensive examinations
of Canadian female sport participation during the 20th century (Hall, 2002; Kidd, 1996).
Hall’s work is a feminist history where the thinking about gender relations, the history of
these relations and their future from a women’s perspective played a central role. She
integrated a wide variety of sources and materials in order to produce a coherent account
of the sporting experiences of Canadian women.
According to Hall and Kidd, the shifting patterns of employment and increased
government funding impacted women’s participation in Canadian sport. Both authors
systematically outlined the challenges facing female athletes over the last century and
discussed class divisions in physical activity and sporting activities. Their analyses
provided the foundation for further examination of female sport participation on many
levels, especially at the local level where less is known.
Like much of the sport and gender literature, both Hall and Kidd focused on
mainstream sporting activities and dominant groups. Their work offers an introduction to
the various physical and health promotion activities deemed socially acceptable for
31
females, without oversimplifying or failing to acknowledge critical issues surrounding
women’s sports participation in Canada.
Wall’s Game Plan: A Social History of Sport in Alberta provided a thorough
account of sport participation and development in Alberta (Wall, 2012). As all of the
participants in my study resided in the province of Alberta at the time of the research,
Wall’s work provides an important contextual understanding of the participation patterns
and opportunities available from a historical perspective.
The most comprehensive account examining ways to increase opportunities for
the participation of older Canadian women (55-70) in physical activity is a focus group
report published in 2012 by the Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women
and Sport and Physical Activity (CAAWS). The information in the report was based on a
three-year study (2005-2008) funded by the Public Health Agency of Canada, where
focus groups with women who considered themselves both active and not active were
conducted across the country. The results of this study indicated that a variety of barriers
to physical activity exist for this cohort from internal (conflicting priorities, feelings of
insecurity, lack of perceived support) to external (availability of programs, weather,
infrastructure) challenges. Several recommendations from the report target a variety of
stakeholders and include a call for increased support for health, recreation and
community partnerships.
32
2.7 Development of Public Recreation and Sport Systems in Canada from a Policy Standpoint
One way to understand the experiences and identities of older adults’ participation
in Masters sport is to examine the ways in which Canadian sport and recreation policies
have been designed to include opportunities for both participation and the pursuit of
excellence. This is important, since older adults have not traditionally been included in
sport policies; their activities and focus from a policy standpoint have traditionally been
overseen by Health and Fitness Canada rather than Sport Canada.
McFarland (1970) detailed the development of public recreation in Canada up to
the 1970s, describing the impact of the national Fitness Bill through to Bill C-131, an Act
to Encourage Fitness and Amateur Sport. This Act increased funding to provincial
organizations and provided a national focus for the development of athletes (Macintosh,
Bedecki, & Franks, 1987). Hall (2002) contended that national involvement in amateur
sport from the 1960s onwards resulted in the “rationalization, restructuring and
professionalization of the Canadian sport system” (p. 136).
Perhaps the most in depth account of the development of Canada’s national sport
system is provided in Macintosh and Whitson’s The Game Planners: Transforming
Canada’s Sport System (Macintosh & Whitson, 1990). These authors highlighted the
people, processes and political implications of developing a national sports program
targeted towards international podium results and the development of high-performance
athletes. In essence, they described how the high-performance mandate has resulted in an
ideological shift from an emphasis on mass participation in sport to a concentration of
energy and resources on high-performance or elite sport. Of particular importance for
33
this study, the book featured the development of professionals providing expert
knowledge and training to athletes. Specifically, Macintosh and Whitson focused on the
government support given to sport scientists and new professionals, in order to develop a
rational, efficient, expertise-based athlete development program in Canada.
Sport Policy in Canada (Thibault & Harvey, 2013) built on Macintosh and
Whitson’s work and highlighted current sport policy in Canada. In this collection,
several scholars explained the role and meaning of sport in society, while addressing the
often turbulent relationship sport has had with different levels of government, competing
departments within the government and stakeholders both inside and outside the political
realm (Donnelly, 2013; Kikulis, 2013). Donnelly’s chapter examining sport participation
initiatives was particularly useful in locating where older adults fit within current
participation initiatives. His work was also insightful in understanding the relationship
between the departments of Sport and Health Canada in delivering sport to Canadians
who do not fall into the category of high performance.
Several studies have examined the historical tensions between sport for
participation and sport for excellence (Brown, 2008; Comeau, 2013; Dowling, 2014).
These studies provide important context for understanding the impact of culture and the
powerful discourses that shape both policy and individuals’ perceptions of where they
belong within current sporting policies and practices.
2.8 Impact of Health Policy and Healthy Aging Policies for Older Adults in Canada
There have been several recent studies that have examined the impact of shifting
medical discourses and knowledge about the aging body (Boudiny, 2013; Fries, 2014;
34
Pickard, 2013; Segall & Fries, 2011). This is a particularly relevant topic for
understanding the role of physical activity in aging, as the merits of physical activity and
their role in the healthy aging process have been well established (Baker et al., 2010;
Paterson & Warburton, 2010). As new public health policy has emerged and the
distinction between the discourses of health promotion and the promotion of health have
become more clear (Low & Thériault, 2008; O’Neill & Stirling, 2007), there is a need to
examine the public health messages that encourages older adults to take individual
responsibility for their health and engage in active aging in order to age well.
Using a postmodern analysis, Blaikie (1999) deconstructed the biological
classifications of old age and reconstructed the cultural implications of population aging.
The focus was on the effects of increased leisure opportunities for older adults and how
such pursuits, in conjunction with consumer culture, are challenging stereotypes of
marginalization and medicalization.
According to Blaikie (1999) the aging population has been presented as a risk to
society, particularly with a focus on the economic strain older adults may eventually
place on the health care system. Pike (2011a, 2011b) has been particularly critical of the
messages governments produce that promote anti-aging rhetoric, as have Powell (2011)
and Powell and Biggs (2000), whose collective works examined the development of
medical and social care experts’ primary role in promoting independence from socio-
economic support for as long as possible.
Boudiny’s (2013) examination of the language of active aging located policies
directed at encouraging older adults to be healthy and active as grounded in neoliberal
societies, where older people are encouraged to provide for their own needs so as to not
35
over burden the economy and welfare services systems. This work is an interesting
examination of the impact of policies directed at the public health burden of sedentary
lifestyles and how involvement in physical activities can provide meaningful experiences
to both individuals and communities. She warned of messages that do not promote a life
course perspective (Angus & Reeve, 2006) and showed how current messages often
present a dichotomy targeting either healthy older adults or dependent older people.
Boudiny’s study was very useful in evaluating the messages the participants in my study
may have internalized regarding the role of physical activity and sport throughout the
course of their life. It also provided context to evaluate current Canadian policies and
programs designed to encourage active aging (Boudiny, 2013).
Earlier studies that have examined social policies targeted towards older adults
include the work of Katz (1996), whose analyses indicated that the policies often
marginalize older populations through “specific discourses of differentiation” (p. 51).
More specifically, older adults are encouraged to maintain youthfulness and achieve
active citizenship and engagement for as long as possible (Bytheway, 1995; Vincent,
2006); however, once they are no longer able to do so, their need to draw upon services
differentiates them (negatively) from younger populations.
In addition, there have been several studies that draw upon the application of
technology to healthy aging practices (Baltes & Smith, 2003; Biggs, 1999; Biggs,
Phillipson, Money & Leach, 2006; Featherstone & Hepworth, 1995; Nettleton &
Burrows, 1997; Shilling, 1993). Powell (2011) suggested that there are three ways
technologies for healthy aging can be identified. First, he highlighted the growing
interest in the maintenance of existing health, which includes health promotion messages
36
targeted towards healthy eating and exercise. Second, Powell (2011) drew attention to an
increased focus on counselling in later life; and third, he pointed to the use of ‘bio’ and
other types of technologies that are used to enhance bodily performance (p. 149-150).
The use of technologies and consumer culture to enhance and support aging bodies is of
importance to my study.
The impact of the healthy living discourse and the new public health model
(NPH) on older adult populations is also important, as there is a long established
connection between the participation in sport as a means to achieve health and the
increasing notion of personal responsibility for one’s health and the desire for active and
healthy aging. Notions of personal responsibility for health are often linked to discourses
surrounding neoliberalism.
Neoliberalism is a philosophy of economic and social relations that focuses on
economic growth and competition as key roles for government, rather than intervention
(Alvaro et al., 2011; Barnett, Cloke, & Malpass, 2008; Henwood, Harris, & Spoel, 2011,
Low & Thériault, 2008). Proponents of this philosophy typically support individualism
and personal responsibility and believe governments should play a reduced role in the
social and economic realms. In this model individuals take on the role of the consumer,
as an enterprising self who will do whatever is in their power to enhance both their social
circumstances and physical health and well-being (McDermott, 2011).
Central to NPH discourse is healthy living as an ideal state of being. According
to Clow (2014), in Canada, as in many parts of the world, the main emphasis of healthy
living discourse is body weight and related behaviours, such as nutrition and physical
activity (p. 35). Furthermore, “initiative, self-discipline, risk-calculation and personal
37
responsibility coupled with a commitment to better oneself fundamentally underpins the
healthy subject as conceived through NPH policy” (McDermott, 2011, p. 207). Thus,
there exists a connection between the role of health and exercise, one’s personal
commitment to engage in healthful activities that include sport as a form of exercise and
the role health has in Canadian sport policy.
To date, the most in-depth examination of health promotion messages embedded
in Canada’s active living initiatives is provided in “A Critical Analysis of Canada’s
‘Active Living’: Science or Politics” (Bercovitz, 2000). In this work, Bercovitz provided
insight into the influence of neoliberalism in Canadian physical and health promotion
policies and ultimately culminated with a vague and all-inclusive definition of what
participation in physical activity encompasses. She draws attention to how the
responsibility for one’s health and continued participation is placed on the individual and
the community, with less responsibility being maintained by the state (p. 33).
Importantly, Bercovitz did not question the need to encourage citizens to engage in
physical activity nor did she question the effectiveness of health promotion initiatives,
instead she encouraged researchers to be aware of the ideas embedded in initiatives and
suggested a failure to do so could result in the perpetuation of health inequalities in
Canada.
Exploring the intersections of physical activity and health were of central
importance to McDermott (2011), who revisited narrative data from a previous study to
uncover new stories of empowerment and meaning as women described their motivations
to engage in physical activity on a regular basis. McDermott (2011) provided insight into
38
the impact of new public health’s, health promotion messages and showed how such
messages resonate with individuals on a personal level.
In many ways her findings echo the work of Pederson et al. (2013), Rethinking
Women and Healthy Living in Canada. In this collection of essays, the meaning of
healthy living discourse as grounded in health promotion in Canada is explained, as well
as what this discourse means from a feminist perspective in Canada. These authors
present healthy living discourse as grounded in several broad themes: an understanding
that chronic disease and rising health care costs are the result of individual lifestyle
choices, a focus on personal responsibility and individual blame, a focus on weight
management and the role of nutrition, and the role of risky behaviours leading to the
eventual need for medical interventions (Clow, 2013). According to Pederson, Liwander
and Rice (2013), the 2005 Integrated Pan-Canadian Healthy Living Strategy (Public
Health Agency of Canada, 2005) identified physical activity as a priority area of action in
improving chronic disease prevention and the promotion of good health. These authors
identified “New Canadian Physical Activity Guidelines” (Tremblay et al., 2011) as the
major policy focusing on physical activity (Pederson et al., 2013, p. 143).
Efforts to increase physical activity rates often encourage individuals to increase
their leisure time participation in recreation and sport, in spite of the fact that few
resources have been allocated to identify barriers to activity that encompass both the
physical and social organization of work, school and play (Pederson, Liwander, & Rice,
2013).
In 2006, Healthy Aging in Canada: A New Vision, a Vital Investment was created
for the Federal, Provincial and Territorial Committee of Officials (Seniors) to aid in
39
developing official policies and programs to support Canadian seniors and their
achievement of healthy aging (Public Health Agency of Canada, 2006). In 2009, Health
Canada in collaboration with the Interdepartmental Committee on Aging and Seniors
Issues published Canada’s Aging Population: Seizing the Opportunity in 2009, which
included an important report on a multitude of seniors’ issues and healthy aging
(Carstairs & Keon, 2009; Wilson, Osei-Waree, Hewitt, Broad, 2012). While the authors
of these reports acknowledge that lifetime behaviours do influence our health in old age,
their focus is on what society can do to promote health in current older adults. These
documents address the roles of social connectedness, physical activity, healthy eating, fall
prevention and tobacco control on healthy aging.
In 2002, Alberta Health and Wellness published “Alberta’s Healthy Aging and
Seniors Wellness Strategic Framework, 2002-2012”. This framework builds on Rowe
and Kahn’s (1998) successful aging model (avoidance of disease, engagement with life,
maintaining high cognitive and physical function), while improving it in four ways
(Marshall & Altpeter, 2005). Rather than using the term successful aging the Alberta
model uses the terminology healthy aging. They expanded upon the avoidance of disease
to include avoidance of injury and promotion of health. They grouped together optimal
functioning. The Alberta model recognizes both the prevalence and effects of chronic
conditions in later life (Marshall & Altpeter, 2005).
These official documents provide useful insights into the language and official
policy positions regarding physical activity and healthy living strategies and programs for
older adults in Canada. Typically, when a policy is adopted or a specific segment of a
population is highlighted through the development of a policy to address their needs,
40
insights into the value or discourses surrounding that population are made visible. For
older adults, and more specifically female older adults wishing to pursue sporting
excellence, there are few policies addressing their specific needs.
Throughout this dissertation, it is demonstrated that part of the challenge for
females pursuing sport results from the ambiguous location of sport within Canada’s
health policy and the competing discourses of participation and excellence in Canadian
sport policy. The next section provides an overview of the theoretical framework I chose
to guide my study.
2.9 Theoretical Framework
Social theorists’ interests in the body, including the aging body, and the lived
experiences of humans, have become increasingly popular over the last three decades.
The importance of the body has been highlighted by a number of sociologists who have
sought to examine the cultural meanings associated with the body (Shilling, 1993).
According to Shilling (1993), along with the desire to examine the meanings of bodies,
individuals have also sought to control these meanings and evaluate their importance in
the context of social relationships (p. 31).
2.10 Post-Structuralism
Post-structuralism opposes rigid, oppressive and monolithic structures thought to
shape our experiences and describes the works of various social theorists who critiqued
structural approaches to textual analysis. This realm of thinking is most often associated
with Jacques Derrida, Michel Foucault, Julia Kristeva and Pierre Bourdieu, all of whom
41
either critiqued structuralist principles or set out to reject them outright. Important to this
line of thinking is the desire to highlight the ways power and discourse are embedded
within language and various texts and how that leads to the production of knowledge and
understanding of the social world.
Post-structuralism allows one to take a critical look at the discourses that shape
our understandings of age and the structures that have traditionally shaped and imposed
this understanding on bodies and the lived experiences of people. The use of post-
structuralist theory provides an appreciation of why the biomedical model of aging has
been so pervasive. It also provides insights into the challenges of creating a new
framework for aging and the potential to resist traditional ideologies that work to
structure our everyday experiences. Two of the most influential post-structuralist
theorists are Michael Foucault and Pierre Bourdieu.
Discourse is used in the context of this study to highlight the ways the participants
have identified and formed knowledge around their aging bodies in relation to sport,
physical activity and healthy living. Markula and Pringle (2006) suggested that
discourses are a consistent set of rules that guide social practices, that people readily
draw upon to make sense of their experiences. Discourse analysis is thus less about
locating a specific pattern and ascribing a value to that practice and more about
identifying the ways taken for granted truths about a subject or practice have served to
maintain or challenge power relations that in turn either perpetuate or change the way
something is practiced, thought or discussed.
42
2.10.1 Michel Foucault: Archaeology and Genealogy
This section provides an overview of Foucault’s methodologies, namely
archaeology, which aims to provide a “history of statements that claim the status of truth”
(Davidson, 1986, p. 221) and genealogy, which aims to showcase the patterns of
practices that shape contemporary processes and activities (Powell, 2011). According to
Powell (2011), another way of understanding these concepts is that “archaeology is
concerned with development of human science discourses whilst genealogy looks after
the practice of discourse” (p. 39). Foucault (1977) drew particular attention to the roles
of experts and professionals maintain in shaping relations between humans and systems
of power. Both archaeological and genealogical analyses are important because, as
humans, we live in a social environment where free will exists within the parameters of
defined discursive formations.
2.10.1.1 Archaeology
In The Archaeology of Knowledge (1972), Foucault set out to provide researchers
with a tool kit to navigate the complex task of understanding how specific ways of
knowing and talking about a subject become the primary ways to identify a concept or
the knowledge surrounding a concept. Foucault described these discursive structures as
episteme (i.e. the underlying structure of thought where, in a certain time and place, some
statements count as knowledge and others do not), and was concerned with the moments
in a culture where “some of the rules and organizing discourse shifted to match a new
way of thinking about a subject, leading to overlaps, fractures and discontinuities in
knowledge” (Jette, 2009, p. 78).
43
By historically tracing the evolution of a particular subject and how practices of
knowledge evolved around that subject, we can gain insight into the values and priorities
of a particular culture. In utilizing this type of methodology, Powell (2011) identifies
how, in gerontological research, “archaeology can attempt to chart the relationships
between the visible to describe ‘institutions’ that acquire authority and provide limits
within which discursive objects may exist” (p. 42). For instance, by examining health
promotion messages and options of care surrounding older adults, we gain insight into the
perceived limits of the aging body and the role of health care in supporting and
maintaining socially acceptable processes of aging. In the context of my research, I use a
similar framework to trace the evolution and ruptures in Canadian sport policy in order to
identify how exercise prescriptions, activity recommendations and Masters sporting
events for older adults have evolved to facilitate participation and provide opportunities
(or not) for older adults to exercise their sporting desires.
2.10.1.2 Genealogy
Foucault drew upon Nietzsche’s method of tracing history when he developed the
concept of genealogy. Genealogy utilizes some of the same techniques as an
archaeological analysis, with a particular focus on the analysis of statements as they are
presented in the archive (Foucault 1972, 1977). According to Powell (2011), with
genealogy, Foucault (1977) “added a concern with the analysis of power/knowledge
which manifests itself in the ‘history of the present’” (p. 43). Foucault concerned himself
with the making of truth. Through genealogy, an individual can excavate how and when
44
knowledge, in the form of truth, became the dominant discourse surrounding a particular
subject.
History, according to Foucault, is never linear, but is instead shaped by
discontinuities and points of rupture. The visibility of the dominant discourse within a
culture is often displayed through a variety of cultural practices, such as how we act,
dress and express ourselves, both verbally and physically. Importantly, it is also present
in the ways we regulate and discipline ourselves. According to Jette (2009), “In broad
terms, the aim of genealogy is to examine how discourse functions in the
power/knowledge complex, mainly by examining how discourse is put to use” (p. 79).
Thus, when using both of Foucault’s methodologies simultaneously, archaeology
provides a snapshot of the discourse and genealogy focuses on the processual aspects of
the discourse in action. Foucault described this in his own terms, as follows:
If we were to characterise it in two terms, then ‘archaeology’ would be the
appropriate methodology of this analysis of local discursiveness, and
‘genealogy’ would be the tactics whereby, on the basis of the descriptions
of these local discursivities, the subjected knowledges which were thus
released would be brought into play. (Foucault, 1972, p. 85)
This methodology is particularly useful when examining the narratives of
participants’ experiences as individuals who engage in high levels of physical activity.
Their experiences, in conjunction with the policy documents and descriptions of the
available activities, provide insight into discourses that are articulated and expressed
through a particular action/activity. An archaeological analysis examines trends and
45
particular statements related to policy action. A genealogical analysis evaluates the
practice and identifies rupture points where a change of practice/position occurred.
2.10.1.3 Bio-Power and Governmentality
Foucault argued that power-knowledge is situated in a political technology or
anatomy of the body. The body in modernity has become increasingly subject to social
controls and interventions. The practice of medicine in Western societies has
increasingly influenced social life, and the every day practices that shape our experiences
have progressively become more medicalized (Lupton, 1999; Zola, 1972). The term
biopower is used to describe the logic of the modern welfare state, which is focused upon
the organization of the population to promote increased force and productivity (Dreyfus
& Rabinow, 1982). In this state citizens are encouraged to take responsibility for their
health and avoid becoming dependant on government due to disability, decline or illness
(MacNeill, 1999).
Foucault provided further depth to the question of who is included and who is
excluded because of governmental policy in his 1 February, 1978 lecture, suggesting that
“the tactics of government that allow the continual definition of what should or should
not fall within the state’s domain, what is public and what is private, what is and is not in
the state’s competence” are bound up in the governmentality of the state (Foucault, 2009,
p. 109). For Foucault, it is this governmentalization of the state that allows political
economy and economic knowledge to exist as tools for effectively governing,
constructing the lives of the majority as active participants who are capable of both
choice and action, but influenced to align their actions with state objectives. In other
46
words, such governmental practices position people as encompassing a sort of bounded
autonomy.
The work of Foucault is important in identifying the practices, in particular health
practices, that participants engage as a result of their own understandings of citizenship
and the role of personal responsibility for maintaining ones health in neoliberal societies.
2.10.2 Pierre Bourdieu: Field, Capital and Habitus
Pierre Bourdieu’s work has also been very influential on the theory and research
regarding the body, bringing together the concepts of structure and agency to provide
insight into the processes of cultural production (Shilling, 1993; Turner, 1992). Shilling
(1993) and Turner (1992) have both drawn upon his work, suggesting that Bourdieu’s
perspective and his accounts of embodiment facilitate bringing the body back into
sociology of the body. Bourdieu employed the concepts of field, capital and habitus to
explain how we make sense of our experiences and how our identities are formed in
relation to one another as we move about social space.
Habitus, according to Bourdieu, is an acquired set of dispositions. For example,
Wainwright and Turner (2006) examined the social world of ballet dancers and noted that
the dancers’ practice produced both a particular type of body and mastery of that body
through advanced training. After years of training, the dancers were so immersed in the
practice that their movements, their preferences for music and their general aptitudes all
revolved around dance. While the expression and preference for all things dance may
have been learned, the individuals were so involved in the dancing culture that they could
not recall a time when dance had played a lesser role in their sense of self. Habitus, then,
47
becomes both a “medium and outcome of social practice” (Wainwright & Turner, 2006,
p. 240). “[W]hen habitus encounters a social world which it is the product, it is like a
‘fish in water’ …it takes the world about itself for granted” (Bourdieu & Wacquant,
1992, p. 127).
In the context of athleticism, the ways that people treat their bodies, train their
bodies, and heal and prevent injury to their bodies reveals the most fundamental
dispositions of the habitus. In this study, participants’ descriptions of their training
regimes, schedules and commitment—as expressed through their prolonged involvement
—reflected their habitus. Their inability to articulate what makes them athletes was also
related to habitus, because the by-products of their involvement in sport and physical
activity were so ingrained that they did not (until further probed) quantify or qualify their
actions as representing athletic behaviour.
In addition to habitus, the role of capital is also useful. According to Bourdieu
(1993), capital can take many forms, such as physical, symbolic, economic or cultural
forms. In this study, physical capital includes physical strength and power as the by-
products of participants’ training. Wainwright and Turner (2006) suggested that physical
capital, in an athletic context, takes on four specific aspects: speed, strength, stamina and
suppleness (p. 242). Physical capital also includes sport-specific skills described by
participants, as well as the innate understanding of the physical needs of their bodies,
including physical adaptations to account for the changes they experienced as a result of
the aging process.
According to Shilling (1993), “physical capital cannot be accumulated beyond the
appropriating capacities of an individual agent” (p. 142). When participants spoke about
48
changes in performance and the ways they compensated for those changes, they were
essentially discussing how different types of capital must be adjusted in order to account
for the demands of practice. Wainwright and Turner (2006) also contend that our stock
of physical capital is transient; “It grows and then declines with age, and it dies with us”
(p. 242).
Cultural capital relates to one’s ability to achieve social mobility and acceptance,
based on increased involvement and acceptance in a social group. For the participants in
this study, their gradual acceptance of the label athlete, and the perceived status gained
from both self-recognition and the recognition of other athletes, with whom they wished
to associate, was incredibly important. I argue that identifying, as an athlete was a way
of identifying cultural capital that they had accumulated through the practice of Masters
sport. Cultural capital played a pivotal role in the participants’ perceptions of athletic
identity, because, as their physical capital diminished or was challenged, their cultural
capital helped them negotiate new identities as athletes and redefine those aspects of their
identities.
According to Bourdieu (1993), the social field is where interactions occur and
individuals make sense of their experiences and settings via a shared symbolic meaning.
This involvement in a social field is predicated on the accumulation of capital, including
economic capital, physical capital, social capital and symbolic capital.
Depending on personal experience, social location, and social class, individuals
embody particular dispositions and habitus, which is the embodiment of individuals’
social location and the capital that is available for them to draw upon. Once again I will
use Wainwright and Turner’s (2006) examination of the experiences of professional
49
ballet dancers, to explain Bourdieu’s use of embodiment. In this context, the practice of
ballet was the field, and the levels of experience and dancers’ involvement was the
habitus. This was evident in the ways the dancers moved and embodied dance as
physical self-expression. As they gained experience, the dancers’ habitus developed and
they assumed more powerful positions, based on their accumulation of capital (in this
case, skill and status in the group). These same authors then provided examples of how
aging resulted in a shift of physical capital, which resulted in a different social position.
Power, in this context, is relational and established through shared meanings in the
construction of a particular social space.
Bourdieu’s perspective is informative when investigating an individual’s sense of
belonging and identity in one social field and how that position is in constant fluctuation
relative to other social fields to which the individual also belongs. Of central importance
to Bourdieu was the concept of cultural production as a means to explain the interactions,
power relations and expressions of dominant discourse in society (Bourdieu, 1993).
Bourdieu was interested in the formation and reproduction of social practices and how
the body and embodied practices play a central role in defining power relations in a given
social context. According to Thorpe (2011), Bourdieu’s concepts are both vague, to
encourage their application across a variety of social settings, and relational, as they only
function in relation to one another (Wacquant, 1992).
One way that has been useful in the study of individual health-related behaviours
is the examination of the social practice and the routines and behaviours presented within
a particular social structure. Bourdieu’s theories identify how social practices are
routinized and how socialized behaviours are common to groups (Bourdieu, 1978). In
50
this context social structure is defined as “the way society is organized, involving norms,
resources, policy and institutional practices. Similarly to choices, social practices are
understood as emerging from the structure, and thus the relationship between structure
and practices is always explicit” (Frolich & Poland, 2007, p. 55). Thus we must associate
individual behaviour or practice as always in a relationship with one’s position within the
social structure. This relationship is not one-dimensional as “the structure is seen to
shape people’s practice, but in turn, people’s practices are understood to influence the
structure by both reproducing and transforming it” (Frolich & Poland, 2007, p. 55).
In this study, I used Bourdieu’s (1984) key concepts of habitus, capital, field and
practice to highlight the experiences of female Masters athletes. Importantly, this
theoretical framework provided insight into the ways individual’s mould their bodies in
accordance with the cultural fields to which they belong. Bourdieu’s work also assisted
in showcasing how self-identity and embodiment are closely connected and constantly
evolving throughout one’s life (Wainwright & Turner, 2006).
Together the works of Foucault and Bourdieu have provided a theoretical
framework to account for the social experiences of aging from both a personal and
cultural level (Dumas & Turner, 2006). Both of these theorists provided insights into the
dynamic nature of our experiences. Foucault’s work, although very insightful, was
oriented towards the subjectivity of our experiences and the social constructed nature of
knowledge that we draw upon to make sense of our worlds. He did not address agency
and the minute detail of our experiences in the same way that Bourdieu did. Bourdieu’s
work is important for recognizing the importance of our embodied experiences and how
we exist in a dialectic society in relation to one another.
51
I draw upon Foucault’s work to identify how age as a classification has had an
important impact on the ways individuals make sense of their experiences as normal
based on information that has been provided by both professionals and contemporary
Western culture. On the other hand Bourdieu’s work was highly beneficial in examining
how age and experiences of aging are embodied. As Bourdieu (2000) said, “the body is
not only in the world but the social world is in the body” (p. 152), and this is expressed in
the ways people move, the experiences that they seek and the ways they express
themselves.
52
Methodology Chapter Three:
3.1 Introduction
This chapter provides an overview of the methodology used to conduct this study.
I highlight issues about sampling, interviewing and transcribing that emerged in the early
stages of this study and then provide a detailed description of the processes I used to
analyze the data. The qualitative research undertaken in this study employed an inductive
framework of analysis. This type of research entails immersion in the details and
specifics of the data to discover important patterns, themes and interrelationships
(Johnson & Christensen, 2008).
Inductive research, while guided by analytical principles, provides opportunities
to revisit and modify concepts and relationships between and among concepts throughout
the process, with the goal of most accurately representing the reality of the situation.
This was important, as I sought to explore the meanings ascribed to individuals’
embodied practices. I wanted to see beyond the basic narratives of experiences and
accounts of participation.
A critical discourse analysis (CDA) looks at how a social issue or a problem is
represented through semiotic material (Taylor, 2001a). This material can take many
forms (including narrative text) and the process of conducting a CDA entails opening up
a dialogue between disciplines concerned with “linguistic and semiotic analysis
(including discourse analysis) and disciplines concerned with theorizing and researching
social processes and social change” (Fairclough, 2001, p. 230). CDA considers the
dialectical relationship between semiosis (including language) and other elements of
53
social practices. Its particular concern is with the radical changes that are taking place in
contemporary social life, with how semiosis figures within processes of change and with
shifts in the relationship between semiosis and other social elements within networks of
practice (Fairclough, 2001, p. 234).
Discourses are diverse representations of social life. They are the building blocks
of language and provide insight into how the world is represented, organized, understood
and experienced by individuals in various social contexts. Foucault’s use of the term
discourse is understood as encompassing a number of levels, “sometimes … the general
domain of all statements, sometimes as an individualized group of statements, and
sometimes as a regulated practice that accounts for a number of statements” (Foucault,
1972, p. 8). My focus is on the latter part of Foucault’s statement about discourse.
As shown in the results chapters, discourse consists of groups of related
statements, which together produce both meaning and effects in the real world. For
Foucault, discourses are productive in that they produce the objects of which they speak
(Carabine, 2001). They are also productive in that they have power outcomes or effects.
Importantly, they define and establish what is perceived as truth at a particular moment.
This research study was conducted in two phases:
1) An in-depth review of the foundations of Western biomedical prescriptions for
exercise and aging women in combination with popular cultural
representations from popular magazines and books targeted towards Masters’
athletes; and
54
2) Semi-structured, face-to-face interviews with aging athletes, coaches and
medical practitioners (i.e. athletic therapists, medical doctors and
physiotherapists).
3.2 Phase 1: Literature Search, Ethics, Consent, Interview Guide and Pilot
Interview
The first stage of the research process consisted of gathering background
information and establishing the historical foundation of attitudes toward aging and
physicality in contemporary Western culture. This involved a review of the foundations
of Western biomedical prescriptions for exercise for aging women, specifically an
examination of the role of high-performance sport and serious leisure. It was also
important to identify current exercise and fitness guidelines for this particular age
demographic and understand how the current Canadian sport model seeks to address (or
not) the specific needs of older adults. In addition, I conducted a detailed analysis of
government publications and journal articles directed towards physical activity and aging,
focusing when possible on female participation. The results from this phase are
described in detail in Chapter 2, the literature review of this dissertation.
This phase of the research process also entailed gaining ethical consent to conduct
the research from the University of Calgary. Following this I conducted a pilot interview
(see Appendix D for interview questions) to review my research questions and identify
appropriate areas of questioning to explore in more detail in subsequent interviews. The
process of generating research questions that were open ended, semi-structured and
designed to answer the research questions outlined in the introduction of this dissertation
55
was a complicated process, made more challenging as I sought to ensure that the
interview environment was collaborative and communicative (Kvale, 1996; Kvale &
Brinkmann, 2009).
I did not want to create an environment for the participants of this study where
traditional hierarchies of distance and separation were evident. Instead I drew upon
examples of research where the interview is recognized as relational, where the
interviewer and participants together take part in a shared process of construction of
meaning in the interview process (Ellis & Berger, 2003; Gubrium & Holstein, 2003;
Holstein & Gubrium, 1995; Oakley, 1981). In this scenario our interaction took the form
of an ongoing relationship where the “personal and social identities of both the
interviewer and the interviewees were important factors” (Ellis & Berger, 2003, p. 159).
It was an environment where the shifting dynamics of the participant and the researcher
evolved throughout the interview process, creating what interpretive scholars have
identified as double subjectivity (Lewis & Meredith, 1988). The concept of double
subjectivity reflects how each participant’s feelings, attitudes and thoughts affect, and are
affected by, the emerging reciprocity between the participants and the interviewer.
Hence the questions I developed had to be straightforward while also providing some
room for interpretation. I needed to be able to begin broadly, while leaving opportunities
for dialogue and rapport to develop.
I began the process of creating an interview guide based on the questions I
developed to address the purpose of my research. Following this I had several meetings
with my supervisor, where we discussed the language I was using and the possible
implied meanings associated with the different expressions and terminologies being used.
56
Once I had a draft of an interview guide, I conducted a pilot interview to make sure the
questions were appropriate and open ended enough to facilitate the collaborative
interactions I desired for my interviews.
Locating an individual with whom to conduct a pilot interview was not
challenging, as I had someone in mind prior to formally designing my research project.
This individual was a fifty-five-year-old woman (an acquaintance) with whom I had once
worked at a sports and recreation facility in the city of Calgary. Alicia was an avid
soccer player and member of a competitive women’s league in Calgary. I knew that she
used various advanced coaching practices and that she had sustained several injuries
playing and training for her sport. As she was slightly younger than the participants I had
envisioned for my study, I knew I would not be recruiting her to participate in the larger
study. I felt that our level of familiarity would allow me to ask personal questions, while
maintaining a level of formality, as the context for our interaction was new. The fact that
she was not a complete stranger allowed for open communication both during the
interview and after, where together we were able to critically reflect on the effectiveness
of the questions I had asked. Based on her feedback, I revised my interview guide and
proceeded with the next phase of the research process.
3.3 Phase 2: Recruitment, Interview Procedures, Coding and Analysis
The second phase of my research involved recruiting participants for in-depth,
semi-structured interviews. In order to locate potential participants (athletes, coaches and
medical professionals), I used both my personal network and contacts made while
conducting my master’s research. I then compiled a list of Alberta sport organizations
57
and publically available contact information for individuals potentially associated with
Masters sport within these organizations (Appendix, E). Emails were sent to various
Masters sport organizations and training clubs in the city of Calgary and the province of
Alberta (Appendix C). The emails were first sent to administrative contacts within the
sport organizations. I then followed up with a telephone call, introduced myself to the
administrator and asked if there was a contact within the sport organization that I could
forward my recruitment information. In every instance the administrator indicated that
they would forward my interview request to several coaches, athletes and local sport
clubs. The email included a brief description of my study as well as a recruitment flyer
and consent form (Appendix A, B). I asked potential participants to email me directly,
indicating their willingness to participate in an interview and to forward my recruitment
email to anyone they thought may meet the criteria for inclusion. Although I provided a
few qualifying criteria for the participants, I left it to them to determine whether they
considered themselves as aging athletes. To be more specific, on my recruitment flyer I
asked five questions:
• Are you a female athlete between 60 and 75 years of age?
• Do you compete regularly in vigorous physical activity at the Masters level?
• Do you maintain competitive standards/times in your sport?
• Do you have a coach and/or regularly scheduled training program?
• Have you sustained an injury from training or participating in your sport?
In addition to the emails, I also placed recruitment flyers in several fitness facilities and
sport clubs in the city of Calgary and Edmonton.
58
This type of sample group is known as a purposive/criterion sample group
(Denzin & Lincoln, 2002). A purposive sample is useful when one is looking to gain an
in depth understanding about a specialized population. This sample strategy was chosen
because of the exploratory nature of my research that focused upon the social
construction of an aged and athletic identity.
Once potential participants contacted me, I determined if they aligned well with
the research goals and the selection criteria established prior to recruitment. Utilization
of this technique allowed me to focus on the shared characteristics of those who self-
identified as meeting the requirements to participate, instead of being concerned about
the number of participants. My main concern was to develop a rich data set from which
to develop ideas and concepts for further research (O’Brien Cousins, 1995).
As a former varsity athlete, I had to guard against my own preconceptions
regarding what constitutes an athletic identity. According to Ellis and Berger (2003),
interactive interviews offer “opportunities for self-conscious reflection by researchers as
well as respondents” (p. 161). These reflections provide opportunities to identify how the
researcher’s perspective guides analysis and interpretation of the experiences of others.
My own positionality and reflexivity was made quite clear when I was discussing athletic
identities with participants. I further elaborate on the reflexive process when I discuss the
process of coding and transcription in Section 3.5.
Based almost exclusively on the emails I sent to Masters sport organizations and
their subsequent distribution and forwarding of the recruitment letter, I gained the interest
of ten athletes. I had intended to utilize a snowball technique of self-referral to further
identify and locate participants. This technique is useful when one wants to identify an
59
interconnected network of participants. However, only one participant successfully
referred another person to me. In another scenario, a participant suggested I contact
someone who had already participated in an interview for the study. Furthermore, the
fact that the snowball technique led me to individuals who I had already contacted or
interviewed suggested that I had successfully located individuals who matched my
selection criteria, within the parameters of the geographic area where I was conducting
my study. The sample was relatively homogeneous in terms of socio-economic status,
educational levels, sexual orientation and retirement from formal employment status.
I also decided it would be beneficial to interview individuals who worked
professionally as coaches and medical service providers in the support of older adults
who participate regularly in Masters sports. Conversations about their experiences and
views regarding the participation of older adults in sport and physical activity,
particularly older adult’s utilization of their services, provided another layer to the
discussions I was going to have with the athletes. I felt this was important given the
history of the medicalization of the female body and the bureaucratic, rather limited view
of what high-performance sport entails in Canada. Furthermore, since the athlete
recruitment criteria specified individuals who utilized coaches, medical therapies and
enhanced training practices, conversation with these individuals would help me in
understanding what they perceived their roles to be in supporting older athletes’ bodies.
Table 3.1 outlines the criteria developed to locate desired participants across three
specific domains.
60
Table 3.1: Criteria developed for interview participants
3.3.1 Rationale for Qualifying Criteria
There are different groups of older adults, from those described as ‘young-old’
(50+), to those described as frail ‘old-old’ (>85), and the health benefits from physical
activity are often different across groups (Bauman, 2004). In Canada, there is not a
consensus as to when an individual is officially considered an older adult/senior. When I
envisioned this study I intended for the participants to be at least 60 years old. This
delineation provided flexibility, as it meant I would draw upon the baby boom generation
as well as individuals who were already recognized as “older adults >65” by Canadian
measures such as the Old Age Security program.
Aging Women Medical Doctors
Athletic Coaches
• >60 years old - 20 participants • 58 years old 1 - participant • Participate in vigorous activity
and/or sport regularly • Train minimum 3/week • Have a periodized/specialized
training program • Participate in sports
competitions • Maintain competitive
standards/times (sport specific) • Regularly use coach and
medical therapies/enhanced training practices
• Family practitioners • Sports Medicine
Specialists • Current practice in
Alberta • Experience working
with Aging women
• Certified (NCCP) • Knowledge in area of
aging athletes • Various athletic
experiences
Actual Sample Size = 21 Actual Sample Size = 4 Actual Sample Size = 4
61
At the time of the interviews, the first cohort of the baby boom generation (those
born between 1946 and 1964) had reached the age of 65. Furthermore, when the Canada
Physical Activity Guidelines were revised in 2011 (Tremblay et al., 2011), older adults
were delineated as 65 and over (Paterson & Warburton, 2010). Thus, on my recruitment
posters and emails to Masters sport organizations I advertised that I was seeking
participants who were at least 60 years old.
As I began to receive emails from potential participants I was contacted by a
woman (Shelley) who identified with all of the criteria on my recruitment poster,
however she was 58 years old. Her request to participate caused me to re-evaluate the
nature of my study and the fluidity of identity throughout the course of one’s life. I
decided that if someone identified as an older adult at a younger chronological age than I
had anticipated, I too needed to be flexible with the age ranges I sought to include in my
study. This potential participant highlighted the challenges of chronological age as a
signifier of belonging to the category of “older adult” in our contemporary Western
culture. For example, some individuals seek discounts and senior rates for gym
memberships and movie theatres as early as age 55, while others retire from employment
well into their 80s and are hesitant to be labeled a senior. I ultimately decided to
interview Shelley and include her experiences in the results and findings of this
dissertation.
I also consulted the revised Canada Physical Activity Guidelines (Tremblay et al.,
2011) when it came to addressing the levels of commitment, energy output and
seriousness of participation. I specifically focused on individuals involved in vigorous
activities, since my interest was in participants who consider themselves serious about
62
their sporting pursuits, as well as those versed in the perceived health benefits of
achieving the recommended doses of physical activity from the Older Adult Guidelines
(Paterson & Warburton, 2010). Moreover, as I was looking for individuals who
identified as athletes, I created specific criteria that I deemed applicable for athletes
regardless of age. I based the criteria on the collective work of Shogan (1999), Theberge
(2007), who examined high-performance athletes and identity, and on Heuser (2005),
Stebbins (2001) and Hastings, Kurth, Schloder and Cyr (1995), who all examined serious
leisure pursuits. Specifically I advertised that I was seeking participants who: competed
regularly in vigorous physical activity; maintained competitive standards in their sport;
utilized a coach and/or regularly scheduled training program and have sustained an injury
from participation in their sport.
When it came to creating selection criteria for coaches and medical professionals I
was also specific. I wanted individuals who had experience working with older adults
who were licensed and certified in the province of Alberta. When I first conceptualized
this study, I was not positive about the type of medical professionals I should be seeking,
as primary care physicians have a different scope of practice than sport medicine doctors.
After several discussions with my committee members and my own primary care
physician, I decided to focus on sport medicine physicians and medical professionals who
regularly support athletic bodies. Thus, I sought interviews with physiotherapists and
athletic therapists and talked to only one sport medicine physician.
63
3.3.2 Athletes
Ten women, between the ages of 58 and 94, contacted me to participate in this
study. All had competed in a Masters sporting event, either as an individual or as part of
a team. All were currently, or until recently, being coached; and, all utilized various
medical resources, practitioners and technologies to maintain their bodies in order to
sustain participation. Fortuitously, I then received an email from the Calgary
Aquamums, a synchronized swimming team preparing for an international Masters
competition, indicating they would like me to observe their practices and conduct a group
interview with the team about their experiences. This afforded me the unique opportunity
to interview and observe eleven more women participating in a team environment rather
than individual activities.
64
Table 3.2: Athletes who participated in the study1
Name Age Sport Kelly 94 Skiing Lillian 68 Soccer/Track and Field Helen 70 Badminton Cora 64 Triathlons/
Masters Athletics Esther
70 Swimming Dance
Adelle 77 Running Meryl 65 Running Gwen 78 Swimming Shelley 58 Hockey Maggie 75 Swimming Aquamums (11) Annemarie Julia Cynthia Doris Beverly Colleen Olive Judy Glenda Sandra Lori
60 – 78 60 65 64 61 72 63 75 78 68 62 76
Synchronized Swimming
Studies have shown (Allen, Greenlees, & Jones, 2013; Peterson, Weber, &
Trousdale, 1967) that different personality characteristics are associated with individual
1 The participants (athletes, coaches and medical professionals) have all been given pseudonyms.
65
versus team participation. At first, I was hesitant about drawing comparisons between
these two distinct scenarios of sport participation. Having conducted single participant
interviews prior to observing and conducting a focus group interview, I was aware of the
impact of social environments on training. However, all of the participants in my study
trained in groups of various kinds and had social networks that coincided with their sport
participation, even if their competitions were individual. Ultimately, I decided the
Aquamums’ experiences and individual accounts regarding athletic identity, participation
and perspectives on aging would provide depth to my research.
The group interview process posed several challenges, as I had not intended to use
my interview questions in a group setting. The interview was difficult to transcribe, as
background noise and the number of participants present did not allow for great
elaborations and personal accounts. However, I did find the responses of the Aquamums
similar to the discussions I had with participants in the one-on-one interviews and used
their accounts to substantiate the themes that were emerging from my other interviews.
Their responses validated that I had reached a point of crystallization in the research
process and that my study had led me to a place where I believe I had reached data
saturation (Mason, 2010).
3.3.3 Coaches
Using a similar technique, I recruited coaches who trained older athletes in the
city of Calgary to participate in my study. I sent out an introductory email to various
athletic associations and Masters training clubs. I also followed up with contact
information provided by the athletes who participated in earlier interviews. I recruited
66
four coaches to participate in semi-structured interviews. Interestingly, all of the coaches
I interviewed were also Masters athletes. They were all still active and had been
participating in their respective sports for many years at a high level. One participant was
an Olympian and a World Champion and continued to compete internationally in her age
group for running. Another was a former varsity coach and avid golfer, who had only
recently retired from her sport (the same as the one she coached) at the age of 52.
Another coach had completed the Kona Ironman triathlon just weeks prior to our
interview. All of the participant coaches had interesting opinions and experiences related
to training older athletes.
Table 3.3: Coaches who participated in the study
Name Specialization Bio Grace Basketball Played basketball
until 52 Avid Golfer
Tracy Running/Speed Walking
Olympian Masters Athlete
Diana Triathlon Triathlete IronMan Kona
Vivian Synchronized Swimming
Aquamums
3.3.4 Medical Professionals
The last group of participants recruited for this study were medical professionals
who supported and helped maintain the health of older athletes. Originally, I wanted to
interview sports medicine physicians and contacted several potential participants at the
University of Calgary Sports Medicine Centre. However, only one doctor responded to
67
my request for an interview. Upon further review of both my research questions and the
interviews I had conducted up to that point with athletes and coaches, I determined that
the role of sports medicine doctors was less important in maintaining older athletes’
health than those of the physiotherapists and athletic therapists who treated injuries
before they worsened to the point of requiring medical intervention.
Table 3.4: Medical professionals who participated in the study
Name Occupation Laura Athletic Therapist Wendy Athletic Therapist Thomas Physiotherapist Wayne Sport Medicine Doctor
Most of the participant athletes said they avoided doctors unless it was absolutely
necessary and took care to address potential injuries before they required intense
therapies. Because I was actively involved in the Faculty of Kinesiology at the
University of Calgary and a former high-level athlete at the varsity level, I utilized my
professional and social networks to identify athletic therapists and physiotherapists who
regularly encountered and treated older athletes. I sent emails to these individuals; and,
at mutually agreed upon times and locations, I conducted interviews with two athletic
therapists, one physiotherapist and one sports medicine doctor.
68
3.4 Interview Procedure
Interviews were conducted on a one-on-one basis with a semi-structured format
and were audio recorded. The questions pertained to the athletes’ high-performance
training regimes and the ways they negotiated the terrain between limitations of
biological aging, occurrences of sport-related injuries and the challenges of locating
opportunities to participate in sport as an older adult. Depending on the participant,
questions either focused on participants’ personal experiences as Masters athletes or on
the supportive role they played as coaches or medical professionals. Each individual who
agreed to participate signed a consent form at the time of the interview, as well as a
digital copy to read prior to meeting (see Appendix B). A suitable meeting time and
place was then arranged. Participants were encouraged to be spontaneous and interactive.
Probes and clarifying comments were used to develop conversations further and tease out
meanings based on participants’ open-ended responses. Field notes were taken at
interview locations to document speech and mannerisms.
Interviews were semi-structured and typically lasted between 45 and 90 minutes.
The interviews that took place in professional settings (clinics, offices) were typically
shorter than the ones that took place in participant’s homes. Questions were prepared in
advance and were broad in scope, as I wanted to ensure participants felt comfortable
taking the conversation in directions they identified as important or thought would be
relevant to the study. In order to examine specific attributes associated with identity, the
relaxed interview structure encouraged participants to tell me about their activities, their
families and their life experiences. I was looking for descriptions of the subjects’ lives,
69
with a focus on what their accounts say about “perceptions, values, definitions of
situations, personal goals and the like” (Wallace, 1994. p. 143).
Gubrium and Holstein (2003) have written extensively about this type of
methodology, and encourage interviewers to “think carefully about the technical
matters”, such as location, questions, probes and the small details offered in exchanges,
“because they produce the detailed subject as much as they gather information about him
or her” (p. 29). In using this format to conduct interviews, I actively identified my role in
the research and participation in the process of discursive construction. The
establishment of rapport with participants was also deemed important, as studies (Ellis &
Berger, 2003; Gubrium & Holstein, 2003) have shown that when discussing personal
matters, participants are often willing to confide more in an interviewer with whom they
feel comfortable. Researcher involvement can help subjects feel more comfortable about
sharing information, and it can close the hierarchal gap between researchers and
respondents that traditional interviewing encourages (Ellis & Berger, 2003).
Having conducted numerous interviews throughout my graduate program, I knew
my role was to make participants comfortable while ensuring my presence and views did
not overly direct their responses. As suggested in the work of Taylor (2001a), I tried to
not approach participants as “an insider who shared their situation or interests, but simply
as an outsider” (p. 17). In doing this I hoped to acknowledge the power relations between
the participants and myself. Given that I was significantly younger than the study
participants and had not experienced many of the age-related biological changes (such as
menopause) we discussed in the interview, my own age may have made the conversation
difficult for participants had I not tried to establish comfort at the outset.
70
My own athletic experience and proximity to this particular research topic was
also important to address in the context of the actual interview procedure. I was careful
to listen to my participants and to let them express their own operational definitions, such
as what is an athlete or a high-performance athlete. My definitions were shaped by both
my own experiences and the context of this research project. Although participants may
have identified similarities in our life experiences, including shared appreciation of
physical activity and general physical appearance, I tried to not re-articulate their
responses in my own words too often during the interview process.
There was one particular encounter early on in the data collection phase (an
interview with Maggie) that profoundly impacted subsequent interviews and was, I
believe, a result of the participants’ self-selection, i.e. believing that they met the
qualifying criteria for participation in my study. Every participant felt that they had spent
a lot of time and effort training and working towards achieving success in their physical
pursuits. As a regular competitor in Masters swimming events Maggie described her
involvement and commitment to her activity in the following way: “I am doing
everything I can to keep myself in good shape physically.”
This particular statement led me to question our shared understanding about type,
frequency and intensity of training programs. From my initial analysis, Maggie did not
display many of the physical attributes traditionally associated with being considered an
athlete. Her physical appearance was not the same sturdy, muscular body the other
participants displayed nor was she wearing athletic attire at the time of our interview as
other participants. She was pudgy, soft and round. Having conducted research on female
long distance swimmers, I was well versed in the merits of a well-insulated body type
71
(Vertinsky & Job, 2006). I knew her physical attributes were potentially beneficial to her
sport; however, when Maggie indicated that she did everything she could to keep herself
in good shape, I was confronted with my own biased understanding of what an athletic
identity meant and my own bias towards equating a particular body type with athleticism
and fitness.
I wanted Maggie to describe her training, to articulate her schedule, regime and
program. I wanted her to defend her position and the right she claimed to be an athlete.
It was in this moment I realized that I had constructed an athletic identity based on my
own experience and was embedded in the discourses of high performance and sport that I
had been exposed to, both as an athlete and as a researcher in kinesiology. I was
embedded in the sport discourse I was trying to deconstruct. Up to this point, I had been
elitist, wanting to prove that older athletes had the right to claim an athletic identity, but
only according to the rules and standards I had envisioned for myself. I was privileging
traditional performance discourses and validating a system that only recognized a limited
type of athletic body and one type of training regime. Armed with this new realization, I
made a conscious effort to be more aware of my own subjectivity and the potential
negative consequences of allowing my momentary lapse in judgment influence how the
participants described their understandings of what an athletic identity entails.
3.5 Coding and Analysis of Data
Qualitative studies highlight the fact that experiences derived from being
physically active and playing sport in later life are “expansive, dynamic and completely
imbued with multiple interpretations” (Grant, 2001, p. 777). Consequently, I used field
72
notes, audio recordings of interviews and documentary evidence as data. The participants
had the opportunity to read and discuss my notes for accuracy at the time of the
interview. These notes were also analyzed for major themes and sub-themes that arose
during the project. The audio-recorded interviews were transcribed and reviewed by the
primary researcher (myself).
The process of data analysis began with the transcription process. I made a
conscious effort to transcribe the interviews soon after the interview had taken place.
This provided an opportunity to revisit interviews and to ensure that I was able to include
notes on emotions, prosodic and paralinguistic features (laughs, awkward silences,
hesitations, pauses) that shape the meanings of words as they are articulated (Cameron,
2001). Interviews were transcribed in a way that articulated the nuances of the
conversations, thus ‘um’ and ‘uh huh’ and ‘you know’ were transcribed and considered
part of the data.
As I was looking at the subjectivity of participants’ experiences, I followed
Wallace’s (1994) rule of thumb, “the more subjective the goal of the researcher, the less
intrusive the research should be at all points of the research process, from the interview to
the final report” (p. 147). After each interview I sent a thank you email and offered
participants the opportunity to review transcripts in order to verify and clarify statements
and understandings. None of the participants indicated a need for further clarification
with their transcript. Once the interviews were transcribed, they were reviewed and
analyzed according to consistent themes.
I also utilized the qualitative software, Dedoose, to facilitate consistency
throughout the coding process. Dedoose software allowed me to tag/highlight sections of
73
text from the interview transcripts that I identified as representing themes, and shared
meanings. This software is quite sophisticated and has embedded analytics that provide
interactive data visualizations. These visualizations helped me to identify dominant
themes as well as providing a user-friendly platform for storing and retrieving quotes to
discuss in my results sections. My analysis focused on identifying, codifying and
comparing themes related to aging women’s identities and experiences as athletes, and
their utilization of medical services and high-level coaching practices.
The thematic analysis consisted of grouping portions of the interview text into
thematic categories based on similar substantive content (Jette, Vertinsky & Ng, 2014)
and then examining groupings across several interviews, highlighting similar discursive
formations and thematic descriptions while identifying differences among experiences.
There are different approaches to conducting a discourse analysis, and all have their own
guiding principles and represent different epistemological and ontological positions.
Critical discourse analysis (CDA) grew out of the Frankfurt school of thought and the
Marxist tradition, where power relations and the domination of the proletariat by the
bourgeoisie pervaded understandings of social relations and highlighted class-based
inequalities.
In contemporary critical studies, although class relations are definitely an
important facilitator of social dynamics, CDA highlights other power relations and
inequalities that occur in society (e.g. racism, homophobia). Fundamental to this school
of thought is the fact that language is not neutral and that, through an analysis of what is
said, one may find insight into wider cultural imperatives and ideologies that shape
institutionalized knowledge and our subjective experiences (Edley, 2001).
74
Although Foucault may have intended the concept of genealogy to be more
methodological than method, researchers have adapted a process of conducting this type
of data analysis, based on writings in the History of Sexuality (Foucault, 1978) and
Discipline and Punish (Foucault, 1977). Foucault did not provide step-by-step directions
regarding how to conduct this type of analysis. However, through an examination of his
work, how to go about doing this complicated type of research could be identified
through examples.
Guided by Foucault’s core principles, I utilized a similar strategy for the data
analysis of this project. The first stage consisted of gaining familiarity with the subject
matter and identifying—through an extensive review of the literature—the occurrence of
a discrepancy between the actual activities of older adults participating in physical
activity and the policies and culture that support them. To become familiar with the topic
of investigation, I utilized multiple data sources, such as policy documents, interviews
and popular cultural sources (e.g. magazines, websites). It is important to remember that
all data to be analyzed are constructed and put together in a way that the researcher feels
may best highlight the social relations and the task at hand.
Once material to be examined was collected, I read the material, located patterns
in the language, and tried to identify particular meanings that were being conveyed. It
was equally important to highlight what was not being said or represented in texts. I then
sought to provide context for the material and background information. In other words, it
was crucial to determine how the meanings I had identified were linked to broader
institutionalized discourses, which meant looking at what was said within the context of
what was going on politically, socially and culturally at a particular time.
75
The process of coding and analysis were challenging and I revisited my themes
and sub-themes over and over again. It was important to keep asking myself, how do
these findings answer my research questions and how can I present these findings in both
a logical manner and one that stays true to the words and descriptions of experiences
shared by the participants. While contemplating how to do this, I was reminded of the
writings of Roach-Pierson (1991) who, when addressing the challenges of writing
feminist histories and accounting for individual voices, said:
[I]t has, after all, never been the job of the historian only to reclaim voices.
That would result in naïve empiricism. No, the task has been equally, and
just as importantly, to contextualize the individual voices, to reconstitute
the ‘discursive’ world which the ‘subjects’ inhabited and were shaped by.
(p. 94)
Thus, my attempt to code, analyze and present narrative data took into account the
subjectivities of experience shared by the participants, while at the same time identifies
how these experiences and views are shaped by culture. The intent of this research was
not to provide an equal representation of responses from the participants. Instead, I have
used the participant’s narrative accounts to reflect the most salient and paradigmatic
representation of themes. In doing this, whenever possible, I prioritised accounts from
the athletes and used excerpts from the coaches and medical professionals to enhance and
support the themes presented in the results chapters. What resulted from this analysis
were several important themes that are the focuses of Chapters Five, Six and Seven of
this dissertation.
76
3.6 Themes
Table 3.5: List of themes
Chapter Major Themes
Sub-Themes
5 Impact of Sport and Healthy Living Discourses on Sporting Identities
• Perception as outsiders with Canadian Sport Policy
• Impact of Healthy Living Discourse
• “We don’t belong” • Manage opportunities • Pay their own way • Lifestyle choices and management
of chronic disease • Weight management • Personal responsibility • Risk
6 Constructing an Athletic Identity as an Older Adult Female
• Impact of age on identity
• Defining an athletic identity
• I’m not slowing down • Beyond chronological age • Importance of training regimes • Pathway to an athletic identity • Managing performance changes
7 Maintaining an Athletic Identity
• Embodying the role of the expert
• Managing a team of experts • Becoming an expert • Health consumers
3.7 Limitations of Methodology
Using interviews to gather data may have drawbacks. I acknowledge that one of
the challenges encountered when conducting this type of research has to do with the
shared meaning of language. According to Polkinghorne (2007), “participants’ stories
may leave out or obscure aspects of the meaning of experiences they are telling about” (p.
480). Thus, my task in utilizing this methodology was to provide clear accounts of
participants’ responses to interview questions within the broader context of this research
project.
77
The process I used to recruit participants may also be considered a limitation, as
my sample did not represent a diverse population in terms of socio-economic status or
ethnicity. I utilized a purposive sample as I was seeking a specialized group of
participants who were active in the Masters sport community. In order to locate potential
participants I began my recruitment in locations where older adults train and through the
coaches and organizations that they associate. This may have limited my access to
participants who did not utilize a training group or those who could not afford a gym
membership.
I acknowledge the challenge I faced in trying to articulate the experiences and
perceptions of aging as an individual significantly younger than those I interviewed.
According to Oakley (2007):
The young simply have no basis in their experience for
imagining how it feels when the self tells the body to move,
and the body resists because the muscles have hardened,
the joints are stiff and the bones grate against one another.
(p. 112)
I listened to the experiences of participants and tried to describe their embodied
knowledge in a way that recognizes it as their “accumulation of a lifetime of self-
understanding” (Oakley, 2007, p. 112). I validated the meanings of participant responses
throughout the interview process by asking for clarification and elaboration on responses.
As the writer of this dissertation I also acknowledge my standpoint and presence
in both the creation of this written work and the theoretical vantage from which my
78
analysis draws. My experiences as both a former varsity athlete and as an individual who
philosophically identifies as a feminist post-structural researcher have shaped the
questions I ask in this study and my motivations to conduct this type of research. My
personal interests reside in understanding the everyday experiences that impact and shape
our identities.
It is important to acknowledge the relatively small sample size I drew upon to
conduct this study and how this small sample size may not lead to generalizable findings.
The sample size for my older adult population was in part because of the specialized
nature of the group I was seeking to research. In my recruitment flyer I identified that I
was seeking individuals who maintained competitive standards/times in their sport. The
focus on performance may have limited responses from individuals who identify with
participation rather than performance excellence.
Furthermore, one of the challenges in conducting interview research is that not all
interviewees are equally articulate. It was not my goal to provide an equal representation
of voices in the results that I present in this dissertation. Rather, I sought to provide the
most paradigmatic examples to showcase the themes that I identified during the coding
process. To minimize the effects of these dynamics I used triangulation to help me
analyze my data (Taylor, 2001b). Specifically, I used data from interviews and from
documentary sources to ensure consistent themes were emerging.
I have tried to articulate and share the narratives of the participants in a way that
recognized that knowledge is partial, embodied and both culturally and historically
situated (Sparkes, 2002). As Phoenix et al. (2010) remind us, there are many ways to
conduct narrative research, and advocating for one form over another is not as productive
79
as acknowledging that different forms of analysis “generate different and more complex
understandings of aging” (p. 9).
80
Playing Outside the Lines: Formative Moments For Older Adults in Chapter Four:Sport and Health Policy in Canada
When I originally conceptualized this study I did not anticipate the extent to
which policies (both sport and health) have influenced participants’ experiences and
identities as Masters athletes. What became apparent as I analysed the interview data in
conjunction with the documentary sources was the tenuous integrity of the discourse of
sport in Canada. Sports are contested activities where tensions exist between
stakeholders who have sought to establish the meaning, purpose and organization of the
practice (Coakley and Donnelly, 2009). In Canadian sport, notions of participation and
excellence have impacted government involvement in sport and policies. Discourses of
sport have also influenced who is thought to belong in sport and have played an
important role in determining what constitutes high-performance sport.
In this chapter I present an overview of several transformational moments in
Canadian sport and health policy that may have impacted how the participants in this
study have come to identify with notions of performance and the roles of sport and health
in their sporting activities. In doing this I identify how policies have addressed older
adults over time. The aim is to highlight where considerations of older adults are
currently situated within these policies, especially the most recent sport and health policy
mandates.
81
Table 4.1: Timeline of Sport/ Health Public and "Grey" Literature Discussed in Chapter 4
Sport/Health Related Publications by the Government
of Canada and Other Organizations
Source/Author Year
National Physical Fitness Act (1944-1945).
Government of Canada 1943
Bill C-131, the Fitness and Amateur Sport Act
Government of Canada 1961
A Report of the Task Force on Sports for Canadians
Government of Canada 1969
A Proposed Sports Policy for Canadians
John Munro 1970
A New Perspective on the Health of Canadians
Marc Lalonde 1974
Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion
World Health Organization 1986
National Recreation Statement, Interprovincial Sport and Recreation Council
1987
Active Health Report on Seniors Government of Canada 1989 Move Through the Years, a
Blueprint for Action in the Area of Fitness in the Third Age
Secretariat for Fitness in the Third Age
1989
Healthy Living Kit for Seniors Health Promotion (Journal) 1992 Seniors and Active Living Health Promotion in Canada
(Journal) 1994
Fall Forum on Active Living Government of Canada 1992 Sport in Canada: Everybody’s
Business. Leadership, Partnership and Accountability
Dennis Mills 1998
Canadian Sport Policy Canadian Heritage 2002 Bill C12, the Physical Activity and
Sport Act Government of Canada 2003
Federal Provincial Territorial Priorities for Collaborative Action
2007-2012
Federal-Provincial/Territorial Sport Ministers
2007
82
4.1 Canadian Sport, Health and Recreation Policy as Discourse
In this section, I provide a brief overview of the development of sport, recreation
and health-related policies in Canada as they have reflected the tensions among two
basic, and at times conflicting, paradigms: excellence and health-related participation in
sport.
Much has been written about sport policy in Canada. Authors such as Macintosh
& Whitson (1987, 1990), Kidd (1996) and most recently Harvey and Thibault (2013a)
and Comeau (2013) have all provided overviews concerning sport development in
Canada. They have underscored the importance of sport in Canadian culture as well as
the tensions that have developed between levels of government, institutions who deliver
and support programs, and public policy. For older adults, and specifically older women,
their absence from the majority of policies, programs and initiatives focused upon sport is
a result of both a lack of attention directed towards their specific needs as well as the
profound impact of the development of a high-performance sport system that has
traditionally valued youth.
Sport, like many other policy sectors has had to deal with overlapping
jurisdictions and tensions. As Comeau (2013) explains, national unity issues caused sport
policy in Canada to place a high priority on excellence as early as the 1960s. While sport
participation and health were present in policies that focused upon inclusion and
accessibility since the 1970s, such policies have failed to dramatically increase
participation among older adults.
I then highlight the impact of the discourses of neoliberalism and the new public
health approach, which promotes health interventions and the active/healthy living
83
discourses that are designed to influence participants’ lifelong commitment to sport and
physical activities. I also discuss the Canadian Sport for Life (CS4L) movement and the
Long-Term Athlete Development (LTAD) model, a sport model adopted by Sport
Canada at the time of the interviews. I draw attention to the discourses of both
excellence and participation within this model and identify where older adults are thought
to align within the current Canadian context.
4.1.1 Identifying Sport, Fitness and Recreation Policies in Canada (1940s-1960s)
There exists a long-standing tension between policies designed to support sport
and those focused on the health and recreation of Canadians. In 1943, a bill was
presented to Parliament, resulting in the first National Physical Fitness Act (Canada,
1944). As a result of this act, all provinces appointed Directors of Fitness and Recreation
and established the National Council on Physical Fitness. The Council’s mandate
included recreation, under the broad umbrella of responsibility to “encourage, develop
and correlate all activities relating to the physical development of the people through
sports, activities and other similar pursuits” (McFarland, 1970, p. 64).
Although the act was repealed in 1954, the Department of Health and Welfare
maintained a small fitness branch, and organizations such as the Canadian Association
for Health, Physical Education and Recreation (CAHPER) lobbied the government to
issue a new fitness act. However, recreation and fitness did not remain the focus for long
as several new initiatives and policies shifted the focus away from participation related to
fitness, towards a more competitive model that envisaged the beginnings of a high-
performance focus for Canadian sport.
84
In 1961, Prime Minister John Diefenbaker, believing that national pride could be
gained through Canadian success in international competitions, implemented Bill C-131,
the Fitness and Amateur Sport Act (Canada, 1961). This new act increased funding to
provincial organizations and provided a national focus for the development of athletes
(Hall, 2002; Macintosh et al., 1987). The prior importance of participation and health
was further diminished by the Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau, who established a
task force to identify potential avenues for government involvement, with the goal of
promoting Canada and Canadian sport on the international stage (Macintosh et al., 1987).
Perhaps the most significant report of this time, A Report of the Task Force on
Sports for Canadians was published in 1969 (Rea, 1969). Several key recommendations
in this report were eventually implemented by the Ministry of National Health and
Welfare through a new document, A Proposed Sports Policy for Canadians (Munro,
1970). This report’s recognition of the different trajectories of sport for performance and
sport for recreation resulted in a separation of Sport Canada into two divisions:
Recreation Canada and Sport Canada, both under the Fitness and Amateur Sport
Directorate of the government.
Sport Canada was established specifically as a non-profit organization and
administrative centre to develop high-performance sport. According to Donnelly (2013),
there were numerous reorganizations at the Ministry of National Health and Welfare in
the 1970s, during which Sport Canada continued to grow and operate, while Recreation
Canada faced increasing challenges, including being divided into Recreation Canada and
Fitness Canada, the former of which was dissolved in 1980. In many respects, from the
1970s onward, there were a series of sport strategies and policy documents focused on
85
elite sporting achievement rather than sport participation (Kidd, 1996; Macintosh &
Whitson, 1990; Thibault & Harvey, 2013b). Thus, high-performance sport became the
dominant objective despite (or rather because of) poor performances by Canadian athletes
at important international competitions, and there was little or no discussion of the needs
of older athletes.
Despite tensions between Sport Canada and Fitness Canada, there were some
advocates of the importance of participation and critical of the high-performance focus of
Sport Canada. John Munro, as Minister of Health and Welfare at the time, commissioned
another study to investigate these concerns. One result of this inquiry was the formation
of Sport Participation Canada, an organization set up outside the umbrella of the federal
government. According to Macintosh (1987), it was believed that removing it from
political interests would make Canadians more receptive to the values of exercise. The
1970s thus became a transformational time for sport participation, accompanied by
attention to the delivery of health services and health promotion in Canada. It also was a
pivotal time for the early beginnings of a new public health movement where the
promotion of exercise became a critical component of public health messages of healthy
living, espousing personal responsibility and body surveillance at both the individual and
population levels.
4.1.2 Impact of New Public Health on Canadian Sport Policy and Participation
Initiatives
Although the focus of sport in Canada remained on high performance during the
last decades of the 20th century, under the directorate of the Ministry of Health and
86
Welfare, participation initiatives, namely fitness and grass roots sport, became
increasingly bound to health promotion policies and ideas surrounding healthy living as
part of the new public health (NPH) movement (O’Neil & Stirling, 2007, p. 40). NPH
differed from the old public health movement of the late nineteenth/early twentieth
centuries in that the old model was focused on controlling the spread of contagious and
infectious disease, while the new movement was primarily concerned with prevention
through lifestyle and chronic disease management (McDermott, 2011). The term healthy
living and the role of physical activity and exercise as part of a healthy lifestyle thus
became synonymous with NPH.
Bercovitz (1996, 2000) demonstrated how the 1970s marked an important decade
for government involvement in health and fitness, encouraging Canadians to participate
in fitness and sport and benefit from new fitness guidelines and government
interventions. Several important events at that time shaped the role of government in
promoting mass participation in sport and delivering health and fitness information to
Canadians. The creation of ParticipACTION in 1971 was significant, as was the 1972
National Conference on Fitness and Health, which led to the Lalonde Report, A New
Perspective on the Health of Canadians (Lalonde, 1974) in 1974.
This period also saw the development of several joint initiatives and collaboration
between Fitness Canada and the Canadian Public Health Association (CPHA) and
included attention to vulnerable and marginalized populations. In 1981, after several
successful collaborative projects between Fitness Canada and CPHA, the CPHA
established the Fitness Secretariat to “promote participation in physical activity as an
essential element of good health, to respond to programming and information needs in
87
health and fitness and to deliver the fitness message to health professionals across the
country” (Dafoe, 1983, p. 2). For Fitness Canada, significant attention was directed
towards expanding programs, while refining the organizational goals of the unit. In
doing so they established (or tried to adopt) a broader perspective on fitness to account
for all Canadians, including older adults.
In 1986, the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion (World Health Organization,
1986) solidified Canada’s continued investment in the new public health movement by
providing further support for healthy living and focusing upon personal responsibility and
a reduced role for government intervention in health (O'Neill, Pederson, Dupéré, &
Rootman, 2007). For older Canadians the impact of the NPH movement and its
accompanying healthy living discourses, including active living and active aging, was
significant. The Canadian Federal Ministry of Amateur Sport (FAS) articulated active
living in an attempt to address the challenges of sedentary populations and the failure of
prescriptive guidelines to engage Canadians in physical activity. This generated tensions
between the policymakers and health and fitness practitioners, who all endorsed the
concept, and academics (sport sociologists and exercise physiologists), who believed the
ambiguity of the concept may not produce the desired health outcomes for target
populations (Bercovitz, 1998). Active Living as a descriptive term (with a capital A and
a capital L) really took shape at the 1986 Canadian Summit on Fitness and was adopted
as an official trademark in 1989. It was at the summit that Fitness Canada clarified its
new mandate of strategic leadership and a more facilitative role rather than programming
and service provisions.
88
This shift placed programming needs under the jurisdictions of individual
provinces and eventually led to the 1987 National Recreation Statement (Interprovincial
Sport and Recreation Council, 1987), in which provinces solidified their commitment to
mass participation strategies. It is important to note that, despite the dissolution of
Recreation Canada in 1980, under the National Recreation Statement, the federal
government agreed to maintain a cooperative role in recreation and mass sport
participation (Donnelly, 2013). As the focus for mass participation strategies became
more closely aligned with general health promotion messages in Canada, a synergy grew
between the discourse of Active Living and the discourses embedded in Canada’s new
public health policy advocating personal responsibility for health including physical
activity across the life course.
4.1.3 Development of New Policies Focused on Aging and Active Living
In 1980, The National Advisory Council on Aging (NACA) was created to advise
the Minister of Health on issues related to this demographic. Reports included the Active
Health Report on Seniors (Health and Welfare Canada, 1989), which attempted to focus
on the life situations and health of older Canadians. For older adults, a conference on
“fitness in the third age” was held, which led to the development of a new directorate, the
Secretariat for Fitness in the Third Age, which specialized in the needs of older adult
populations. These developments reflected a considerable amount of research on aging,
health and physical activity (O'Brien Cousins, Bell, Harber, & Horne, 1995; O’Brien
Cousins & Horne, 1999).
89
Perhaps the most important initiative was a joint strategy between Fitness Canada,
the Secretariat for Fitness in the Third Age and the Canadian Parks and Recreation
Association. The publication, Move Through the Years, a Blueprint for Action in the
Area of Fitness in the Third Age (Secretariat for Fitness in the Third Age, 1989),
strategically outlined seven comprehensive goals focused upon enhancing the health of
older adults with an emphasis on physical activity to maintain functional independence
and the activities of daily living. While the focus of this publication was on leisure
service delivery, less importance was placed upon sport, at least for women. For
example, the document suggested “men generally are looking for activities related to
sports and competition while women are looking for activities oriented toward better
health and socialization” (Pageot, 1989). This pointed to a limited encouragement for
older adult women seeking participation in sport.
For the most part, participation strategies for older adults during these decades
reflected the tenets of active living and healthy living more than sport participation and
excellence. Despite critiques of the Active Living terminology, active living and the
promotion of health as a personal responsibility for older adults was evident in several
publications targeted towards the exercise and fitness needs of Canada’s older adult
populations: Healthy Living Kit for Seniors (“Healthy Living”, 1992), Seniors and Active
Living (“Seniors”, 1994) and Fall Forum on Active Living (Canada, 1992). In 1993, the
Active Living Coalition for Older Adults (ALCOA) was also established as a national
coordinating body for elderly physical activity.
The concepts of active living for older adults in Canada and active aging as a
popular global description of the role of activity in aging remain connected to both sport
90
and health policy for older adults today. According to Boudiny (2013), active aging is an
ambiguous term, as there is no consensus on its actual meaning, although it is thought to
refer to a range of engagement possibilities for older adults including social, economic
and physical activities (p. 1). The physical components are often similarly emphasized
and linked to health and health promotion as active living and healthy living are in
Canada. There is also an emphasis on individualized responsibility to achieve regular
physical activity through exercise.
Pike (2011a) suggests that active aging is so prevalent in policy agendas that it
fails to account for the differences between populations, and the multitude of factors that
may inhibit older people from achieving an idealized form of aging, that includes
activity. The role of health and activity remain fundamentally connected to policies and
programs that support mass participation initiatives.
4.1.4 Reorganization and Reprioritization of Sport, Fitness and Health (1990s – 2002)
While mass participation initiatives and the connection between active living and
the general health of Canadians were firmly established in the 1980s, performance and
excellence in sports became increasingly important. The 1990s were turbulent for Sport
Canada and Fitness Canada. There were significant changes to Canada’s sport system,
affecting mass participation and opportunities for those outside the realm of exclusive
international competition. Prior to 1992, Sport Canada and Fitness Canada were both
situated in the Fitness and Amateur Sport Branch under the direction of the Minister of
State for Fitness and Amateur Sport (Thibault & Harvey, 2013b). According to Harvey,
Thibault and Rail (1995), Prime Minster Kim Campbell, in 1993, moved Sport Canada
91
into the new Department of Canadian Heritage, with a mandate to promote Canadian
identity through the achievement of international sporting success. These moves proved
challenging as limited resources were allocated between both Sport Canada and Fitness
Canada. This resulted in cuts to national sporting organizations and
grassroots/participation-based programs, which were the lowest priorities, as a
consequence of the new focus on elite performance (Donnelly, 2013).
In the midst of these changes, it became obvious that a re-evaluation of the impact
and cultural relevance of sport for Canadians was needed (Comeau, 2013; Donnelly,
2013; Harvey & Thibault, 2013a; Kidd, 1996). A special House of Commons
subcommittee on sport was created, and a final report, Sport in Canada: Everybody’s
Business. Leadership, Partnership and Accountability (Mills, 1998) proved important, as
it was the first time since sport joined Canadian Heritage that it was linked to a
participation initiative in a major policy document. According to Houston (2008), the
subcommittee’s third mandate was to analyze “the potential scope of, and rationale for
federal involvement — or increased federal involvement — in the promotion of (and
participation in) amateur sports in Canada” (p. 2). Many of these recommendations lead
to the development of the Canadian Sport Policy (Canada, 2002) and Bill C12, the
Physical Activity and Sport Act (Canada, 2003).
The Canadian Sport Policy (Canada, 2002) focused on four priorities: enhanced
excellence, enhanced capacity, enhanced interaction and enhanced participation. The
increased focus on participation was the first time (in a long time) that the needs of
individuals other than those who were considered to be sporting elite or those who had
been identified as having the potential to become elite athletes were addressed in a sport
92
policy. Several specific policies and strategies that focused on the needs of vulnerable
and under represented populations in Canadian sport followed. For instance, there were
policies that addressed Aboriginal participation (2005), persons with disabilities (2006)
and women and girls (2008 and revised 2009).
No official policy was developed to account for the needs of older adults in
Canada. However, outside the official Canadian sport policy documents a new model
was being developed as a result of a resource guide supported by Sport Canada entitled
Canadian Sport for Life LTAD Resource Paper (Canadian Sport Centres, 2002b). This
new document accounted for both participation and athlete training across the life course
and led to the Long-Term Athlete Development (LTAD) model and the Canadian Sport
for Life (CS4L) movement (Canadian Sport Centres, 2005; Norris, 2010).
4.1.5 Understanding the Impact of the Long Term Athlete Development Model (LTAD) and Canadian Sport 4 Life (CS4L)
The LTAD model is often equated with Canadian Sport Policy (CSP) as it has
been supported, implemented and utilized extensively by National Sport Organizations
(NSOs) and organizations thought to promote participation, although it was actually
developed outside the realm of the official CSP. LTAD is a systematic approach “to
support the development of high performance athletes based on scientific principles of
growth and development” (Kikulis, 2013, p. 128). In 2005, federal and territorial
ministers backed this LTAD initiative, and it was agreed that it would be adopted as their
athlete development model. Facilitating a system-wide approach, LTAD was integrated
93
into the CSP through the renewed Federal Provincial Territorial Priorities for
Collaborative Action 2007-2012 (Canada, 2007).
The LTAD/CS4L has been pervasive in shaping Sport Canada's framework for
decision-making. According to Dowling (2014) it has enabled, guided and informed
Sport Canada in a variety of decisions, “ranging from specific programs and initiative
investments to system wide considerations of how to appropriately oversee Canadian
sport” (p. 152). The espoused aim was to include both participation and excellence, but
with the main focus on the latter. I further elaborate on this as I discuss the development
of the Canadian Sport for Life (CS4L) movement and the positioning of older adults
within this program.
The LTAD resulted in the development of the CS4L program, a “movement to
promote healthy growth and development through good sport, so people can enjoy a
lifetime of physical activity and excel in sport” (Canadian Sport Centres, 2002a, p. 1).
Important components of the LTAD included early physical literacy programs designed
to help individuals “move with confidence in a wide variety of physical activities in
multiple environments that benefit the healthy development of the whole person”
(Physical and Health Education Canada, 2010, para. 1) and the incorporation of sport for
life, which is a category designed to account for sustained participation and engagement
with sport and physical activity throughout one’s life course.
Critics of the model point out that, although only three of the model’s
developmental stages exclusively focus on high-performance sport, those stages have
been nurtured through several funding and policy initiatives (Kikulis, 2013, p. 128).
They also suggest that the model is ambiguous in establishing exactly the meanings of fit
94
for life and active for life. I propose that the use of this language and the location of this
terminology on the LTAD model diagram (see Figure 4.1) directly links fit for life and
active for life to NPH discourses and the role physical activity and exercise have in
promoting healthy living.
Figure 4.1: Canadian Sport For Life (CS4L) - LTAD Stages Rectangle
This particular model is important in the context of this study as it represents the
institutionalized model adopted by Sport Canada at the time of the interviews. It also
provides a descriptive visual showing how the developmental model moves from
participation through excellence, as well as along the axis that represents sport, health
and age (infants – seniors). The alignment of older adults within this model is open to
100% of population
!"#"$%"#!&'()*!+()!,%+-
Senio
rs
Senio
rs
./*%0- +() ,%+-./*%0- +() ,%+-
SS
1-/)-"*%(#!1-/)-"*%(#!
./*%0-!+()!,%+-./*%0-!+()!,%+-
(#
(#
2345%/"6!./*%0%*42345%/"6!./*%0%*4
!(7'-*%*%0-!(7'-*%*%0-
!"
#$%
3!(+!*3-!8"*%
3!(+!*3-!8"*%
&'()*&'()*
!"
&'()*+*
9/-66-#/-
9/-66-#/- :-"6*3
:-"6*3
!,-$%!+'!!,-$%
;9;9
,-")#!*(!<)"%#,-")#!*(!<)"%#
=>8$"7-#*"65=>8$"7-#*"65"6!,%*-)"/4
"6!,%*-)"/4
./*%0-!&*")*./*%0-!&*")*
=>8$"7-#*"65=>8$"7-#*"65
Infa
nts
Infa
nts
2345%/"
2345%/"
95
interpretation, although a close examination of the language and descriptions of the
model (provided in official documents) provide an informative window into the tensions
between sport for performance and sport for participation that remain present in current
Canadian sport policy.
The official definition of LTAD, as provided in the first sentence of CS4L’s
primary terminology long document (Canadian Sport Centres, 2002a) notes is:
A progressive pathway of development that recognizes the distinct stages
of physical, mental, cognitive and emotional development in participants
in sport. It is a training, competition, and recovery program based on
developmental age––the maturation level of an individual––rather than
chronological age. It is athlete centred, coach driven, and administration,
sport science, and sponsor supported. (p. 1)
Based on the above quote, one may get a sense of the underlying discourses
surrounding sport policy in Canada since 2002. For instance, progressive pathway
alludes to the role of achievement and orientation towards a goal or success. Similarly,
athlete development is addressed in that there exists an understanding that through
participation and training, skills will be developed to promote advancement in any
particular sport. The use of the term distinct stages is interesting, as stages and the ways
of quantifying aging are central to this study about older athletes (Laslett, 1991).
Although it is explicitly stated that the focus is on developmental stages and not
chronological stages, the model uses chronological age when differentiating growth and
maturation age ranges for individuals. It appears to privilege a unilateral understanding
96
of development in relation to age. The model does account for the fact that there may be
instances where someone could start participating in a sport at a later age and still follow
a progressive pathway. However, it would appear that this is not a typical progression
through early adoption, identification, competition and success.
The second sentence refers to LTAD as a training, competition, and recovery
program. This statement highlights several important characterizations of sport. The first
alludes to the seriousness and specific training (disciplining techniques) individuals must
apply to progress along the developmental pathway. The use of the word competition
provides a distinction from fun, participation and play. In essence there exists a
quantifiable output and challenge identified when participating in a sporting activity. In
this context, individuals are engaging in more than participation; there is an emphasis on
winning and testing their abilities against another individual or themselves.
The inclusion of recovery speaks to the scientization of sport and advanced
training practices. Embedded in this phrase are techniques such as periodization, as well
as the need for expert knowledge through experiences or coaches. Throughout, the
document presents the ultimate goal of challenging physical capacities through the
structuring of appropriate training programs that promote an achievement orientation. In
this sense the LTAD model is an example of a scientific model, developed by “experts”
to espouse “normal” ranges of physical growth and development privileging
physiological development over psychological and social advancement.
The last sentence in the above quotation ascribing the model notes that LTAD is
“athlete centred, coach driven, and administration, sport science, and sponsor supported.”
This speaks to the various degrees of institutional knowledge and organization present in
97
Canadian sport. Complex statements such as these directly relate to the development of
sport policy in Canada and an understanding as to who is to be considered an athlete, the
experiences that have shaped their belonging in a particular category, who/what
determines their eligibility and how this is maintained and regulated.
Despite the prominence of the statement that CS4L and the LTAD movement are
athlete centred, the range of experiences and activities available to them are very much
dependent on the nexus of relationships between institutionalized practices of coaches,
administration, sport science and sponsorship. Furthermore, the dominance of the pursuit
of excellence in sport policy (as presented in the beginning of this chapter) and in the
developmental pathway described through the LTAD model further highlights the
tensions between excellence and participation in Canada. It also indicates the challenges
faced by older adults when aligning their experiences in the realm of sport, their age and
their pathway to involvement in sport with an exclusive focus on excellence.
In fact, according to the CS4L model, excellence is seen as only equated with a
highly competitive stream focus and is dependent on podium performance (Canadian
Sport Centres, 2002a). This eliminates the potential to view one’s activity as the pursuit
of excellence if one is not on the pathway to senior Olympic representation (Canadian
Sport Centres, 2002a). Instead older individuals are relegated to the default LTAD
category of Active for Life (Canadian Sport Centres, 2002a):
Active for Life is the seventh and final stage in the LTAD model in which
the main objective is to have a smooth transition from an athlete’s
competitive career to lifelong physical literacy and participation in sport.
Athletes who are not seeking excellence in sport enter this stage after
98
developing physical literacy … Active for Life athletes may attend high
level sporting events such as ‘masters’ championships’, ‘university
championships’; the determining factor in this stage is that the athlete is
not on the pathway to senior Olympic representation. Active for Life also
ranges to include any physical activity which results in health benefits
such as walking or gardening. (p. 2)
The Active for Life category’s inclusion in the larger model of CS4L policy is
thus worth noting. As stated earlier, the role of health and health policy as embedded in
the official policy of sport provides a unique intersection to examine the ways older
adults make sense of their participation and location within current sport and health
models in Canada. The complexity of identifying and describing the ways discourses are
presented, come into being and are negotiated is a central challenge identified by
Foucault (1978), who contended that a “multiplicity of discursive elements … can come
into play in various strategies” (p. 100). The experiences of older adults participating are
often shaped by both discourses of sport and discourses of health and fitness.
In the context of the Canadian sport system, despite the fact that many Masters
athletes are participating in sport and achieving success at international competitions, the
sporting culture in Canada has not (until recently) provided a space or an official
participation platform to account for the needs and desires of participants who are
looking to achieve a healthy lifestyle and excel in sport. As Donnelly (2013) contends,
“[T]he lack of formal policy dealing specifically with participation provides an indication
that the federal government was more concerned with excellence than with participation”
99
(p. 177). However, this is not, nor should it be perceived as, entirely negative, as
presented in the results chapters of this dissertation (5, 6 and 7). Participants themselves
were not always exactly sure where they fit within traditional sporting discourses of
excellence and participation.
4.2 Conclusion
This chapter has demonstrated that there are numerous tensions evident both
historically and currently in the Canadian sport system. This is particularly apparent
when addressing the specific needs of older adults who wish to move beyond
participation and into the realm of high-performance/excellence.
The dominant discourses that shape our understandings of Canadian sport have
evolved through the nexus of relationships between policy, governments, sport
administrators, and the practice of those engaging in the field of sport. Discourses are
constantly evolving to reflect dominant cultural values. Foucault’s (1972)
genealogical/archaeological studies of knowledge have highlighted ‘conditions of
possibility’ for how dominance has played out in how ideas and practices have been
taken up. Furthermore, the social order within which a sporting culture develops
determines the acquisition of cultural, economic and symbolic capital. For the
participants in my study their relationship with policies was critical as policies provide
insight into institutionalized practices that influence who is thought to belong and what is
valued/defined as a sporting practice at a particular moment in time.
My participants were influenced to varying degrees by notions of both excellence
and participation. The remaining chapters of this dissertation will explore participants’
100
narrative accounts of their experiences as Masters athletes. I highlight the impact of
tensions experienced by older adults who wish to pursue sport as both a healthy activity
and one that challenges personal boundaries of performance.
101
From the Outside Looking In: The Impact of Sport and Health Chapter Five:Discourses on Older Female Adults Sporting Identities
5.1 Introduction
This chapter presents themes that emerged when participants’ described their
identities within the context of Canadian sport and the pursuit of healthy living. Whether
they were born and raised in Canada or as immigrants, their experiences and
understandings of sport may well have been shaped by policies and their involvement in
sport across their life course. During this time, none of the participants had been a
member of a national sport team, although two participants had children who were
involved in Canadian sport just below the national team level. Thus, their personal
experiences and understandings of sport have been shaped by their exposure to
opportunities and policies (predominantly from a leisure and recreation perspective), as
well as their changing health and participation needs, now as older adults.
For older adults participating in sport it is also important to recall that Masters
sport, although it began in the mid 1960s, really started to flourish in the mid 1980s (Weir
et al., 2010; Dionigi, 2006a; Tulle, 2008c). Moreover, policies that have addressed
Masters participation in physical activity have historically tended to place an emphasis on
recreation, serious leisure and participation (Hastings, Kurth, Schloder, & Cyr, 1995;
Stebbins, 2001).
Participants often identified themselves as outsiders from Canadian sport scene.
They were not sure where they fit in regards to their participation and place in Canadian
sport policy. Several participants were aware of Sport Canada’s emphasis on policies and
102
programs promoting sport excellence and the production of high-performance athletes
(i.e. LTAD model), but they were less aware of policies that promoted participation; and,
when evaluating their own experiences they looked to health and health promotion as a
means to explain their sporting pursuits. Feeling like an outsider in the sporting context
did not result in a dilemma or role conflict until they reached a level of competition that
involved international competition and the achievement of performance standards that
were considered world class. In other words, participants were not overly concerned with
sport policies and programs until they felt they had reached a performance level where
they were achieving high-performance standards and performance excellence. It was in
these scenarios that they felt their personal needs were neglected by current policies.
Once they achieved these competitive standards and corresponding training
regimes, their coaching requirements and specialized equipment needs became more
important, and they desired for greater inclusion in the Canadian sporting culture. For the
participants in this study, as they sought to address this dilemma of inclusion, their
greatest perceived needs were increased opportunities to compete and financial support to
continue their participation and enhanced training practices.
This chapter presents two major themes: 1) the ways in which the participants
perceived their status as outsiders in Canadian sport policy; and 2) their attention to the
discourses around healthy living and healthy aging.
5.2 Outsiders in the Canadian Sport Scene
The fact that the participants viewed themselves on the periphery of the Canadian
Sport scene was both empowering and problematic for the women. This positioning
103
meant they had a lot of control over their experiences, such as their activities, the type of
training that they utilized and the social circles they joined. By being early adopters of
Masters sport and training in groups where they were often the oldest participants, there
was often no precedence set for how they could expect their bodies to react to training
and competition. Many felt confident and were indeed excited to venture into uncharted
territory, not knowing what to expect from the stresses of competition (both physically
and mentally). For the participants, the process of becoming more and more involved in
sport was exciting as they amassed increased training knowledge and skills. They also
described how their athletic identities were evolving and taking on greater importance to
their sense of self.
In my study, participants’ spoke to the fact that they knew they were doing
something unique and different from their peers. Just the fact that I was interviewing
them about their involvement in sport was indication that they were doing something
special. At the same time, their interpretation as outsiders was also problematic,
particularly when they wanted to be included in competition scheduling and receive
financial support for their continued involvement. As far as their relation to the Canadian
Sport scene and official sport policy, the participants unanimously acknowledged that
they did not belong.
5.2.1 We Don’t Really Belong
Our conversations often led to participants articulating the challenges they faced
navigating a sport system that they felt did not address their personal needs. For some
this was not contentious, as they enjoyed the status of being considered different among
104
their peers and by more traditional younger athletes pursuing sports. For others, there
were numerous tales about challenging authority (in the form of league and club
organizations) to ensure opportunities existed. Cora described the tension she felt
towards the governing bodies of sport and parents of younger athletes who created
barriers for her own participation:
We have been involved in sports where there are a lot of people, hard-
nosed people, who don’t want the Masters there. We have found that in
swimming and in speed skating. They don’t want them competing against
their kids! They have made rules to keep Masters out!
In this way she indicated the tension between herself and those in organizational
positions of power. According to Foucault’s perspective, “power manifests itself on the
body through political power relationships” (Turner, 1996, p. 63). In Cora’s example, the
term hard-nosed implies that there exists to some degree an understanding of rules that
must be followed and that there are those who are thought to belong and those who are
not. Here Cora described her perception of the limits of possibilities available to Masters
athletes within the parameters of dominant sport discourses. From Cora’s perspective the
Masters do not belong.
Cora then described a challenge faced by the Masters athlete; locating
competition that is of a similar physical competitive level. In this scenario an older adult
would be at the same physical competitive level as an adolescent or child. This is
entirely plausible, as studies have found that the rates of performance decline and
105
sarcopenia in older adults often places older adult performances in the range of youth
(Anton, Spirduso, & Tanaka, 2004; Mazzeo & Tanaka, 2001).
Cora then went on to say, “they have rules,” indicating that there exists a known
system of delivering and organizing competition for her particular sport. This system
refers to the LTAD model, which has a particular focus on youth development programs
and the developmental pathways through distinct stages. Cora’s repeated use of “they”
indicated her understanding of the power dynamic between the sport organization and
herself. She described the nexus of relationships (organizations, developmental models -
LTAD, participants and parents) that perpetuate dominant discourses that have
historically endorsed sport for traditional populations (children and youth) and limit
opportunities for older adults.
Cora was not the only participant to share examples of having a difficult time
locating official opportunities to compete. Esther also spoke to the challenges faced from
an organizational standpoint when she said, “I think this is where you need to go from the
womb to the tomb. I think there needs to be a total revamping of the Ministry of Health
and how we look at this.” From her perspective the focus on excellence over
participation had created a sport system where her age group was not taken into account.
Esther presented an interesting example of the power/knowledge nexus in this
discourse that shapes truths about a particular subject. She continued this discussion by
addressing how from her perspective sport in Canada has been developed to include
physical literacy as focused exclusively on childhood development at the expense of
older populations for whom physical activity is still important. Coach Tracy reiterated
the same concern:
106
The neat thing that I believe is that every body is an athletic one. The
principles of training work, they work on every physical being, regardless
of age and size … It doesn’t matter when you start. You will still see
improvement.
Both Tracy and Esther identified that there is a focus on physical literacy to
promote excellence for youth, but that these same lessons and skill acquisitions can be
achieved by aging people and, indeed, throughout one’s life.
These statements indicated tension from the participants’ understanding of where
they identified within Canadian sport policy. On the one hand, their participation and
practices indicated that they were behaving in ways addressed by models that promote
physical literacy and the process of developing skills (Norris, 2010). On the other hand,
tensions increased for participants’ when they reached a point in their training where they
wanted to compete and pursue excellence. Donnelly (2013) contends that despite the fact
that participation has been given equal status as excellence in Canadian Sport Policy
since 2002, there have not been any formal policies dealing with participation. The
participants in my study began feeling like outsiders when they sought to move beyond
the joy of movement, train in specialized ways and participate in challenging
competitions. I contend that this perception of being an outsider is a consequence of not
having an official participation policy in Canada.
107
5.2.2 Managing Their Own Opportunities
Several of the participants identified systemic barriers that limited opportunities to
participate in competitions. Participants described numerous events where, after having
lobbied for inclusion in a swim meet, badminton tournament or track and field
competition, the event was cancelled due to low participant numbers (determined by
organizers). Maggie described one event cancellation where there were only a few
competitors in her age category. “There wasn’t a chance to compete. No, it is because
they couldn’t get enough. That’s what they [emphasis] are saying. Last time we had
about 20 and that was enough, it was pretty good.” In this example we are presented with
an indication of the power dynamic between the participants and the sport organization
when she says, “that’s what they are saying.” Here, they are the organization committee.
When participants described scenarios like this, it is unlikely that the barriers they
perceived were a result of an official policy instead they may have been a result of
competition organizers perceived priorities. What did become apparent were accounts
from participants where they took control of situations advocating for Masters to be
included in future competitions.
To address scenarios like the one described by Maggie, the women in this study
told me that they often recruited more participants from their own social circles. For
instance, Shelley took on the recruitment role for her women’s hockey program. She
indicated that after confronting management about the lack of opportunities for women in
her age group and being told there was no interest, she successfully sought participants
on her own.
108
It feels good to do it, and I think women need to promote it themselves.
To get together. To do it for themselves. I am very good at rounding up
people. I did this spring league. I got 3 out of the 5 [teams].
This was one of the only times in the interviews where participants specifically
addressed gender roles. Sport has been an important site of negotiation for women’s
rights to involvement in many social spheres (Wall, 2012). Only three of the participants
identified as feminists, yet all participants spoke to taking charge of situations where they
felt excluded.
This form of advocacy aligns participants with who Hall (1996) described as
‘sport feminists’ who have worked hard to ensure sports are accessible for women. In
fact, the history of women’s experiences in modern sport is a history of struggle (Birrell
& Cole, 1994; Birrell & McDonald, 2000; Cahn, 1994; Hall, 2002; Hargreaves, 2000;
Vertinsky, 1992, 1994). There have been many conflicts over which sporting “practices,
styles, beliefs, and bureaucratic forms should predominate” (Hall, 1996, p. 100). For the
participants in my study their entrance into the sporting domain has not been without
challenges and now as older women they identified that both their age and gender
impacted opportunities to compete.
5.2.3 Pay Your Own Way
Also related to the theme of being an outsider, of experiencing a lack of
congruency with the Canadian sport system and a lack of opportunities, participants also
pointed out that they often lacked funding for their own programs. Not being fully
integrated into the sport system seemed to be a challenge for participants when it came to
109
financially supporting their activities. While all of my participants suggested that they
had the resources to support their participation, they felt that they were less of a priority
for funding from sport and government organizations. As a result they felt they had to
prioritize finances and strategically manage their activities.
Masters sport participants, for the most part, incur the financial costs of
participation. This poses a significant challenge, particularly when they increase their
involvement in the sport and endeavour to utilize advanced training techniques and
services. Discussion around the financial costs of participating in their sporting activities
once again provided insight into their understandings of the way sport is/has been
traditionally organized in Canada. For instance, Lillian indicated an awareness of how
athletes are supported in their youth and not as adults. “I guess when you get to be an
adult and you have a family and your profession, you are supposed to just take care of
your own financial needs, and the system just takes care of kids.”
Adelle also described how she saw the tension between excellence and
participation in Canadian sport. She equated being funded/supported by the system as
indicative of belonging. She also questioned competing discourses around sport for
excellence and sport for health, i.e. seeing participation as ensuring one is less of a
burden on the health system:
Well you see the sports system doesn’t have enough money to produce
athletes, and it depends on if you want Olympic athletes. It costs a lot
more. And I am not saying it isn’t right because the pride of a country is
important and it gives you the role model. But I think that the benefits of
staying active and doing a sport when you are older, as functions are
110
diminishing - is very important too. It saves you a lot of money I think.
Not to mention we need role models too. (Adelle)
Adelle’s understandings of the tensions in Canadian sport were evident through
her evaluation of the differences between Olympic athletes and everyone else. She did
not elaborate on the differences, although she insinuated that athletes are some how made
(she used the term produce) through the sport system. The ease with which she discussed
the importance of money as a key determinate of sporting success, and the differentiation
between her sporting successes (as a participant who has several world records as a
Masters athlete) was also significant. She ultimately distinguished herself from an
Olympian in that her focus was on staying active, despite having achieved significant
success (i.e. world records) in her sporting pursuits. Furthermore, she concluded by
addressing the role of activity as a healthful pursuit, a responsible pursuit, which will
save her money on health complications in the future. Statements like these point to the
dominance of aging and decline narratives, which are so prevalent in contemporary
Western culture.
Discussions about the challenges of funding led to several comments from
participants, including Cora who talked about one of her peers who had received a
subsidy “we know one lady and she is from Edmonton and she got money from the
government and that was because she knew the ways. Unless you know the ways to get it
– then you don’t.” For Cora, having knowledge about how to receive funding
represented a privileged position. Despite belonging to various sport organizations, Cora
still felt like an outsider and believed that organizational barriers existed that limited her
111
opportunities. In fact, there were numerous comments from participants discussing the
financial costs of their participation:
• Well [laugh] if you are rich then there are [opportunities]. A lot of older
people cannot compete outside the country because you have to pay for
everything yourself. There is no money for it. (Adelle)
• Well and with Masters events you pay your own way. So it all depends on
who is up for it at that time. (Gwen)
The aging body suffers from declining physical capital (Fries, 2014; Wainwright
& Turner, 2006) thus participants relied on other forms of capital to compensate for
declines in physical capital. Financially being able to support their participation
represented economic capital and was a strategic tool used to maintain participation and
ultimately their athletic identities.
For many, participation came down to having the ability to pay for travel to
compete, buy specialized equipment and, described in the next section, obtain
personalized medical care to both prevent injuries and on occasion recover from injuries
sustained from participation.
5.3 Impact of Healthy Living Discourse: “I’m Doing this for my Health”
The role of health as a motivating factor for participation in sport was one of the
most visible themes that emerged in this study. Participants’ relationships and feelings of
belonging within the Canadian sporting scene reflected the tensions evident in the
discourse of sport in Canada. Although they identified themselves as outsiders, this did
not deter them from participating. Instead, participants chose to ground their experiences
112
and participation as something they did to maintain their health. Framing their
experiences as a means to achieve health validated the expenses and inconveniences
incurred as a result of their participation.
There have been numerous studies that have examined the role of physical
activity in promoting healthy and positive aging experiences (Baker et al., 2010;
Boudiny, 2013; Dionigi, 2006a; Dionigi & O’Flynn, 2007; Grant, 2008; Grant & Kluge,
2012; Pfister, 2012; Phoenix & Griffin, 2013). Foucault’s (1977, 1978) work is
particularly important in understanding the impact of discourse as a means to control the
body through various systems of surveillance in the supposed broader interests of society.
The importance of healthy living in shaping the participants’ continued motivation to
pursue sports, what I will refer to as the healthy living discourse, provides an example of
the anatomo-politics of the body and the bio-politics often experienced by older adult
populations participating in Masters sport.
In the following discussion of themes that emerged in relation to the role of
healthy living discourses I drew upon the work of Clow (2013) who suggested, healthy
living discourse in Canada is grounded in health promotion and the impact of neo-
liberalism. There are several broad themes often associated with healthy living
discourse: an understanding that chronic disease and rising health care costs are the result
of individual lifestyle choices; a focus on personal responsibility and individual blame for
poor health; a focus on weight management and the role of nutrition; and the impact of
‘risky’ behaviours leading to the eventual need for medical interventions (Clow, 2013, p.
34-37).
113
5.3.1 Lifestyle Choices and Chronic Disease
During the interviews, it became clear that several participants were intimately
connected with the medical system, and discourses of health and illness played a central
role in their sporting identities. This trend has also been noted by several studies
associating chronic disease and the political economy of age with this particular
demographic (Christensen et al., 2009; Hui & Rubenstein, 2006; Hurd, 2000; O'Brien
Cousins, 1995; O'Brien Cousins & Edwards, 2002).
Two of the participants in my study had cancers and indicated they used sport
both to assist in recovery and to maintain a cancer-free life. One participant increased her
activity after being diagnosed with a heart defect. One knew she was pre-disposed to
osteoporosis, and another participant was already living with osteoporosis. For all
participants, an awareness of the importance of physical activity and a healthy lifestyle
was crucial to managing their chronic conditions or avoiding them. Furthermore, the
participants all embraced high levels of physical activity, despite being advised by the
medical community (primary care physicians) to exercise caution when engaging in
physical activity. Many indicated they had been warned against participating at high
levels of activity in the early stages of diagnosis and had proven doctors wrong with their
increasing good health and continued participation in sport. I was captivated by their
stories of illness and how they used their illnesses as motivation to maintain their
competitive vigour for life.
Their stories of illness, recovery and survival echoed the writings of Frank (1995,
2010) whose work has explored the relationships between the stories of illness people
share and their embodied sense of self. The participants’ life changing focus on health as
114
a result of a chronic condition also echoed the work of Oakley (2007) who examined the
effect a medical diagnosis had on her own identity. She identified that “becoming a
patient is not a trivial matter. It has profound health, social, psychological and economic
consequence” (Oakley, 2007, p. 101).
Esther, for example, was told she had cancer at the age of 42 and emphasized how
her high levels of activity and will to keep going challenged her medical diagnosis.
During our interview, now at the age of 72, she indicated hostility towards the medical
community who continually tell her to be grateful because she has surpassed her medical
life expectancy. “Why am I still here? Because I have good nutrition and am physically
active, but most of all it is because of my mental outlook and that is something you
develop when you are physically active and also through competition.” She continued
this conversation with the following description of her competitive disposition:
I have this image of my white blood cells, which are numerous, on the left
side and my red blood cells on the right, which of course get attacked by
the white. It is not like cracker soldiers. They come and they fight and the
red ones win, and it is just like, and you know when I am racing . . . you
know, it sounds morbid, but when I am racing, I am racing against, not
against whoever is next to me. I am racing against a thing called death. I
actually compete and so far I am always ahead.
For the participants, being highly attuned to their own bodies was something they
equated with being an athlete and having an athletic identity. Their athletic experiences
and the confidence they had in understanding how their bodies functioned and reacted to
115
different kinds of stress became increasingly evident when they experienced an illness.
For Esther, her cancer made her aware of the needs of her body and the types of
medicine, training and support she required to maintain athletic performance and fight off
illness. Her narrative also indicated a high degree of personal responsibility for
managing her illness.
In another interview, Adelle indicated that she used physical activity and a
combination of traditional and alternative treatments to combat her cancer. Like Esther,
Adelle believed she was responsible for organizing and executing her cancer treatments.
She said she followed a traditional model for her radiation treatment and used various
alternative therapies to help her body heal from the trauma of the radiation. All the while
she listened to her body and maintained her running identity, even when advised to
refrain from activity from her physician as she underwent cancer treatment. One of the
most graphic stories shared in this study was Adelle’s description of a pivotal moment of
cleansing that reaffirmed her devotion to the sport of running and her confidence in
knowing what was best for her body. While recovering from cancer treatment, she
attended a silent yoga retreat and experienced one of the most profound and disgusting
bodily episodes I have ever heard:
Anyways that was for three days in Kananaskis. I said, I have to run you
know. They said, oh no, that is not good. Your body needs to be calm.
And I said no, this is my meditation. So I did that and she said okay, but
on one of the last evenings there I woke up and I had to run to the
bathroom! Out of my body came this big black mass! [She believed this
was cancer leaving her body] It was horrible. And the message I got was
116
okay, your body is cleaning itself and now you have to adjust your living
so you stay healthy.
Here she clearly indicated an intimate connection to healthy living discourse. She
acknowledged her role in maintaining her health and committed to achieving lifelong
physical activity. The key message for Adelle was “to listen to your body and initiate
your instinct, you have to become aware of your instinct.”
Instinct and experience helped all of the participants in this study navigate the
medical system and continue participation in physical activity, despite cautions from
medical experts. For Lillian, who discovered she had a heart defect and initially cut back
her training, her instinct told her she could be doing more. This is an example of the
lessons learned from sport; her achievement orientation and competitive experiences
facilitated her choice to continue increasing her activity levels:
I started really lifting weights when I was 57-58 and have just kept after it.
After a few years of keeping the weights really low, I thought, this is
doing nothing for me. So I asked [the doctor] if I could increase them. At
first she said no, my heart would not like it. Then she said yeah I guess, if
I am cautious. And now I lift whatever I am capable of lifting and I don’t
think about it anymore.
We can see here how participants like Lillian sought to build an endurance and
strength base to achieve sporting success, despite being told to exercise caution from
physicians. Once health was established, participants took it upon themselves to
challenge their bodies and seek athletic accomplishments.
117
5.3.2 Focus on Weight Management and Nutrition
A focus on weight management and nutrition were essential to many of the
participants’ training regimes and lifestyles. Their focus on weight management echoed
the work of Clow (2013), who discussed the role of body weight and nutrition to healthy
living discourse. Engaging in training regimes that would be considered intense by most
standards, weight management and nutrition were driving factors in participants’
sustained participation. Cora described her commitment to keeping her physical shape
and the sacrifices she has made to maintain both her physical abilities and her slim
athletic body:
You have to set those goals, and the fact is, I have to maintain a healthy
weight and I have to do more than most to maintain it because there are
very heavy genes in my family, and that is a frustrating struggle. Some
people say, well don’t be so vain or whatever. That is kind of how I feel
about myself and that is how my body feels and I can’t compete if my
body feels a certain way. I don’t feel any different than I did 20 years ago.
It is just you don’t function the same.
Cora was not the only participant to express frustration with the challenge of
keeping slim and conditioned as an older adult, with both exercise and nutrition playing
roles in the ongoing battle. For Shelley, the physical changes were something she learned
to deal with, “Now, as I have gotten older, I am in good shape. I am not tiny anymore. I
can’t get all of the flab off the back of my thighs. I learn to live with that.”
118
For many, participants’ fear of being overweight was a significant issue. They
expressed fear of gaining weight, and they felt that if they decreased their activity levels
their bodies would change. This was evident in Meryl’s discussion of injuries and
disruptions to her training, “When I broke my arm … You worry because you can’t do
very much. You can’t just get out and run … You think because you are not moving you
are going to blow up like a balloon but it never happened.” Kelly (the oldest participant)
also discussed how she monitored her weight and used that as a gauge of her activity
levels:
If my pants are not slack enough I know I am eating too much. It has been
a long cold winter and with all that powder up there that I have not been
up to use! It just makes me cross. However, I will admit to eating out of
boredom.
Although there is debate as to whether emphasis on body weight and image is as
important to women as they age, studies indicate that a preoccupation with body weight
does indeed exist throughout one’s lifetime (Hurd, 2000). Despite the fact that weight
was strongly connected to understandings of health, the participants’ placed more value
on health and functional ability than physical stature and shape. This may be due to the
fact that participants had not experienced a lot of functional decline, thus they remained
positive about their body image. Hurd (2000) identified a similar finding in her study of
older women’s body image. She found that older women perceived themselves more
favourably and spent less time focusing on outward appearances when their overall health
was positive.
119
Not all of the participants were slim in stature or had stereotypical athletic bodies.
Maggie, a swimmer, and several of the aqua moms had softer, more curvaceous
physiques. For them, being athletic was less about what they looked like and more about
where they would be if they did not exercise as much. Again, fear of poor health played
into their motivations and contentment with their body shape. The role of nutrition was
also important, and many described diets of moderation and an acceptance of the changes
(fat distributions) associated with aging.
One of my favourite conversations about food and nutrition was with Helen, who
made it very clear to me that despite her commitment to maintaining a healthy lifestyle
and her constant struggle with the extra weight she had accumulated in the last two years,
she had no intention of changing her diet. Henwood (2011) has shown how, “despite the
commonplace representation of health informing as a neutral process of objective
information transfer that unproblematically empowers patients to take responsibility for
their own health, the transformation process of health info-mediation frequently functions
as a technology of compliance” (p. 2027). In Helen’s case, she knew she was eating
unhealthy foods, and she acknowledged that her weight gain was a result of the choices
she consciously made. When we first began talking about her body weight, she said:
Yeah, right now, for me, I am overweight. I have never had a problem
losing weight until the last two years, I’d say, and I have no idea why that
is. It has been really hard to get these pounds off … I can’t lose weight
like I used to.
She went on to describe her relationship with food:
120
I love hamburgers and fries, Coke-Cola. I should be an advertisement
because I used to drink three cans after a match. Every once in a while I
will go on a health kick, and I will try. I will give up Coke for a few days.
I am not a healthy eater.
For Helen, the impact of healthy living discourse and the focus upon nutrition was
evident through her constant struggle between her preference for junk food and the
acknowledgment that her decisions to indulge contributed to the weight she was unable to
loose.
Clearly, participants had internalized messages about food, nutrition and exercise.
In fact, some had gone further, incorporating supplementation in their practices.
Participants’ responses regarding a single prescription of health, comprising body weight,
nutrition and physical activity, underscored the impact of healthy living discourses on
participants’ perceptions of why they engaged in competitive sporting activities. In
addition, their extreme training regimes echoed another central tenet of healthy living
discourse––the notion of personal responsibility for health.
5.3.3 Personal Responsibility
In the discourse of healthy living, personal responsibility for the choices one
makes in relation to their health is of utmost importance (Alvaro et al., 2011; Barnett,
Cloke, & Malpass, 2008; Clow, 2013; Henwood, et. al., 2011; Pederson, 2013). Healthy
living discourse relies upon individual citizens’ abilities and obligations to manage their
own health and seek information to aid them in that process. For most participants in this
121
study, engagement in sporting activities was seen as a choice and something they did
because they understood the benefits, were disciplined, and prided themselves in their
ability and/or understanding of the consequences of not being as physically active.
Participants did not rely on the encouragement from others; for instance Shelley
described herself as self aware. “At 50, you really start to become aware about your own
health, and you don’t want to die at 65. You want to go as far as you can and then you
realize that you have to stay active.” Meryl demonstrated responsibility for her health,
knowing osteoporosis occurred in her family. “My dad and mom had it, so I thought,
well, I had better get on my feet here because bike riding doesn’t do that, so okay. You
walk a little and then you run a little, and then you run a little more.”
Several participants also considered personal responsibility to be associated with
blame, particularly when discussing the health status of people who were not as active.
Shelley shared her opinion about those who are not as active. “I think in every age group
there are people who are concerned with activities and their health, and you know, stay
active. There are the few that are couch potatoes.” In this statement Shelley did not
account for potential barriers to physical activity, nor does she consider social
circumstances that may impede one’s health. From her perspective, those who were not
active chose not to be and must assume personal responsibility for their poor health
status.
Notions of personal responsibility also meant participants took it upon themselves
to locate technical information about health, fitness, nutrition and programming. As a
group they demonstrated resourcefulness and highlighted the idea that through education
and awareness one can choose to engage in activities that are considered to be healthy. In
122
essence, participants were constantly involved in the processes of self-governing through
routine self-examinations, self-care and self-improvement (Henwood et al., 2011a;
Petersen, 1997).
5.3.4 Perceived Risk
When it comes to healthy living, individuals are said to be at risk when they do
not engage in healthy living activities. For example, according to healthy living
discourse, failure to achieve the minimal levels of physical activity prescribed by the
Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology (CSEP) guidelines is an unhealthy decision
and therefore a risk. However, in the context of sport, particularly when someone is
pushing their body as much as the participants in this study (at times) did, risk takes on a
new meaning. Risk is equated with performance and the notion that to achieve personal
bests one must challenge performance limits and ultimately risk injury to take their body
to new levels (Safai, 2003). When they push their bodies to the extent that performance
excellence is required, participants enter the territory of high-performance sport (Shogan,
1999; Theberge, 2007).
Dialogues around perceived risk provided insight into the challenges participants
faced regarding their place in the Canadian sport system as well as their embrace of
healthy living discourse. Participants were not shy when it came to discussing their
constant negotiation of risk and ways to alleviate some of the risk involved with taking
up a new activity. Adelle described her thoughts on risk and the importance of informing
oneself and learning about an activity before engaging in it. “Of course there are risks! I
like learning and I have always wanted to learn, and every year I wanted to learn
123
something new. So when you are going to run you have to learn and look for the best
information available.”
Many participants indicated that in order to push their bodies to perform they had
to monitor themselves constantly and conduct self-assessments to determine if they
required medical attention. Thus they were conducting risk assessments every time they
participated in sport. Esther described this process: “We are pretty well attuned to our
body, we know something is wrong. If something gets hurt then you got to take it easy or
get some help to get it back to normal. I don’t just keep going forever … or else you just
get hurt too badly too.” Participants also knew the dangers of engaging in particular
sports. Cora described her experience at a recent track and field competition, “What do
you mean by risks? Oh yeah, physical? Oh yeah, if I was to go do hurdles, I am more
likely to hurt myself than someone who is walking.”
Participants also indicated they knew when it was time to take a step back from
their performance goals. Kelly described her awareness of her limitations as a result of
her risk assessment, “I just don’t think it is smart for me to downhill ski race at 94,
because I didn’t keep it up on a regular basis.” For Shelley, despite being warned about
the dangers of playing hockey by her physician, she determined it was safe providing she
limited her competitive nature:
Dr. Ward2 didn’t want me to play hockey. He said it is not really the best
because you can land on a goal post. Guy must have known I was
2 A pseudonym has been used for the name of the doctor.
124
competitive or something. But then in the end he put his arm around me
and said yeah go ahead, and be careful.
For the participants anxieties about risk meant they tried to monitor their activity
levels and identify the costs and benefits to exceeding the limits they had set out for
themselves. In the context of healthy living discourse their chosen activities represented
positive acknowledgement towards the role of physical activity in maintaining health;
however, their performance goals and athletic identity sometimes caused them to push
boundaries and accept that in sport the risk of an injury exists.
5.4 Conclusion
In this chapter, I explored how the participants in my study identified with
Canadian sport policy, while revealing the impact of healthy living discourses in shaping
their participation experiences. For the participants in this study, their understanding of
the organization of sport in Canada and their experiences coming up against
organizations which they felt thwarted their participation through limited opportunities
and a lack of financial support provided insight into their notions of belongings to sport
organizations.
The participants in this study exercised their conscious decisions to participate in
sport/physical activities within a field of possibilities that have been established through
the structuring of programs and policy for their demographic. Of particular importance
for the participants in my study is the impact of the NPH as articulated through healthy
living and active aging discourses.
125
One of the most prominent themes that emerged was the impact of neoliberalism
and health promotion messages targeted towards promoting exercise as part of a healthy
lifestyle. Although it may appear that these women were pushing boundaries and
advocating for more recognition in the context of sport, what I suggest they have been
doing is advocating for healthy living and the merits of physical activity. This is a result
of healthy living representing a more favourable discourse position. Discourse positions
(Fairclough, 2001) refer to the notion that a phenomena, such as the influence of health in
sport, can be described, understood and acted upon in distinct ways.
For many of the participants, participation in sport was part of a self-care regime
where they felt strongly about their personal responsibility in maintaining their health.
They described many of the tenets of successful aging, positive aging, healthy aging and
active aging (Angus & Reeve, 2006; Estes, 2001; Chapman, 2005; Kaufman, Shim, &
Russ, 2004; Laliberte Rudman, 2006) and, in doing so, distinguished themselves from
their peers who they perceived to be aging unsuccessfully.
This finding presents an interesting parallel to the work of McDermott (2011),
which examined motivations of self-proclaimed non-athletic women participating in
exercise and physical activity. McDermott identified that ‘doing something good for me’
was a primary motivation for those who considered themselves to not be athletic.
In my study, I found participants also felt compelled to engage in sport as an
activity that is good for them; however, as they became more and more involved with
their sports, performance outcomes and the pursuit of excellence became increasingly
important.
126
Through a combination of their interests in sport and their understanding of
healthy living / active aging, the participants in this study are ultimately challenging the
notion of an athlete / older athlete. This idea is what is so exciting about the potential
individuals have to challenge discursive formations as reflected in the social order. As
Carabine (2001) contended, “[I]ndividuals are active agents and discourses are
themselves in a state of constant reconstitution and contestation” (p. 279). In the context
of the social world discourses do not exist in isolation either, instead they are also
mediated by dominant and more powerful discourses. This is why change happens, and
why the participants in this study could challenge what has traditionally been understood
to represent an athletic identity.
Chapter 6 explores how the participants in this study negotiated an athletic
identity in relation to their age. Through their discussions about their embodied
experiences I show how participants give meanings to the physical and social world of
Masters sport.
127
What Does Age Have To Do With It? Constructing an Athletic Chapter Six:Identity as an Older Female Adult in Masters Sport
6.1 Introduction
In this chapter, I examine the participants’ accounts of what it means to have an
athletic identity as an older adult. Although Masters’ athletes are becoming more
common, the concept of age and the expectations of what an aging body can accomplish
in many ways remain fixed, which inevitably affects attitudes toward aging and sport.
Hence I particularly wanted to understand how my participants: 1) addressed traditional
representations of age and aging; and 2) described what it meant to them to have an
athletic identity.
I begin the chapter by discussing participants’ relationship to the concept of age
and their feelings about being considered older adults. One of the challenges in defining
old is its association with a stage of life that is typically identified by biomarkers and
discernable examples of decline. As Cruikshank (2009) has pointed out, “It is not the
changes in our bodies that define old; it is the meanings given to those changes” (p. 6).
Moreover, people over the age of 65 or 70 are likely to resist being categorized as old,
because they see it as ill fitting. However, despite the fact that elderly people dislike the
negative connotations of being old, gerontologists and service providers have a vested
interest in maintaining its fixed identity.
These issues made discussions with participants challenging. They seemed to feel
that an aged identity was something they needed to continually negotiate as they sought
out and sustained participation in sporting activities. Due to their high levels of activity
128
they felt that they were attempting to differentiate themselves from what have been
considered the typical signs of aging, particularly signs associated with loss of fitness and
mobility. Participants’ spoke to not slowing down and moving beyond chronological age
to make sense of their aging selves and their constantly evolving identities as older
sporting women.
The second half of the chapter builds on participants’ descriptions of aging and
identity and focuses on what an athletic identity meant to them as they confronted the
physical changes associated with aging. As older athletes (similar to younger athletes)
they had to learn to work within their physical limitations. However, as older adults,
their embodied experiences aided in their understanding of their own embodied capacities
and, most importantly, their expectations of what they felt they could accomplish.
The themes I present in relation to an athletic identity echo the work of Tulle
(2008c), who has suggested that an older adult’s notion of an athletic identity is bound up
with maintaining participation and management of bodily resources (p. 346). As
individuals continue training, investing more and more of themselves in training regimes
and practices, they solidify their sense of belonging in the social world of Masters sport.
Participants all described training regimes and activity levels as signifiers of an athletic
identity. They also spoke to the importance of the pathways they took in establishing an
athletic identity. Not surprisingly those who were relatively new to sport and those who
had engaged in sport throughout their lives discussed their athletic identities differently.
Bourdieu’s (1993) description of the social field as a setting in which agents and
their social positions are located guided my analysis in this chapter. According to
Bourdieu, fields are not fixed and operate in flux as individuals, their habitus and their
129
capital interact. For the participants in this study, their self-perception as older athletes
and the role an athletic identity had upon their sense of self were important. Participants
were at times hesitant to claim an athletic identity. These moments of hesitation were an
indication that they had experienced a shift in their positions in the social field of sport.
Masters sport provided a new environment for them where just doing it took on more
importance than breaking records. This shift had a direct impact on the nature of their
practice, which was something they realized they were constantly negotiating.
6.2 Aging and Identity
6.2.1 I’m Not Slowing Down
For the most part, the participants in this study did not speak favourably about the
physical changes that had occurred in their bodies as a result of aging. They were not
overly enthusiastic about the fact that they were still engaging in sport (as their
participation had been normalized), nor were they overly keen to discuss (at first) how
they identified as being older. In fact they were unanimous in expressing aversion to this
early line of questioning, despite the fact that they had volunteered to participate in a
study examining the impact of age on their athletic identity. Establishing ways in which I
could explore the concept of age with them proved to be difficult.
Gwen, for instance, provided a humorous response to this line of questioning
saying “Do you feel old because you are not five years old anymore?” This response
identified two important aspects of aging: the relative and very personal nature of aging;
and the importance of the social construction of aging. She further elaborated on the
130
complexities of discussing this topic (a sentiment shared by all of the participants) when
she said:
Right, because how can you say that you feel old? I mean some days you
say I feel old, and other days you feel full of vim and vigour and you feel a
bit younger. No, generally you just say, you live at the age that you are.
In Learning to Be Old (Cruikshank, 2009), the author suggests that the process of
aging is dissimilar to natural processes such as breathing. Instead, she says, aging is
something we are initiated into and learn as we go; it is a result of how we are treated by
others and the experiences we gain (p. 2). My participants’ aversion to being considered
old seemed to be a consequence of not allowing others to treat them as old, while at the
same time failing to acknowledge (until questioned) the experiences that had shaped their
potential identity as an older adult. They also expressed a keen awareness of the negative
stereotypes often associated with aging.
Margaret Gullette (1997), for example, points out that:
The single concept of ‘aging’ covers and confuses socially produced
diseases (caused by pollution, poverty, and hazardous work) that take
years to show for themselves…[and] when all the external forces are
accounted for, little may remain to constitute biological age processes. (p.
10)
Gullette’s statement illuminates how closely biological aging tends to be associated with
disease and decline. This, I argue, is why my participants often distanced themselves
from the traditional discourses of decline. Esther said, “I have nothing in common with
131
old people, They are fuddy duddies, and I just think I have way too much enthusiasm and
energy, and I hate to be told to slow down.” Cora expressed similar contempt at the
thought of slowing down:
Well, I look at the obits, and they have someone’s age and you used to
think, well, ah, they are 60-61 and they probably had a good life. But now
you think, oh my, what? That is like me. I feel like I am 12 years old
sometimes. I don’t have that thought of slowing down at all. Same with
the people we compete with.
It is important to note that, by viewing themselves as exceptions to the rule and
healthier than the average senior, my participants may have been resisting ageism, yet
reifying discourses of decline. Several studies have identified similar narrative accounts
where older adults participating in sport are viewed as examples of positive aging
effectively reinforcing stereotypes of decline (Dionigi, 2006a; Dionigi & O’Flynn, 2007;
Oghene, 2015). As Cruikshank (2009) contended, “seeing oneself as an exception, a
‘queen bee’ of aging, can limit awareness of the larger social and cultural factors that
shape the category of old” (p. 11). Participants’ were keen to demonstrate their ability to
exercise some power over the aging process through their descriptions of not slowing
down. They were not naive in thinking they could maintain the same pace of activity
forever; however, they were not going to slow down anytime soon. Adelle, for example,
refused to identify with the idea of slowing down:
Well - I had a friend and she says oh, I can’t pour the tea so well because I
am really getting old. And I thought getting old?!! Well she just said all
132
the time I am getting old. So you know - when you tell yourself I am
dumb, dumb, dumb - you are going to be dumb. So if you’re telling your
body you are getting old then? Right?
For other participants resisting slowing down was linked to feelings of control and
independence. Dionigi (2006a, 2010), Grant (2001, 2008) and Kirby and Kluge (2013)
have all noted this, finding that older adults who engaged in physical and competitive
ways experienced self-fulfilment and a sense of independence that extended beyond the
context of sport.
6.2.2 Beyond Chronological Age: Age is More than a Number
Participants identified numerous discrepancies between their chronological age,
functional age and felt age. This was not surprising as most gerontological research
suggests that chronological age alone does not account for the heterogeneity of the aging
population (Choi, DiNitto, & Kim, 2014; Featherstone & Hepworth, 1991). Instead, the
term functional age is often used as it is thought to account for biological age, social age
and psychological age (Schroots & Birren, 1990). The participants used their
chronological age to account for the passage of time and little more. Many participants
felt their chronological age was something society used to classify people in very limiting
ways. Statements like the following from Gwen, “you only feel young when you’re old!”
and “you can’t help when you’re born”, demonstrated the lack of importance placed on
chronological age. Esther indicated that participants were at times defensive about being
categorized as old based on their chronological age. “Somebody called me up two days
133
ago and says, you are going to be 70! I quit counting at 50, sorry. I know I am 70 and
nobody has to tell me that. But I will not accept that.”
Echoing the work of Featherstone and Hepworth (1991), participants described a
disconnect between the outward signs of aging (wrinkles, age spots, fat deposits) and
how they thought they would feel in their bodies at their current age. Many anticipated
aging to be associated with feelings of aches and pains and a general sense of being worn
out. Consequently, certain things, such as fatigue, were often blamed on the aging
process rather than on an intense training session. Helen spoke to this after describing a
particularly challenging training session and how her body felt at the time of the
interview, “Yes, I will jokingly say, some days, I feel every single one of my years today.
[Laughter.] But mostly I don’t.”
Despite the fact that the passing of time had produced negative feelings towards
wrinkles, for most of the women, participation in sport produced tight, toned bodies that
distinguished them from traditional representations of older bodies and also aligned them
with more traditional notions of femininity and beauty. Esther reflected on her physical
appearance and identified the cultural pressures to maintain traditional measures of health
and beauty in relation to age when she said, “I think the other thing that I have fallen into
is that as a 70-year-old you don’t want to look as a 70-year-old, you want to look
younger.”
Other participants understood age in relation to their perception of self, their
perceptions of others and the feedback they received from others about their status as
older adults. Despite the heterogeneity of aging, many chose to compare their physical
changes, particularly those reflected in their faces and bodies, with those who appeared to
134
be much older. This meant participants often viewed themselves as aging better than
their peers, particularly those who were not as physically active. As a result of their
healthy lifestyles and activity levels, many participants described how they did not tend
to look their age. Not looking their age meant they saw themselves as aging better than
their peers and served to elevate their perceived social and cultural capital.
Many participants demonstrated pride as they discussed repeated experiences
where others had not believed they were their chronological age. Of course, these
exchanges most often took place in athletic contexts, where specific body parts (e.g.
slender, toned bodies) or skills set them apart from both the general population and (at
times) their competition. Their slender, toned bodies and athletic skills were examples of
both physical and social capital that allowed them to maintain their status and identities
as older athletes. Helen described not looking her age in the following way. “Um, yeah, I
get it constantly, where people can’t believe you are how old! I got it last week. I can’t
believe you are 70!” Esther, recalled being asked by an official at a swimming
competition to verify her age:
When I was swimming at nationals they had to hold the race up and the
starter came over and said they had to see verification of my age. I said,
what is the issue, and she said a complaint had come in that you cannot be
your age - because of my legs and my butt. I just don’t have the typical
orange-peeling legs [cellulite]. You know why?! Because of swimming
and ballet.
135
This discussion with Esther conveyed an understanding of other typical
stereotypes of aging, including loss of mobility and the loss of traditional beauty ideals
(Horton, 2010; Hurd-Clarke, 2011; Vertinsky, 1995). She also denied the impact of
genetics upon her own lack of cellulite. As our conversation evolved, Esther elaborated
on her opinion of personal responsibility for health and the importance she placed on
physical activity. She felt as though people who did not maintain regular regimes of
physical activity deserved their cellulite and mobility challenges because in her opinion
older adults “sit around all day and play bingo.”
For the most part, participants’ responses to describing the impact of age and their
identity were full of contradictions. This is not surprising since they were constantly
negotiating what an older identity meant as well as challenging whose opinion mattered
(theirs, society’s, competition officials’, etc.). These negotiations became even more
complex within the context of sport as they sought to define what an older athletic
identity entailed. According to Bourdieu (1993), “the field of cultural production is the
site of struggles in which what is at stake is the power to impose the dominant definition
[of who belongs] and therefore to delimit the population of those entitled to take part in
the definition to define [who belongs]” (p. 42). As participants’ experienced shifts in
their personal capital and adopted the dispositions and expressions of habitus thought to
signify belonging in the Masters sporting world their identities as both aged and athletic
evolved.
The evolution of athletic and aged habitus was also conveyed in a conversation I
had with Maggie. Bourdieu (1993) described situations where different dispositions and
habitus overlap to provide a window into the embodiment of one’s identity as a hexis.
136
When I questioned Maggie about whether she considered herself to be an athlete, her
response demonstrated the impact of shifting personal capital and the impact the
biomedicalization of aging has had on her own athletic identity. She described herself as
athletic (not an athlete) and indicated that her quest to stay fit was in part motivated by
her desire to differentiate herself from others (who were the same age), yet occupied a
different social position due to their less favourable health statuses:
Well, um, you know some of those people that are my age are kind of little
old ladies, they are [sic] osteoporosis. They are kind of bent over and they
are not in good physical condition … “Little old ladies” I don’t call myself
that but I call them that. [Laughter] … well when I look in the mirror I
guess we are in the same boat. They don’t move quickly and they don’t
do anything. I guess we are in the same boat but we are not in the same
condition. They are not active.
This particular example indicated Maggie’s understanding of age, the
accumulation of capital and the social order. She revealed the impact of the
biomedicalization of aging by labeling others as diseased, i.e. they have osteoporosis.
She also indicated an awareness of the dynamics of power between those thought to be
aging successfully and unsuccessfully. From a perspective of power, Maggie presented
herself in a more favourable position, because she does not represent the diseased
proportion of the population. She distanced herself from other women her age and
grouped them based on their outward appearance. Maggie suggested that the physical
symptom of being bent over and in poor physical condition is a negative signifier of age
137
linked to loss of mobility and the presence of disease. The fact that she referred to their
common social position and age with “I guess we are in the same boat,” reflected her
understanding of the social order and the hierarchies present within social encounters and
the field of cultural production.
For Maggie, her age and athletic habitus are maintained through her maintenance
of capital in the form of physical mobility and her outward appearance. In this example
her physical mobility represents a form of physical capital, as physicality is valued in the
field of Masters sport. While her outward appearance and the elevated pride she felt from
maintaining her appearance provides an example of cultural capital. This example also
shows us how capital is not fixed, as one loses capital (e.g. physical) they move to belong
to the unfavourable group that Maggie referred to as “little old ladies.”
Wainwright and Turner (2006) in their exploration into the careers of classical
ballet dancers identified that changes in physical capital had less of an impact on dancer’s
identities if they were able to compensate for the loss in one form of capital with a
gain/shift in another form of capital. In their study ballet dancers were able to maintain
an athletic identity despite losses in physical capital because years of training and
belonging in the dance community elevated their cultural, social and symbolic capital.
Several participants in my study reviled similar understandings of the shifting
values of capital within the practice of Masters sport they regularly engaged. I will
discuss this in greater detail in the following section where I present themes relating to
how participants addressed the construction and maintenance of an athletic identity whilst
acknowledging the embodied realities of an aging body.
138
6.3 Aging and an Athletic Identity
The concept of identity is a complex and “hotly contested subject” (Bauman,
2004, p. 77). For my study’s participants, discussing an athletic identity proved to be as
difficult to express as the concept of age. As a researcher, I was interested in uncovering
their perceptions of self, which are so ingrained they can be difficult to pinpoint and
describe. According to Bauman (2004), “the thought of having an identity will not occur
to people as long as belonging remains their fate, a condition with no alternative” (p. 12).
Therefore, for participants who felt they belonged in the category society has traditionally
labeled athlete, their sense of belonging nullified a need (until questioned) to articulate
the symbols they actively displayed and articulated as belonging.
All of the participants in my study considered both having an athletic identity and
belonging within the field of Masters sport as beneficial to them in some capacity. This
was not surprising as being considered an athlete or belonging in any sub culture serves
to distinguish one from others (Coakley & Donnelly, 2009). For the participants in my
study identifying as an athlete meant they perceived themselves as embodying capital
(social, physical, cultural and symbolic) in the social field of Masters sport. This capital
was interpreted as positive in many social situations, particularly, when it came to
comparing themselves to others who were the same age.
Participants began this line of questioning by discussing their training regimes
and activity levels. They then discussed their pathway to developing an athletic identity
and the ways they dealt with performance changes as a result of age.
139
6.3.1 Importance of Training Regimes and Activity Levels
Describing the activities in which the participants regularly participated was the
first way they were able to articulate their athletic identities. This was similar to the
findings of Dionigi (2006a), who examined the participation patterns of veteran athletes
and grounded their experiences according to performance discourses. In sport,
performance discourses are often framed around trajectories of being fitter, stronger and
faster; and these same nuances were articulated in my interviews.
Participants started by explaining their athletic identity in terms of performance,
which was ultimately equated with the type, duration and exertion levels they performed
on a regular basis. Shogan (1999), in her work examining high-performance training
regimes, described similar practices as disciplining techniques used by both coaches and
athletes to produce a practice that is almost universally identified as high-performance
sport. As participants described their training, they revealed sophisticated training
programs consisting of multiple activities, cross-training and often coaching. Moreover,
it appeared as though participants were committed to a minimum of three to four training
sessions per week in addition to competitions and regular one-on-one training sessions
with coaches.
Many of the participants’ descriptions of training echoed the findings of Dionigi
and O’Flynn (2007), Grant (2008), Katz (2000) and Liechty et al. (2014) who found
terms such as “use it or lose it” regularly adopted by older adults to explain their desire to
remain active. In my study, several participants went beyond simply use it or lose it and
described sophisticated training regimes and schedules, similar to those utilized by those
considered to be high-performance athletes (Shogan, 1999).
140
Adelle, who holds many records in her sport, described her training schedule,
conveying the importance of consistency in achieving and maintaining positive sport
performances. As an individual motivated by success and external rewards (breaking
records), she accounted for her pursuit of personal physical achievement while
acknowledging several traditional decline narratives:
Well, I should be doing my exercises every day … I do them at least three
times a week. And then I do weights two times a week. Oh, you have to!
You have to maintain strength and you have to maintain flexibility. You
have to be balanced. Because if you don’t balance it, it doesn’t work.
Every participant spent a lot of time and effort training and working towards
achieving success in their physical pursuits. Their responses ranged from detailed
descriptions outlining activities, routines, types of training and periodization to inclusive
statements, such as this from Maggie, “I am doing everything I can to keep myself in
good shape physically.” Upon examining participants’ responses to this line of
questioning, especially the ways participants described their athletic identities in terms of
the structure of their routines and the practices/accumulation of capital they had acquired
after years of training, another important theme emerged. Once an individual embraced
an athletic identity, which they had come to in their own terms, it remained part of their
identity and evolved in relation to their aging process. For the participants, their
pathways to developing an athletic identity played an important role in both their
construction and maintenance of an athletic identity.
141
6.3.2 Pathways to an Athletic Identity
After reviewing my field notes and listening to the pauses and rhythms of the
interviews, it became apparent that there were moments in our conversations when
participants were nervous to acknowledge they were athletes. However, once they did, I
began to gain insight into what constituted an athletic identity for them. Socialization is
the active process of learning and social development that occurs as people interact and
become acquainted with the social world in which they live. As socialization occurs,
people form ideas about whom they are and make decisions about their goals and
behaviours (Coakley & Donnelly, 2009). The participants’ descriptions reflected
different pathways of involvement in sport: those who had developed an athletic identity
in their youth; and those who were claiming an athletic identity for the first time as older
adults.
Individuals who had come to sport later in life had different expectations of an
athlete, because their perspectives had not been shaped by experiences with and exposure
to the Canadian sport system. Instead, they looked at their activity in relation to others
(both active and sedentary individuals), evaluated their achievements and the extent to
which they were currently physically active, and used this information to determine for
themselves whether the athletic label aligned with them. These individuals often based
their newfound athletic identities on the observations of others (coaches, peers), because
they had not been socialized into a social world of sport or popular cultural
representations of athletes. In experiencing this process of belonging, their understanding
of the aging process and an athletic identity were constantly evolving. It was new; it was
exciting.
142
Meryl described how, at the age of fifty, she started running; and, although she
had begun competing, she was hesitant to consider herself an athlete, because of the
definition she drew upon from her youth. “I would say I always kept active. I used to do
a lot of bike riding and kept active. But I didn’t start running until I turned 50! When I
was in school I never thought I was a runner.” Meryl’s realization that she was an athlete
came after she experienced her first injury linked to her activity. In light of criticism
from a haematologist that one could not become anaemic from recreational running,
Meryl re-evaluated the time and energy she focused on her sport and, with the help of her
coach, determined that she was indeed an athlete. “I thought, ok, wait a minute. I am not
a recreational runner and - that’s what my coach says to me. You are an athlete!
Recreationalists don’t just go out and get medals and go to world games. You’re an
athlete.”
For Adelle, who also began participating in her fifties, her athletic identity was
solidified through her success in sport. She admitted that her early efforts as a runner
began because she was concerned about her health. She soon realized that as an athlete
she was prepared to sacrifice almost anything in the pursuit of sporting success:
The transition came when, I was thinking, hey, I can run the 10k … I like
adventures and I just discovered why. I really like the adrenaline. I didn’t
know that. Oh, and the competition too. So then my daughters really
supported me and that is where I made that transition and it was possible
because they supported me, while my husband, who is, you know, also
same age as I am, he was very much against me going to races… in a way
it cost me my marriage.
143
Adelle’s description provided a window into traditional performance discourses
and the notion of winning at all costs. She openly admitted to making sacrifices for her
passion to pursue sport and confessed that it may have cost her marriage. For Adelle,
acknowledging that she had become an athlete helped her to make sense of the sacrifices
she made to belong in the field of Masters athletics. This idea of making sacrifices is
very much grounded in the language and discourse of sport, in particular high-
performance sport.
Studies that have examined sporting identities across the life course have
identified the role of sacrifice and dedication in the performance stories provided by
athletes (Carless & Douglas, 2013, Warriner & Lavallee, 2008). These same studies
indicate that an athletic identity has the potential to become all encompassing and may
hinder other social roles; indeed this may have been the case with Adelle’s description of
her failed marriage. Adelle began to be concerned about her health around the age of 50.
She used health as motivator to continue engaging in sport; and, as she experienced
success and a desire for adrenaline activities, she sought to engage more seriously,
eventually allowing her training and competitions to take up more and more of her time.
Time she admitted she would have spent with her husband in the past.
In contrast to the participants who had recently adopted an athletic identity,
participants who had been competitive their entire lives were less inclined to
acknowledge their athletic identity. Changes brought about by age, coupled with their
perception of the lack of support, both culturally and systemically, suggested that the
label of athlete was no longer appropriate, despite the fact they were still participating in
many of the same activities and training at a similar intensity as they had throughout their
144
youth and adult lives. They tended to discount their experiences based on who they once
were and the athletic accomplishments and feats they had once achieved. These
participants were more reserved about their athletic identities, and the interplay between
being athletic and the aging process.
Once I granted them approval (even if I did not overtly, but based on the
continued line of questioning and my engagement in the interview), they relaxed and
admitted it was something they would always consider to be part of their identity. As a
result, they found it difficult to consider themselves athletes according to the terms they
once did, so they evaluated their performance in their older bodies in comparison to
others. Oddly, sometimes their comparisons were with sedentary individuals who were
not as fit or as athletically inclined. For instance, Shelley, when addressing her current
status as an athlete, said, “Yeah, more or less. I think that is a good answer. When I look
at these girls who are so athletic then I say no. But when I compare myself to people my
own age—then yes. So that’s more or less.”
This particular line of questioning also offered a unique moment of reflexivity for
me, because, as an outsider, those who I would have readily defined as athletic (based on
my first impressions, their sporting attire at the time of the interview and athletic
accomplishments) were the most hesitant to claim an athletic identity. Cora, when asked
directly about her athletic identity and age, responded by downplaying her current ability
to identify as an athlete. She prefaced her inability to commit to the label with an
explanation of how her recent decline in performance inhibited her ability to see herself
as an athlete both now and in the future:
145
It happens to anyone at any age, but I guess it has to do with being
competitive, I guess you have a bit of an ego and you kind of look a few
years ahead. And you look at the records and think, I could break that or
do that. But then by the time you get there the reality sets in and it is not
always so easy to do that.
Discussing what an athletic identity meant to the participants was challenging for
both the participants and myself. It was as though the participants were waiting to see if I
would validate their identity as an athlete before they acknowledged themselves that way.
Hodge et al. (2008) also found that Masters athletes despite being predominantly
intrinsically motivated often sought “social validation” as a means to achieve recognition
and status (p. 173).
Participants’ eventual acknowledgement of an athletic identity is similar to the
work of Dionigi (2010), who found that, once an athletic identity is achieved, it is
maintained and presented differently depending on the circumstances in which
individuals find themselves. She concluded that, “even though older athletes may get to a
stage where they can no longer participate in Masters sport, the selves associated with
being an athlete remains meaningful as they are rebuilt or adapted to suit their current
circumstances” (Dionigi, 2010, p. 153). Several of the participants in my study did this;
they adapted their definition of what an athlete is based on their current situations. For
Lillian, an athletic identity meant, “… competing in athletic endeavours of some sort in a
fairly serious kind of way. Not just playing about. Training, learning the skills. Being
goal oriented.”
146
Cora’s description also focused on competition, yet she was realistic about how
her physical condition had changed and the effect that had on her perception of what
being an athlete meant:
Right now, we do, um, anything athletic that our bodies can still handle I
guess. Competitively. Triathlons, and that is swimming, biking, running,
mainly sprint distance or close to that, and some track and field. A little
less on the running side now because of my knees. But for sure on the
throwing side.
In many ways the participants in my study described deep commitments to their
sport and the maintenance of an athletic identity. Although some were less forthcoming
about admitting to an athletic identity during our initial conversations, everyone
eventually did identify as an athlete and expressed a desire to maintain their identities as
athletes. This finding echoes the work of Heusser (2005), Kirby and Kluge (2013) and
Pfister (2012), who found that for older women participating in sporting pursuits, the
skill, social engagement, physical benefits and self-satisfaction that often result from
meaningful participation, encourage prolonged involvement.
Moreover, as the participants in my study sought to establish what an athletic
identity meant, they drew upon performance discourses in ways that were very similar to
younger athletes (Carless & Douglas, 2013; Kirby & Kluge, 2013; Shogan, 1999;
Warriner & Lavallee, 2008). Statements like “You don’t have to be an aging person to
have that mindset of doing what it takes to get results” (Cora) and “It had to be proven
first...to be an athlete you have to eat like an athlete and train like an athlete and think
147
like one” (Lillian) indicated participants drew upon traditional performance discourses
utilized by athletes regardless of their pathway to identifying as one.
6.3.3 Performance Changes
Understanding how the participants in my study dealt with performance changes
that are often associated with aging was a fundamental piece in understanding what it
meant to be an older athlete. As Dionigi and O’Flynn (2007), whose work examined
what it means to be an older athlete, suggested, “In contemporary Western societies,
performance discourses provide a pervasive set of meanings through which physical
activity, and sport have become defined and practiced” (p. 360). One of the main
considerations of performance discourse is the examination of how performance can be
both maintained and enhanced. This is particularly interesting in the context of older
athletes who, as a result of the aging process, often experience challenges in both
maintaining and attaining performance trajectories (Akkari et al., 2015; Dionigi &
O’Flynn, 2007; Dionigi et al., 2013a; Grant, 2001, 2008; Liechty et al. 2014; O'Brien
Cousins, 1998; O'Brien Cousins & Gillis, 2005; Tulle, 2008b).
In the following quote, Lillian provided insight into the many ways individuals
(like herself) evaluate their performance:
For me, at this stage it is not about the goals I score, occasionally I do! It
is about learning how to handle the ball, how to kick properly, how to
position myself so I can receive or pass on the ball. If I was not improving
I think I would probably look for something else. I will be getting slower,
but at least my ball skills will be improving.
148
Lillian was able to reflect positively on performance because she was still
experiencing skill acquisition, whereas many of the other participants had reached a point
in their development where getting better or gaining skills was not available. For these
participants, dealing with changes in their bodies made them reconsider the underlying
motivation for their participation.
One of the most insightful comments having to do with performance expectations
and motivation came from Esther, whom I would have identified as one of the most
athletic and success-driven participants in this study. When asked about performance she
said, “You don’t have to be a ‘high-performance’, or this performance [emphasis]. An
athlete is someone who engages and competes with themselves. It doesn’t have to be
about performance.” I was surprised by the first part of her response because she
appeared to be highly motivated by success and competition and described herself as
high-performance earlier in our interview. However, the second part of her response,
“competes with themselves”, revealed more conclusively the importance she placed on
personal performance.
For Esther, an individual who has been involved with sports her entire life as an
athlete and coach, explained, “… that at the end of the day if your desire to win is to beat
someone else, there will always be someone better than you.” Esther spoke to her use of
embodied cultural capital, as it affects her way of thinking about the very nature of
performance and competition as an older adult. The lesson she has learned is that to win,
you must evaluate your performance expectations within yourself. This lesson was
particularly useful as she made sense of the changes occurring in her body as a result of
age.
149
Many participants indicated that a change had occurred in how they evaluated
performance. Their new perspective meant outcomes were not singularly about
performance, yet their identities, as athletes remained fixed. For instance, Shelley
learned to monitor her body and train differently to account for changes:
I think that you have to be extremely careful, you are not 20, 30, and what
you did then is not necessarily available now. So you have to adjust and
you have to quit being competitively driven in a sense … It is everything
in moderation, but to your own personal limit, and I think that is very
important.
Participants learned to rely on the way they felt during an activity or performance
and to gauge their goals and expectations accordingly. At times, this meant they needed
to incorporate more rest into their training, or they had to re-evaluate their goals and
expectations of their performances. When I asked Maggie about her identity and how it
focused on swimming, she had a really insightful answer, one that was grounded in
performance discourse and her evaluation of performance:
My identity? Um, no, I think I will continue it but I will have a different
attitude, a different focus, because, as I say, I was always getting better.
But now I think I have reached a stationary point—a plateau, I think, and
so that is all right, that doesn’t really bother me because now, as I say, I
have this different image because I am participating and I am getting up
and doing it.
150
Tulle (2008c) suggests that we need to “imagine a new ontology of aging” that
does not trap older individuals into the dichotomy of decline and frailty, but instead
makes room for new constructions and modalities of agency (p. 6). As participants in my
study constantly redefine performance goals and the ways they use their bodies to
compete and evaluate expectations, they are offering new ways of understanding the
physical process of aging as it pertains to athletic performance and the possibility of a
new ontology of aging.
In the following example, Meryl described the importance of the feeling and the
process:
If I was to run a marathon today, I will feel the same as when I ran a 3:25
because I push as hard and go through the same physical and mental
processes. But I will be 30 minutes slower! I work just as hard now and I
feel the same feeling in every workout that I did when I ran that time. But
I don’t have the same times. So, if I focus on the times I am doing myself
a total disservice. If I focus on where I am at and embrace going into the
race, and being part of the race and part of that atmosphere and part of
that, I am feeling all those things. All those things you feel in an
athletic—competitive—performance, then I am enjoying it.
Cora described a similar mindset towards competition and personal expectations:
I don’t have different expectations. The reality and the results set in and at
the start of the competition you always think that you are going to do just
as well. I don’t feel any different from the way I did 20 years ago … But
151
then you have to rationalize after that and say, that was not so bad, and I
still do PBs [personal bests].
Although the participants provided informative narratives about how they
managed the performance changes that had occurred as a result of the physical changes in
their bodies, the coaches and others who supported the participants in achieving their
athletic goals also offered a lot of insight. In the following quote, Tracy, a running coach,
described her perspective on training older athletes as similar to training younger athletes:
You know what the essence of a Masters runner is? Knowing you got to
compete, you got to train, and you picked a goal that was commensurate to
your abilities. You have to be smart as a Masters athlete. We always say,
“Age and deception out wins youth and agility every time”… If athletics
Canada or the IOC [International Olympic Committee] sets a standard,
you decide if it is what you want to do … If you do that, no matter what
age you are, you set your standard. That is what makes you tick.
The participants in my study reviled similar accounts of performance preservation
as Dionigi et al.’s (2013a) examination of Masters athletes. In their study participants
used compensation and continued training to counter the physiological changes equated
with the aging process. Though the participants in my study described their experiences
and the value they placed on performance somewhat differently than Dionigi et al.’s
(2013a) participants, a lot of attention was directed towards compensation and the ways
participants evaluate performance outcomes differently as they age.
152
Tracy continued sharing her perspectives on what a Masters athlete is, by drawing
on her own experience participating in Master’s running competitions. She was
particularly insightful when describing the importance of modifying expectations and the
practice of drawing upon particular modalities of embodied cultural capital (feeling,
experience, confidence in training, and goal setting) to perform at levels one can be proud
of:
I have had to really work with some people to not focus on the decline, but
instead the fact that you are here and you are still the same level or better
than the peers who have come with you in this age group and because
most of our group and a lot of our group wins their age group they still
pride themselves in that … If you have ever run cross-country you can’t
determine your time because the course is different every time. Does
anyone ask your time? No, because it doesn’t matter!
Her ability to identify with the older adults she coaches is a result of her own
experience and perspective of not focusing on physical declines, but rather on what she
calls the “essence of experience and personal wins” achieved through ongoing
participation.
Several of the coaches expressed similar motivational techniques when dealing
with older adults. For instance, coach Diana taught athletes to focus on their own goals.
“Most of them achieve their goals because it is just up to them … I want to finish and be
happy, finish non-injured. Those are great goals, absolutely fabulous goals.” Coach
153
Grace also encouraged her athletes to celebrate small victories and personal
improvements in skill acquisition.
6.4 Conclusion
The field of Masters sport is distinct as it encourages an acceptance of age-based
performance changes and a modality where individuals participate while embracing the
changes associated with age (Akkari et al., 2015; Tulle, 2008c). This in turn provides
athletes control over the meanings associated with the aging process. Maintaining
activity was a central factor in determining the effects of aging on my participants’
identities. Participants’ resistance to aging and dissociation from the feelings they
thought they would have as older people challenged what the experience of aging meant
to them. Furthermore, it supported the notion that participation in what participants
deemed high-performance sport and physical activity is a key factor in ones perception of
successful aging.
Recent studies (Kirby & Kluge, 2013; Liechty et al., 2014; Pfister, 2012; Phoenix,
Smith, & Sparkes, 2010; Phoenix & Griffin, 2013; Tulle, 2008b, 2008c) have sought to
provide a context for new storylines that empower individuals as they navigate the
complex world of aging. In my study, most aspects of the aging process were interpreted
negatively, yet participants typically used sport and physical activity to differentiate
themselves from others whom they perceived to be aging faster or in a more pronounced
negative way. Furthermore, they chose to not focus on age and let it have too much
impact on the way they chose to live their lives. In fact, one participant, Gwen, said just
that. “It’s in your head. Aging is in your head.” Indicating the resistance to aging that
154
has been identified by several studies (Dionigi et al. 2013b; Phoenix & Sparks, 2007) as a
popular narrative in the context of Masters sport.
By discussing perceptions of age within the context of their athletic pursuits I was
able to facilitate discussions about a topic that has been identified as problematic
(Cruikshank, 2009; Tulle, 2008b, 2008c). Instead by identifying the aging body in a field
for which it is familiar and by acknowledging participants as social actors expressing
agency in this field, our discussions about age were possible.
In order to understand the impact of aging on participants’ identities as athletes,
the theoretical lens of Bourdieu is useful. Chris Shilling suggested that “the depth and
scope of Bourdieu’s (1993) work can be seen as offering one of the more promising bases
for the sociology of the body to develop” (p. 148). Bourdieu’s ideas of habitus, self-
identity and embodiment are intricately connected and thought to evolve throughout the
course of one’s life. In this context, the body is “seen as an entity which is in the process
of becoming; a project that should be worked at and accomplished as part of an
individual’s self-identity” (Shilling, 1993, p. 5).
For the participants in my study, their athletic identity became something to be
managed as performance expectations were negotiated within the parameters of physical
change, the realities of aging and the exertion requirements of the athletic competition.
In other words, Bourdieu’s formula: “[(Habitus) (Capital)] + Field = Practice” (Bourdieu,
1984, p. 101) was actively applied to participants’ everyday practices and the identities
they expressed as athletes. As discussed earlier, from Bourdieu’s perspective, practice is
the result of various schemas and dispositions, combined with resources in the form of
155
capital, which are activated in the social field and, in turn, serve to create and validate
belonging within that particular social world/subculture.
This type of shift to the social field of Master sport helps to explain why slogans
that represent fun and participation for all can, and do, operate alongside traditional sport
discourses about winning and competition. As a researcher, it took me a long time to
understand this. I could not understand how the person I was interviewing could train so
hard for a competition, only to have someone, who had perhaps never done that activity,
show up and compete next to them. Masters events offer opportunities for belonging
regardless of ability and experience, whereas other sporting cultures are less inclusive
and hierarchal (Thorpe, 2011).
The participants I interviewed appreciated the fact that the field was open to many
types of older athletes with varying degrees of skill and indicated that, in the field of
Masters sport, new opportunities exist for different expressions of the practice. Masters
sport and identification with the title of ‘Masters’ athlete meant participants were able to
express traditional performance discourses, while reconstructing these same performance
discourses to account for the declines in physical capital they were experiencing. Both
Cooper (1998) and Tulle (2008) suggest similar observations in their examinations of
Masters running events. Non-elite runners can compete against elite runners in the same
event, and it is because of this that long distance running can “reflect wider social and
structural shifts, but it has also contributed to important transformations” (Cooper, 1998,
p. 133).
It is my hope that this chapter has demonstrated that these same transformational
aspects can be found in many different types of Masters sporting competitions. For the
156
participants in my study, as they described the interplay between aged and athletic
identities, they revealed opportunities to re-evaluate performance discourses and
presented insight into how their embodied experiences and identities are constantly
evolving.
157
Information, Expertise and Autonomy: Maintaining an Athletic Chapter Seven:Identity by Embodying the Role of the Expert
“I must be an athlete: I train like one; I have a team of experts” (Adelle)
7.1 Introduction
The purpose of this chapter is to demonstrate how older women maintain their
identities as athletes by embodying the role of the expert in all facets of their training
regimes, while at the same time gleaning knowledge from a variety of experts related to
high-performance sport. I show how my participants actively monitored the amounts of
advice received and took it upon themselves to regularly practice self-care and
preventative therapies. Grant (2001) talks about this level of engagement as “taking the
hill by storm” (p. 777), where older athletes learn to weather that storm through a variety
of strategies targeted towards controlling the challenges of age or injury.
I draw upon Foucault’s (1972) work that questions notions of progress through
the development of “discursive practices that give rise to epistemological figures,
sciences and formalized systems” (p. 191). These systems privilege particular behaviours
and ways of categorizing, contextualizing and organizing both people and practices. To
be more specific, the medical model of aging represents a traditional form of knowledge
that has historically privileged the opinions of experts and has contributed to truths of
aging that have been perceived as master narratives (Powell, 2011). Geriatricians and
gerontologists, for example, have been key interventionists in coordinating care needs for
older adults, and this in turn has enhanced their ability to classify and pathologize
understandings of aging and ability. Coaches have exercised their own power dynamic
158
with athletes in coordinating training regimes based on scientific principles and practices
(Denison, 2010). For the participants in this study, maintaining an athletic identity was
deeply connected to their association with experts in the field as well as their own
feelings of self-efficacy in choosing when and how to draw upon their personalized team
of experts.
In such a situation, older people are expected to become entrepreneurs in all
spheres, particularly those that have to do with their health, and accept responsibility for
the management of risk (Lupton, 1999). In this role, they are cast as social actors in a
marketplace mobilizing selectivity of services in their own care management. Moreover,
Bourdieu’s writings provide insight into the cultural influences through which knowledge
(including medical knowledge) comes to be understood as having the status of truth
(Bourdieu & Wacquant, 1992). As Fries (2014) contended, “Bourdieu helps us
understand that the symbolic value accorded to cultural resources, such as medical
knowledge, has less to do with the innate properties of the resources, than with the value
bestowed upon them in acts of social recognition” (p. 3).
In the context of this study, we can see how older adults describe situations and
perceive themselves as empowered to use information from experts to organize both their
training programs and care regimes. These health behaviours ultimately serve to
reinforce the practices that are, in part, essential to maintaining their athletic identities.
The study participants mobilized their own team of experts, monitored their bodies and
became health consumers utilizing technologies to support their bodies.
159
7.1.1 Managing a Team of Experts—Coaches, Doctors, Specialists
Once an individual makes the transition from a recreational level of an activity to
a more regimented endeavour, there are several changes that occur for that individual in
regard to performance. Heuser (2005) examined the careers of older female lawn
bowlers and identified how, through the lens of the career concept, engagement in
activities can be sustained. Importantly she identified a series of stages one may go
through while advancing their involvement and skill level. The transition to more
serious involvement is almost always reflected in an individual’s identity and translates
into his or her drawing upon resources and skills from others (those already in the field)
to enhance their skill level through advanced training and coaching techniques.
In my study, the acquisition of coaches marked a right of passage for the
participants, as it meant they were taking their sport more seriously and had identified the
possibility to improve their skill. There were several accounts from participants that
described significant performance improvements once they began working with coaches.
Meryl described her experience working with a coach as:
I took 18 minutes off my marathon time and qualified for Boston, so that
was pretty good. Just with the coach. I had run quite a few marathons but
it wasn’t just like you could go to one clinic and – well I’m not that
natural. I think that is one of the things that happens when you get older
and I think that a lot of people make that mistake. They think they are
really good and they just go like crazy instead of building and working
with [a] coach.
160
In addition to seeking information from coaches, participants also established a
team of medical experts whom they drew upon for information at their own discretion.
These experts ranged from physiotherapists, massage therapists and acupuncturists to
sports medicine physicians. Echoing the work of Fries (2014) and Oberg et al. (2014),
the participants utilized a variety of traditional and alternative medicines to manage their
aging and athletic pursuits. They rarely went to their primary care physician for advice,
as indicated by Cora, “I never go to GPs. It would be a total waste of time. I go straight
to a physio or chiro or massage or ART [active relief therapy] specialist.” Lillian also
discussed avoiding her primary care physician:
I used to take these things (issues) to the family doctor and she would just
refer me to a physio. In the end I have found that they are very good at
what they do but they don’t understand sports. So I just go to physio on
my own.
Participants also discussed their increasing reliance on the Internet and a variety
of health and fitness experts to identify possible medical conditions and solutions, so as
to avoid seeking medical advice from physicians in the first place. Shelley described this
process with “I am finding help from people and doing it right. I go to a chiropractor. I
go to physio when I need it. I believe in those programs because they know what they
are talking about.” Helen indicated she learned from a variety of resources, including
fitness instructors. “As far as fitness programs I learn from the instructors too. They will
say this is how they do it today, and that will make sense to me.”
161
It was important for participants to be involved with their treatments and to learn
from experts so that they could share the information within their active networks.
Participants were exercising agency in that they did not wait for referrals, instead they
utilized their own knowledge to locate help when needed. This level of engagement is
indicative of the participants’ resistance to traditional top down power relationships
between experts. Instead, the interest and desire to learn more about their bodies
empowered the participants’ in this study.
As participants internalized information from experts, they then sought to share it
within their social networks, as Meryl indicated, “Runners like to talk and you can get
both types of information – good and bad.” It appeared as though knowledge networks
formed within the social environments where the participants regularly practiced and
participated. Adelle also spoke to sharing information with her peers as a normalized
activity within her social/training network. “A lot of friends ask me questions. I try to
help. I always say there are different things that will work and you have to try them out
for you. You can’t just say it will work for everyone.” These practices seemed to be
expected of participants, as many discussed the importance of regularly addressing
potential injuries within their networks.
Cora described her use of knowledge networks in the following way, “When I
was younger I wouldn’t have. I would assume that it would just heal eventually. When
you are my age you have not got a lot of time to wait for things to get fixed, you need to
get on with it.” Information and the transfer of knowledge between the participants and
those they trained with became an important skill for participants. The field of Masters
sport provided an opportunity for the use of capital in the form of knowledge to be
162
realized and exercised for the participants. The sharing of information among their peers
carried currency and elevated their status within their training groups and knowledge
networks. Given the abundance of information available to participants, the ability to
decipher good information from bad information was a skill many articulated having,
including Adelle:
I realize there is such a turn around on information for people, generally
about health. People are more health conscious, but you have to be very
really careful about where you get it from … So what I try to do, for
injuries - I was looking, in medical texts and so on. I went to the physio
and that was really good but I also looked for sources from the web, but I
also like to go to really recommended source or well-known resource like
the Mayo Clinic. If you want to know something about the government
you go to the source.
In their study examining the role of the Internet in providing information to
athletes about complementary and alternative medical therapies, Kimmerle et al. (2012)
found that there is an active exchange about contemporary alternative medicine (CAM)
that is often grounded in athletes’ desire for performance enhancement over health. In
fact, in their study participants often sought advice from knowledge networks and forums
on the Internet to supplement or challenge advice from medical professionals. The
participants in my study did not appear to do this. Since health was one of their primary
motivations for participation, they rarely challenged the advice from professionals once
163
sought. Instead they used resources such as the Internet to enhance their training and for
injury prevention.
Those who supported the bodies of Masters athletes (athletic therapists, coaches
and physiotherapists) described how they knew the information they provided would be
processed and shared amongst their clients’ sporting network. Coach Tracy described her
role in addressing athlete’s injuries, “Well if I have anybody with an injury I am on the
Internet. I read about stuff on there all the time. We are our own networks, our own
source of information. We have really intelligent people.” Wendy, an athletic therapist,
described patients’ self-diagnosing as a professional challenge and indicated that most of
her older adult clients were highly self-aware and in tune with their bodies:
I think older athletes have this heightened acuity where they think they
know their body. Because they are so attuned to their body or when
something is tweaked they think oh I have had this before and so either
they know how to self-diagnose and heal. I ask my athletes this and
specifically where they get their information.
Thomas also acknowledged that the older adults he personally worked with were
in relatively good physical condition. “I probably see the weeded out population, the
ones that have the strong bodies and the good constitution and have some self-insight as
to how much they can handle because they have made it this far already.”
For the most part, those who supported the bodies of older adults recognized and
enjoyed being part of a team of experts dedicated to prolonging their clients’ involvement
in sport. Many spoke to enjoying the authority older adults demonstrated in coordinating
164
their own training regimes and care practices. Tracy described her appreciation for the
tenacity of the older athletes she has coached:
We all know there is the doctor that will just tell you to stop. Wrong.
Wrong doctor to go to, because if you tell an athlete to stop they won’t
listen to you. They will not stop … You cannot tell a runner to just stop,
unless you cast them, which is what happens with a stress fracture. My
point is we have intelligent people who are resourceful and so when they
do have something wrong they will seek out information … My job is not
to break them and I take that very seriously.
7.1.2 Becoming an Expert
Considering oneself an expert in regards to training and injury prevention was a
characteristic universally acknowledged by the participants in this study. As discussed in
Chapter 5, the perception of being an outsider in the Canadian sporting scene meant
participants displayed high degrees of self-reliance when it came to designing training
programs, treating injury and organizing competitions. Several participants indicated
they relied on their own instinct and experience and used coaches and medical
professionals less regularly than they had in the past. This was not surprising, as those
born between the 1920s and the 1960s have been exposed the most to neoliberal regimes
of governance that instilled an autonomous healthy self (Higgs, Leontowitsch, Stevenson,
& Jones, 2009).
Lillian described her physical self-awareness when she said, “We are pretty well
attuned to our body, we know something is wrong … I mean I don’t just keep going
165
forever … or else you just get hurt too badly.” Several participants described keen
interests in gaining knowledge about their bodies, such as Cora, “I was really injury free
for a long, long, long time and now I know a lot more about not getting injuries!” These
individuals believed it was their desire to learn that prolonged their involvement in sport
and helped them to identify what their bodies needed to avoid injury.
For Adelle, having navigated several injuries as a result of not paying adequate
attention to her body and not listening to experts, described the lesson older adult athletes
eventually learn. “Some of us don’t learn and we keep bashing our head against the wall,
and we keep getting injured and that is when we have to take another look.” Several
participants described a keen interest in understanding how their bodies worked:
Absolutely, this comes from being an athlete … I will try to connect things
when I have a problem and figure it out. For instance, right now when I
do this with my elbow [demonstrates] I get a twinge and this is from my
neck. I will be asking what is with my elbow? Why is it locked in my
elbow? Because, I want to find out. There is more to it than my neck.
(Shelley)
The participants’ specialized knowledge also extended to their training regimes.
They based their training on their own knowledge, having worked with many coaches
over the years, thus felt they didn’t need to utilize a coach as often as they had
previously. Drawing on the work of Bourdieu (1993), Frohlich and Poland (2007)
suggested that the choices individuals make must be understood in relation to the social
structures and fields to which they identify and belong (p. 55). In the field of Masters
166
sport, there exists an expectation that individuals not only seek to enhance their health-
related knowledge and care practices, but also their training practices. Part of
participants’ athlete habitus required the accumulation of both physical and social capital
in the form of sport training and knowledge as Cora explained:
For years I thought I was never over 40 but I was 60 and then now, when
you start to see little signs like your knees wear out or something then you
know yah I am getting older. When you are getting older, you adapt
yourself; you don’t treat yourself as if you are 50. You change your
training. You may have to have more rest period between your runs.
Your runs may be shorter. Your speed may be, well your speed may be ok
if you trained for it.
Cora’s quote is insightful into the process of aging and coming to terms with the
realities of the aging body. Statements like “your knees wear out” and “you start to see
little signs” allude to the gradual progression of time and participants’ acknowledgement
of aging as a factor in their training. Once participants’ acknowledged this and adjusted
their training regimes and performance expectations, many were happy with their athletic
performances:
• I can’t do everything that the kids can do and that’s ok. I had to
give my body time to recover, because I was pushing myself too
hard. I was working hard every day and you can’t do that. (Esther)
167
• I know what works for me and I know that some events are more
important than others and so for them I would be more you know I
would peak for that a little more. (Cora)
These observations and training techniques described by several participants are
consistent with the work of Dionigi et al. (2013a), who identified ‘adapt’/‘modify’:
compensation as a preservation tool often utilized by Masters athletes to prolong
participation in Masters competitions (p. 308).
Several of the participants in my study directed a significant amount of attention
towards developing training programs and monitoring the physical changes in
performance they had begun to experience. When Cora and I discussed her training, she
revealed advanced training practices in the form of logbooks dating back twenty years.
In these books she demonstrated periodized training regimes, nutritional logs,
performance evaluations and competition results. Her attention to training details
indicated an extreme commitment to Masters sport. I use the term extreme, because it
speaks to the variance of the field of Masters athletics. On the one hand, there were
participants who noticed a few changes in their bodies and adjusted their training
programs; and, on the other hand, there were individuals like Cora whose logbook entries
carefully monitored all aspects of her training:
I keep them and I look back and I try not to look back because I am saying
20 years ago oh gawd I could do that! 400 intervals in whatever, I don’t
want to see that anymore, even from a couple of years back, if you have an
injury or whatever. I keep mentioning my knees because in the last couple
168
of years they have deteriorated more and so I do most of my swimming
and biking. So you try to balance it. But ok um this will be the 8th
triathlon this summer. So you can’t peak for every couple of weeks, so it
becomes almost more of participation but you still want to do your best …
I keep track of everything, and I look and I try to balance the swimming
and the biking. It is probably not something scientifically - but I have done
it long enough to know what works for me. Right?!
This last statement I found particularly enlightening, for it showcased the impact
of embodied knowledge and trusting one’s own expertise, “it is probably not something
scientifically – but I have done it.” This statement from Cora provides insight into
hierarchies of knowledge and her decision to privilege her own training principles over
that of an expert, such as a coach.
In her work examining the power dynamics of patients and physicians Lorentzen
(2008) drew upon Foucault (1977) to examine how power relations produce bodies that
are “disciplined and resistant, through the manner in which knowledge/power moves
between shifting positions/statuses” (as cited in Lorentzen, 2008, p. 53). Lorentzen
suggested the power of the expert resides in the acceptance and utilization of
information/service by the recipient. Therefore, although practitioners are defined as
experts in their field, they “do not hold a monopoly over truth claims – medical or
otherwise” (Lorentzen, 2008, p. 54). Similarly, in my study the participants’ exercised
personal autonomy over truth claims and disrupted traditional top down power relations
169
between experts (coaches and medical experts) as they determined when and how to use
information gathered from those traditionally acknowledged as experts.
7.1.3 Health Consumers
The increasing availability and access to health care in contemporary Western
society played an important role in how the participants of this study related to, managed
and maintained their identities as athletes. According to Powell (2011), ‘a healthy old
age’ no longer represents good fortune, but instead represents one’s prudent self-care
regimes that often include both physical activity and reliance on biomedicine (p. 145).
Foucault (1987), when identifying the role of bioethics and the ways individuals govern
their physicality, identified practices that encompass self-monitoring as the ‘technologies
of the self’. In Foucault’s own words, this practice involves:
A process by which the individual delimits that part of himself that will
form the object of his ethical practice, defines his position relative to the
precept he will follow, and decides on a certain mode of being that will
serve as his moral goal. And this requires him to act upon himself, to
monitor, test, improve and transform himself. (Foucault, 1987, p. 28)
For the participants in my study, constant monitoring of their physical status was
important, but so too was their use of both medical technologies and advanced therapies.
The ease with which these therapies and practices were discussed by participants
surprised me. Many had normalized these care practices and regimes to such an extent
that it was difficult for them to imagine not utilizing medical technologies and scheduling
170
regular visits to therapists as part of their normalized care practices. In the following
example, Shelley described her use of supportive technologies, “I have been wearing a
belt for my SI [sacroiliac] joint. I wear it because I think it helps. I will pay the money to
get something that helps and works.” Cora indicated she and her partner have utilized a
variety of health interventions and practices over the years, “All those things IMS
[intramuscular stimulation], Rolfing, massage all those things. We have done it all, all of
it.”
For all of the participants in this study, the freedom to maintain activity was more
important than the cost accrued to utilize medical technologies and advanced therapies.
In another example Shelley discussed her use of an at home ultrasound machine:
I have my own ultrasound machine and it works like a charm. See as you
get older you get all of these new weird problems. Old women will tell
you that. So - I use my little ultra machine … It is like sporting
equipment, I don’t spend too much, you go to whatever level you are at.
You don’t have to get the best. But there are some good things out there
that can really help you.
This quote is particularly insightful in addressing how the participants normalized
care practices and demonstrated what Foucault described as ‘technologies of the self’.
Definitive research does not exist that proves the efficacy of home-based ultrasound
machines like the one Shelley utilizes (Robertson & Baker, 2001). However, she
believes in it and finds comfort in doing whatever is within her means to prolong her
involvement in sport. Her statement, “you go to whatever level you are at,” reinforced
171
her perspective of personal responsibility for maintaining her health. Furthermore, as I
suggested in Chapter 4 of this dissertation, the fact that her actions were motivated
primarily by health over performance validated her financial investment as part of a much
larger investment in personal health.
The financial cost of utilizing health services was a point of contention for several
of the participants. This made sense from a health perspective, as the ultimate fear for
these highly active individuals was to be categorized according to stereotypical negative
views of aging, where older persons are seen as both economic and social burdens.
Instead, participants made it clear that they paid for the health services they utilized both
out of pocket and through private insurance. Participants demonstrated what Segall and
Fries (2011) call medical consumerism, a behaviour where individuals view health as a
commodity and in seeking to preserve their investments in the commodity of health
purchase health care products and services (p. 11). Participants were adamant about their
ability to pay for their own products, as explained by Adelle, “Well first off I pay for it,
the government does not pay for it so I am not costing the health care system anything.”
Shelley also indicated her reliance on her own personal finances to support her use of
technologies and medical support:
You are fine as long as you pay and you go to the physio. I think I have
one of the best in the city, but for the initial consultation you have to pay
$160 and I am with the Blue Cross and the level I am with, with the Blue
Cross does not pay for physio or massage or anything.
172
After discussing with participants the cost of medical care and their perspectives
about personal responsibility, the conversations often came back to both personal
autonomy and expert knowledge that they had accrued from engaging with specialists. It
was clear to me that from the participants’ perspective our discussion about the use of
advanced training practices and medical therapies was not simply about the fact that that
they used these services. Instead they wanted to make it clear that they used these
services to enhance their own knowledge and relationship with their own bodies and
embodied practices. These practices thus served to maintain their athletic identities and
sustained their participation in Masters sport.
The participants’ discussions about care management and their utilization of
medical services and technologies presented a new way of thinking about the existence of
new clientele groups such as Masters athletes. Individuals regularly monitored their
bodies, drew upon technologies and exercised their autonomy and personal agency in
coordinating their care practices. These new practices are different than the way
traditional biomedicine has interacted with older adults to exert control and power over
their lives (Dumas & Turner, 2006; Katz, 1996, 2000; Oakley, 2007). The participants in
my study represent a new clientele of health consumers interested in not only care
management, but the optimization of health and performance through sport. The focus of
their care practices differentiates them from notions of frailty and as Masters athletes they
are revisiting decline in exchange for performance.
173
7.2 Conclusion
In this chapter I highlighted how older athletes often express high levels of
personal agency and autonomy over both their personal health care regimes and physical
training practices, as a result of their positions within the field of Masters sport. This
dynamic represents a shift from traditional understandings of aging bodies where medical
experts espouse biomedical information regarding age and physicality in ways that have
marginalized the experiences of older adults and have served to perpetuate stereotypes of
frailty and vulnerability (Katz, 2000; Laz, 2003; Phoenix et al, 2010). Instead, I found
that the participants became health consumers and gained capital through the
accumulation of embodied knowledge and technical knowledge. They then used this
knowledge to prolong their involvement in sport. This new dynamic also helped shape
the expectations they placed on both the scope of practice and the importance they placed
on various forms of expert knowledge.
Foucault’s use of the term discourse is useful in examining “‘how power is
exercised, and what, as a result, actually occurs’” (Markula & Pringle, 2006, p. 35).
Discourses are evident in the advice from professionals (coaches, medical experts), as
they represent the taken for granted practices that are shared in the knowledge exchange
between athletes and experts. Denison (2010) found that the technical practice of training
athletes has become recognized as a truth, despite instances where athletes themselves
deviate from programs and planned activities (p. 427).
Pringle (2007) further notes that the same discourse that reproduces the truths
about the technical practices of training has resulted in athletes being marginalized. In
this context athletes become subject to top down power relations where their voices and
174
opinions about training practices are silenced by the views of coaches. I did not find this
hierarchy of power in my study. In the context of my study, the athletes chose to design
training programs and treat injuries both on their own and with the consultation of
experts, providing insight into how discourses can be disrupted.
The participants appeared to be empowered by their control over their training
regimes. This in turn helped them to create new truths about what constitutes advanced
training practices and dispositions for older adults in the field of Masters sport. The
implementation of training knowledge and the exercising of control over their training
regimes effectively became part of their habitus.
The impact of socio-economic status through the ability of the participants to
financially support their sporting practices was an important finding in my study. In their
study examining performance preservation of Masters athletes, Dionigi et al. (2013a) did
not find participants spoke to financial means as an indication of ability to maintain
performance. They did however identify that performance preservation may be limited to
those who have the social and economic resources to participate in Masters sport. The
participants in my study did speak to their reliance on both social and economic resources
to facilitate their participation. They were quite aware of their unique use of technologies
and services (e.g. CAM) that were not readily affordable or known to those outside the
realm of sport or the medical field. They were also aware that these particular practices
distinguished themselves from their less athletic peers and more importantly from
traditional representations of aging bodies (Dumas & Laberge, 2005, Oghene, 2015).
This chapter highlighted the significance of health-related dispositions as part of
the study participants’ aged and athletic habitus. Their use of technology and expert
175
knowledge represented a desire to maintain a positive perspective about aging and a
sense of control over their health statuses.
176
Conclusion Chapter Eight:
8.1 Introduction
This study focused upon how older women who participate in Masters sporting
events construct and maintain identities as athletes in a Canadian sport culture that has at
times favoured excellence over participation. There has been a growing interest in the
area of Masters sport (Baker et al., 2010; Carmichael, Duberley & Szmigin, 2015;
Dionigi & O’Flynn, 2007; Dionigi et al., 2013a; Dionigi et al., 2013b; Grant, 2008;
Liechty et al., 2014; Oghene et al., 2015; Pfister, 2012; Rathwell & Young, 2014;
Ronkainen et al., 2013; Tulle, 2003; Tulle, 2008b; Tulle, 2008c; Wainwright & Turner,
2006) and my study built on these studies to reflect a growing understanding of how
athletic identities are both maintained and evolve throughout the course of one’s life.
Aging is acknowledged as one of the most complex areas of study in
contemporary science (Phoenix et al., 2010). The process of growing older and the
reflection upon one’s life experiences through the use of narrative analysis helps provide
insight into the values and cultural processes that shape our modern day experiences. In
conducting this study I selected a population of aging women who seemed to be engaging
in physical activity and sports in ways that distinguished them from their peers, as studies
have shown that traditionally participation in sports declines with age (Kirby & Kluge,
2013; Nelson, 2007; Pfister, 2012). My participants were individuals who were actively
challenging traditional representations of aging, while seeking to push their bodies to
achieve validation and at times recognition in the sporting domain. I was fortunate to be
177
able to interview women who were consistently achieving age group records and, in the
case of three of the participants, breaking related world records in their sport.
In an effort to develop the most comprehensive understandings of participants’
negotiations of an older athlete identity, this final chapter summarizes the important
findings as presented in Chapters 4 through 7 of this dissertation, highlights their
importance to the study of aging athletes and suggests promising areas for further study.
8.2 Chapter Highlights and Discussion
In Chapter 4, the development of sport in Canada is revealed through an
examination of several sport and health related policies. This provides insight into the
tensions present for older adults as they seek to engage and feel accepted within various
sporting contexts. Discourses of sport, health and fitness have a long history of
converging and being pulled apart, as is evidenced through the examination of official
sport and health related policies.
In Chapter 4, I demonstrated how, in Canada, health and fitness have been
intricately connected to sport at times and at other times positioned as nothing more than
subtext or a by-product of the goal to train athletes rather than promote healthy citizens.
Thus, it is not surprising that participants in this study were influenced to varying degrees
by notions of both excellence and participation over time and that their understanding
would not simply be “divided between accepted discourse and excluded discourse, or
between the dominant discourse and the dominated one” (Foucault, 1978, p. 100).
178
Instead, participants’ accounts revealed the influence of both the pursuit of sporting
excellence and health as motivating factors.
The participants acknowledged that their involvement has been a means to
achieve health and challenge their physical capacities through the pursuit of excellence,
even if they do not fit within a particular category, as suggested by the Canadian Sport
for Life’s (CS4L) movement and the Long-Term Athlete Development (LTAD) model.
The participants in my study seemed to fall somewhere within the competitive for life
and fit for life spectrums, whether or not their ages corresponded with the stages
presented on the continuum. Their experiences indicated the formative ways policies of
sport in Canada have evolved, showing how the evolution of policy and the ways
individuals are both shaped and shaping policies present a unique opportunity to examine
sporting identities for older adults.
In Chapter 5, significant attention is directed towards the impact of the new public
health (NPH) movement, more specifically the impact of healthy living discourses on
participants’ motivation to maintain participation in sport. I anticipated that participants
would value their health as this has been identified as an important motivational factor for
older adults participating in physical activity (Carmichael et al., 2015; Dionigi, 2006a;
Dionigi, 2006b; Grant, 2008; Kirby & Kluge, 2013); however, I did not anticipate the
extent to which healthy living discourses would be present in their narratives.
Discussions around personal responsibility for health, the role of chronic disease and
illness and a general awareness of healthy weight and nutrition guidelines dominated our
discussions around motivations for participation.
179
Their perception as outsiders from a sport policy perspective meant they had
freedom to not conform to particular performance standards or expectations. Participants
expressed concern over their perceived status as outsiders once they reached performance
levels that were considered to be world class or exemplary for their age group cohorts.
These concerns did not inhibit their participation or motivation, and participants
demonstrated resiliency by not objecting to both funding their own participation and
organizing competitions.
Further, as participation in Masters competitions was relatively new for several of
the participants, the organizational aspects of participation became part of defining their
experiences. Their accounts indicated a constant interplay of both aged and athletic
habitus (Dumas & Turner, 2006; Pike, 2015). This in turn shaped their continued
relationship with sport and underscored their current motivation to participate and train
for Masters sport competitions.
Chapter 6 moved beyond how participants negotiated the discourse positions of
sport and health presented in Chapter 5, and explored how participants constructed
athletic identities as older adults. The chapter began by addressing the common language
participants drew upon to discuss the influence of age on their identities. This
exploration was important as there remain ambiguities regarding the varied experiences
of aging and the ways that individuals describe their experiences (Pike, 2015). The
impact of the biomedicalization of aging was evident in the language participants utilized
as they reflected on their perceptions of aging. They spoke to decline, illness and fear of
becoming increasingly dependent on the medical system as a result of age. Every
participant described an awareness of negative stereotypes of aging and used their
180
participation in sport as a means to differentiate themselves from those who they
perceived to be aging more negatively. This finding is consistent with studies that have
investigated the motivations often articulated by older women who participate in sport
(Dionigi & O’Flynn, 2007; Kirby & Kluge, 2013; O’Brien Cousins, 2000; Pfister, 2012).
The findings of Chapter 6 indicated that the participants’ identities as athletes
were constantly evolving as they negotiated the impact of age on performance
expectations and their individualized pathways to developing an athletic identity. This
meant that those who identified as athletes in their youth and throughout their adult lives
experienced difficulty identifying as athletes now as an older adult. This was due to the
impact of age on their performance, and not being able to perform to the levels they had
once achieved.
Individuals who were relatively new to sport were more easily inclined to identify
as athletes. For these participants, the opportunity to be considered a Masters athlete
presented an opportunity to develop new forms of capital and challenge their bodies in
exciting ways. As they were new to their chosen activity, performance declines were at
times managed through the accumulation of new skills and not the realities that they had
once been in better physical condition. The strategies participants’ described to account
for performance changes echoed the work of Dionigi et al. (2013b) who found
participants adapted and modified expectations to compensate for the changes associated
with age.
The influence of pathways to athletic involvement was explored by Tulle (2008),
who examined the impact of biographical trajectories and structural factors that converge
to enable sport participation and the eventual acknowledgement of an athletic identity.
181
My findings reinforced Tulle’s assertion that, “an athlete is not a pre-existing, pre-
constituted social actor; an athlete is in a process of becoming, phenomenologically, via
the development of appropriate forms of capital, physical and social” (Tulle, 2008c, p.
77). I further contend that in order to identify with an athletic identity, my participants
negotiated the interplay of an aged self, their perceptions of what an athlete is and the
performance changes associated with aging.
This allowed for performance discourses to account for excellence as a relative
term, one that evoked a deeply personal meaning as participants identified performance
expectations, the realities of their physical conditions and the goals they aspired to
accomplish on any given day.
The time, commitment and embodied practices experienced by the participants in
my study align well with the attributes acknowledged by several authors who have
examined athletic identities and the role of performance discourses (Carless & Douglas,
2013a; Dionigi & O’Flynn, 2007; Heuser, 2005; Oghene et al., 2015; Shogan, 1999). In
my study, participants recognized the impact of age on their athletic identities and used
the term ‘Masters’ as a strategic tool to reconcile the tensions between
participation/excellence and older/athlete present in their identities.
For Bourdieu (1993), the shared symbolic meaning given to bodily practices
reinforces social hierarchies and distinctions between social groups. Masters sport is
unique in that it is a sporting movement that is often characterized through descriptions of
fun and friendship, yet competition and performance excellence have been identified as
dominant themes as well (Baker et al., 2010; Dionigi et al., 2013a; Grant, 2008; Phoenix
& Grant, 2009; Tulle, 2008c). For the participants in my study, their identification with
182
the title of ‘Masters’ athlete proved to be a poignant example of the process of belonging
within a social field. They demonstrated that within a social field, those who belong
embody characteristics and cultural symbols that once realized provide benefit and
advantage to the possessor. The participants in my study were able to distance
themselves from traditional stereotypes of aging as a result of their continued
participation in sport. Further, they were able to differentiate themselves from traditional
performance discourses in sport that privilege excellence over participation.
In Chapter 7, I revisited the role of the biomedical model of aging and explored
participants relationship to experts and medical knowledge. Being well versed in medical
knowledge pertaining to injuries and training regimes meant that the participants had the
perception of control over their tenure in sport. This finding once again directs attention
towards the importance of health over performance and supports the work of Fries
(2014), which suggested that “older adults who seek out CAM [complementary and
alternative medicine] do so as part of an effort to gain individual control over their aging
bodies and health” (p. 8). By actively being involved with their health and training,
participants in my study disrupted traditional hierarchies of knowledge that privilege the
role of the expert in managing the experiences of aging (Katz, 2000; Lorentzen, 2008;
Powell, 2011). Instead they were empowered consumers, navigating the health system
and dictating when and how medical interventions were experienced in their lives.
As individuals who exercised a unique relationship with those thought to have
expert knowledge (coaches and medical professionals) and yet perceived themselves as
outside of Canadian sport policy, participants took it upon themselves to seek information
and expand their personal knowledge regarding training practices, injury prevention and
183
recovery. This finding was similar to the work of Kimmerle et al. (2012), which explored
athletes increasing use of the Internet to diagnose injuries. However, I must note that the
results of Kimmerle et al.’s (2012) study were notably different than mine, as they
identified participants’ performance-related goals as more important than health concerns
(p. 360). One possible reason for the discrepancies between Kimmerle et al.’s results and
mine may be directly related to the older age of the participants in my study.
As older adults, the participants in my study described being highly in tune with
their bodies because the passage of time meant they had accumulated more personal
experiences and, for some, recovered from several injuries. Oakley (2007) described
embodied knowledge in a similar way stating, “in old age, embodied knowledge
represents the accumulation of a lifetime of self-understanding” (p. 112). Thus,
participants in my study primarily used sport specific training information,
complementary and alternative medical knowledge to support their bodies and maintain
health. As Masters athletes, it was rare that participants found themselves injured and in
need of the support of sport medicine physicians.
Chapter 7 also explores the role of medical technologies in supporting the bodies
of the participants of my study. The roles of medical technologies in managing the aging
process have been explored at length (Featherstone & Hepworth, 1995; Fries, 2014;
Gilleard & Higgs, 2013; Hurd-Clarke, 2011; Katz, 1996; Lorentzen, 2008; Powell &
Biggs, 2000; Powell, 2011, 2013) and have been identified as important tools for
managing and constructing healthy aging identities for individuals as they move into the
later stages of life. Powell (2011) specifically highlighted the use of diet and exercise
techniques as linked with the growth of the health and fitness industry to construct
184
healthy lifestyles, which then reflect positively on one’s self identity. In my study,
participants’ use of technologies to support and care for their bodies reflected both a
desire to enhance their physical performances, but also a more fundamental desire to
maintain a positive perspective and sense of control of their health statuses.
On the surface, the use of these technologies may seem empowering for the
participants; however, I caution that becoming increasingly versed as medical consumers
acts to distance oneself from the realities of aging, perhaps even offering a temporary
escape, rather than truly embracing the physical realities of the aging process.
Cruikshank (2009) identified this challenge for older women when she said:
Learning to be old is hard when it means being able to accept dependency
with grace. For women, especially, whose struggle to become whole
human beings often requires a great degree of self-sufficiency, at least in
white middle class life, letting go of triumphant individualism must be
painful and shaming. But the willingness to ask for help and the
acknowledgement that one is not wholly self-sufficient are signs of
emancipation from socially constructed aging. (p. 16)
The participants in my study, although seeking empowerment by embodying the
role of the expert in their training regimes and care practices, were not entirely
emancipated from socially constructed views of aging. Their constant negotiation of
participation and pursuit of excellence indicated to me that, despite the fact that they were
participating in sport and achieving performance success, their experiences and
motivations remained grounded in the pursuit of health as it provided a more socially
185
acceptable discourse position. It was as though participants wanted to align themselves
with traditional sport discourses that have favoured the pursuit of excellence and
performance over health, however were conflicted because they acknowledged that their
embodied experiences as a result of age did not fit perfectly within that construct.
My research aligns with studies that suggest older adults may experience
challenges identifying as athletes as a result of the “lack of social constructs for them to
do so” (Kirby & Kluge, 2013, p. 302). For those who participated in my study, the field
of Masters sport represents a sporting practice where the competing discourses of sport
and the pursuit of athletic identities are actively being challenged and contested.
Lastly, my study has drawn upon both the writings of Foucault and Bourdieu to
understand the cultural processes that shape sporting experiences. In doing this I have
contributed to literature that explores the impact of power relations and discourses in
shaping the experiences of older adults (Biggs & Powell, 2001; Katz, 2001; Oghene et
al., 2015; Powell & Wahdin, 2006). My study builds on a growing number of related
research projects which elucidate a closer understanding of how athletic identities
(Dionigi, 2010; Dionigi et al., 2013a; Thorpe, 2011) are constructed in tandem with the
aging process (Kirby & Kluge, 2013; Liechty et al., 2014; Tulle, 2003, 2008a, 2008b,
2008c; Wainwright & Turner, 2006) in light of shifting policy directives (Comeau, 2013;
Donnelly, 2013; Thibault & Harvey, 2013a, 2013b) and use of medical technologies
(Fries, 2014; Gilleard & Higgs, 2013; Powell & Biggs, 2004; Powell, 2011, 2013).
Masters sport represents a unique field of sport where both an aged and athletic habitus
converge. My study has drawn attention to the ways older adults articulate their
embodied experiences and resist master narratives of aging through the construction and
186
maintenance of athletic identities. In doing this they are constantly (re)defining the
impact of the social construction of ageing.
8.3 Future Research
This study has demonstrated the ways in which the process of constructing and
maintaining an athletic identity is constantly evolving for older women participating in
Masters sport. Clearly the tensions evident in Canadian sport policy between sport for
performance/excellence and sport for participation/health require further attention in
relation to the needs of aging athletes (Comeau, 2013). Though participation has been
acknowledged as one of the pillars of current Canadian sport policy and is included in the
CS4L movement and LTAD model, older adults still feel that their needs are
insufficiently addressed hence it would be beneficial to explore how policies in the future
may better account for their specific needs.
The first step to exploring the development of future policies would be to include
the voices of more individuals who are currently involved with Masters sport. As the
sample size for my study was relatively small and not reflective of the multicultural
population of Canada, future research will need to draw upon a larger more diverse
population. It would also be beneficial to involve both older adults and sport
organizations in a future study to identify both personal and organizational barriers.
There are several ways future research could be conducted to broaden and
elaborate on the themes I have presented in this dissertation. Coordinating and
conducting focus groups would provide a collaborative discussion environment to
explore the tensions around adult participation, performance and inclusion in current
187
Canadian sport models. The participants in my study demonstrated proficiency with
technology and the use of the Internet. Focus groups in the future could be organized and
delivered across Canada via the Internet, to account for a broader sample of Canadian
women. Furthermore, as we are dealing with an aging population participating in a
relatively new competitive stream of sport, longitudinal data would help to identify trends
and patterns of participation for an extended period of time.
The impact of healthy living discourses in shaping participants’ motivations for
sustained activity was a prominent theme in my study. These healthy living discourses
have impacted exercise programming where the focus on activities of daily living and
general health promotion are evident (Rose, 2003; Merrill, Cedric & Green, 2014).
Several participants spoke to an awareness of exercise programming for older adults that
exclusively targeted frail older adults. Although it was not the focus of my study,
participants addressed the need for increased programming and recreational opportunities
for older adults beyond fall prevention. Suggestions have been made that increasing
opportunities for older adults to try new sports and learn sport specific skills might
encourage physical activity for those who are less interested in traditional fitness and fall
prevention programs.
Recreation programming for older adults presents an opportunity to integrate the
findings presented in this dissertation in a real world setting. Considering the importance
of the LTAD model and the CS4L movements focus on physical literacy, providing
opportunities for older adults to learn/re-learn fundamental motor skills and apply these
skills in a sporting context may prove useful. This may also provide an opportunity to
encourage a more diverse representation of individuals to become more physically active
188
in sport as fall prevention, recreational and non-sport specific programs often facilitate
greater accessibility to individuals of various ethnicities and from lower socio-economic
statuses.
Finally, several studies have acknowledged the role of the sport system in
understanding the role of sport and the meaning of sport in society (Coakley & Donnelly,
2009; Comeau, 2013; Donnelly, 2013; Macintosh et al. 1987; Thibault & Harvey, 2013a).
My study has draw attention to tensions around older adult participation, performance
and inclusion in current Canadian sport models and policy. As Masters sport
competitions continue to gain popularity and individuals seek to participate around the
world, concepts relating to nation, identity and globalization will need to be explored
further.
189
References
Akkari, A., Machin, D., & Tanaka, H. (2015). Greater progression of athletic
performance in older masters athletes. Age and Ageing, 44(4), 683-686.
doi:10.1093/ageing/afv023
Alberta Health and Wellness, Healthy Aging Subgroup (2002). Alberta’s Healthy Aging
and Seniors Wellness Strategic Framework. Edmonton, AB: KPMG.
Allen, M. S., Greenlees, I., & Jones, M. (2013). Personality in sport: A comprehensive
review. International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 6(1), 184-208.
doi:10.1080/1750984X.2013.769614
Alvaro, C., Jackson, L. A., Kirk, S., McHugh, T. L., Hughes, J., Chircop, A., & Lyons, R.
F. (2011). Moving Canadian governmental policies beyond a focus on individual
lifestyle: some insights from complexity and critical theories. Health Promotion
International, 26(1), 91-99. doi:10.1093/heapro/daq052
Angus, J., & Reeve, P. (2006). Ageism: A threat to “Aging well” in the 21st century.
Journal of Applied Gerontology, 25(2), 137-152. doi:10.1177/0733464805285745
Anton, M. M., Spirduso, W. W., & Tanaka, H. (2004). Age-related declines in anaerobic
muscular performance: Weightlifting and powerlifting. Medicine and Science in
Sports and Exercise, 36(1), 143-147. doi:10.1249/01.MSS.0000106283.34742.BE
190
Ashe, M. C., Miller, W. C., Eng, J. J., & Noreau, L. (2009). Older adults, chronic disease
and leisure-time physical activity. Gerontology, 55(1), 64-72.
doi:10.1159/000141518
Baker, J., Horton, S., & Weir, P. (2010). The masters athlete: Understanding the role of
sport and exercise in optimizing aging. New York, NY: Routledge.
Baltes, P. B., & Smith, J. (2003). New frontiers in the future of aging: From successful
aging of the young old to the dilemmas of the fourth age. Gerontology, 49(2), 123-
135. doi:10.1159/000067946
Barnett, C., Clarke, N., Cloke, P., & Malpass, A. (2008). The elusive subjects of neo-
liberalism: Beyond the analytics of governmentality. Cultural Studies, 22(5), 624-
653. doi: 10.1080/09502380802245902
Bauman, A. (2004). Health benefits of physical activity for older adults –
epidemiological approaches to the evidence. In M. Morris & A. Schoo (Eds.),
Optimizing exercise and physical activity in older people (pp. 1-26). London:
Butterworth Heinemann.
Bauman, Z. (1995). Life in fragments: Essays in postmodern morality. Oxford:
Blackwell.
Bauman, Z. (2004). Identity. Cambridge: Polity.
191
Bercovitz, K. L. (1996). A critical analysis of Canada's active living: Science or politics?
(Unpublished Doctor of Philosophy). University of Toronto, Toronto, ON.
Bercovitz, K. L. (2000). A critical analysis of Canada's active living policy: science or
politics? Critical Public Health, 10(1), 19-39. doi:10.1080/713658222
Biggs, S. (1999). The mature imagination: Dynamics of identity in midlife and beyond.
Philadelphia, PA: Open University Press.
Biggs, S. (2005). Beyond appearances: Perspectives on identity in later life and some
implications for method. The Journals of Gerontology. Series B, Psychological
Sciences and Social Sciences, 60(3), S118-28. doi:60/3/S118
Biggs, S., Phillipson, C., Money, A., & Leach, R. (2006). The age‐shift: Observations on
social policy, ageism and the dynamics of the adult life course. Journal of Social
Work Practice, 20(3), 239-250. doi:10.1080/02650530600931708
Biggs, S., & Powell, J. L. (2001). A Foucauldian analysis of old age and the power of
social welfare. Journal of Aging & Social Policy, 12(2), 93-112.
doi:10.1300/J031v12n02_06
Billson, J. H., Cilliers, J. F., Pieterse, J. J., Shaw, B. S., Shaw, I., & Toriola, A. L. (2011).
Comparison of home-and gymnasium-based resistance training on flexibility in the
elderly. South African Journal for Research in Sport, Physical Education and
Recreation, 33(3), 1-9. Retrieved from
192
http://ezproxy.lib.ucalgary.ca/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?dire
ct=true&db=s3h&AN=67764015&site=ehost-live
Birrell, S., & Cole, C. L. (1994). Women, sport, and culture. Champaign, IL: Human
Kinetics.
Birrell, S., & McDonald, M. G. (2000). Reading sport: Critical essays on power and
representation. Boston, MA: Northeastern University Press.
Blaikie, A. (1999). Ageing and popular culture. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Boudiny, K. (2013). ‘Active ageing’: From empty rhetoric to effective policy tool.
Ageing and Society, 33(06), 1077-1098.
http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.lib.ucalgary.ca/10.1017/S0144686X1200030X
Bourdieu, P. (1978). Sport and social class. Social Science Information, 17(6), 819-840.
doi:10.1177/053901847801700603
Bourdieu, P. (1984). Distinction: A social critique of the judgement of taste. Cambridge,
MA: Harvard University Press.
Bourdieu, P. (1993). The field of cultural production: Essays on art and literature. New
York, NY: Columbia University Press.
Bourdieu, P. (2000). Pascalian Meditations. Cambridge, UK: Polity.
193
Bourdieu, P., & Wacquant, L. J. (1992). An invitation to reflexive sociology. Chicago, IL:
University of Chicago Press.
Brown, D. A. (2008). From the partners in pursuit of excellence to own the podium. an
ideological slip in Canadian Olympic sport. In R.K. Barney, M.K. Heine, K.B.
Wamsley, & G.H. MacDonald (EDS.), Pathway: Critiques and discourse in Olympic
research: Ninth international symposium for Olympic Research (pp. 432-447).
Beijing: Capital University of Beijing.
Bryan, S., & Walsh, P. (2004). Physical activity and obesity in Canadian women. BioMed
Central Women's Health, 4(1), S6. doi:10.1186/1472-6874-4-S1-S6
Bülow, M. H., & Söderqvist, T. (2014). Successful ageing: A historical overview and
critical analysis of a successful concept. Journal of Aging Studies, 31, 139-149.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jaging.2014.08.009
Bundon, A. M., & Hurd-Clarke, L. C. (2014). ‘Keeping us from breaking’: Elite athletes'
access to and use of complementary and alternative medicine. Qualitative Research
in Sport, Exercise and Health, 6(1), 121-138. doi:10.1080/2159676X.2012.712986
Bytheway, B. (1995). Ageism. Berkshire: Open University Press.
Cahn, S. K. (1994). Coming on strong: Gender and sexuality in twentieth-century
women's sport. New York, NY: Free Press.
Cameron, D. (2001). Working with spoken discourse. London: Sage Publications.
194
Canada. (1944). The National Physical Fitness Act. Ottawa, ON: Minister of Pensions
and National Health.
Canada. (1961). Bill -131. An Act to encourage fitness and amateur sport. Ottawa, ON:
Queen’s Printer for Canada.
Canada. (1989). The active health report on seniors. Ottawa, ON: Health and Welfare
Canada.
Canada. (1992). Fall forum on active living: Summary Paper (Nov 30-Dec 2). Ottawa,
ON: Minister of State for Fitness and Amateur Sport.
Canada. (2002). The Canadian sport policy. Ottawa, ON: Department of Canadian
Heritage. Retrieved from http://www.pch.gc.ca/pgm/sc/pol/actn/index-eng.cfm.
Canada. (2003). Bill C-12. An Act to promote physical activity and sport (S.C. 2003, c2).
Ottawa, ON: Government of Canada. Retrieved from
http://www.parl.gc.ca/Content/LOP/LegislativeSummaries/37/2/c12-e.pdf
Canada. (2007). The Canadian sport policy: Federal-provincial/territorial priorities for
collaborative action 2007-2012. Ottawa, ON: Department of Canadian Heritage.
Retrieved from http:www.pch.gc.ca/pgm/sc/pol/actn07-12/booklet-eng.pdf
Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women and Sport and Physical Activity.
(2012). Focus group report: Physical activity and women 55-70. Ottawa, ON.
195
Retrieved from
http://caawswomen55to70plus.ca/pdfs/FocusGroupReportWomen55-70.pdf
Canadian Sport Centres. (2002a). Canadian sport for life (CS4L) primary terminology
version one. Vancouver, BC: Author. Retrieved from
http://canadiansportforlife.ca/sites/default/files/resources/CS4L%20Terminology%2
0Paper.pdf
Canadian Sport Centres. (2002b). Long-term athlete development. Resource paper v. 1.
Vancouver, BC: Author. Retrieved from
http://canadiansportforlife.ca/sites/default/files/resources/CS4L%20Resource%20Pa
per.pdf
Canadian Sport Centres. (2005). Long-term athlete development. Resource paper v. 2.
Vancouver, BC: Author. Retrieved from
http://canadiansportforlife.ca/sites/default/files/resources/CS4L%20Resource%20Pa
per.pdf
Canadian Sport For Life. (2009). Canadian Sport For Life – LTAD Rectangle. Retrieved
from http://canadiansportforlife.ca/learn-about-canadian-sport-life/ltad-stages
Carabine, J. (2001). Unmarried motherhood 1830-1990: A genealogical analysis. In M.
Wetherell, S. Taylor & S.J. Yates (Eds.), Discourse as data: A guide for analysis
(pp. 267-310). London: Sage Publications.
196
Carless, D., & Douglas, K. (2013). Living, resisting, and playing the part of athlete:
Narrative tensions in elite sport. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 14(5), 701-708.
http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.lib.ucalgary.ca/10.1016/j.psychsport.2013.05.003
Carmichael, F., Duberley, J., & Szmigin, I. (2015). Older women and their participation
in exercise and leisure-time physical activity: the double edged sword of work. Sport
in Society, 18(1), 42-60. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17430437.2014.919261
Carstairs, S., & Keon, W. J. (2009). Canada's aging population: Seizing the opportunity.
Special Senate Committee on Aging Final Report. Canadian Senate, Ottawa.
Retrieved from
http://www.parl.gc.ca/ParlBusiness/Senate/Committees/splash/agei.htm
Cavanagh, A. (2007). Taxonomies of anxiety: Risks, panics, paedophilia and the internet.
Electronic Journal of Sociology, 1-16. Retrieved from
http://ezproxy.lib.ucalgary.ca/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?dire
ct=true&db=sih&AN=24818428&site=ehost-live
Chapman, S. A. (2005). Theorizing about aging well: Constructing a narrative. Canadian
Journal on Aging, 24(1), 9-18.
http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.lib.ucalgary.ca/10.1353/cja.2005.0004
Choi, N. G., DiNitto, D., & Kim, J. (2014). Discrepancy Between Chronological Age and
Felt Age: Age Group Difference in Objective and Subjective health as Correlates.
Journal of Aging and Health, 26(3), 458-473. doi:10.1177/0898264314523449
197
Christensen, K., Doblhammer, G., Rau, R., & Vaupel, J. W. (2009). Ageing populations:
the challenges ahead. The Lancet, 374(9696), 1196-1208. doi:10.1016/S0140-
6736(09)61460-4
Clarke, A., & Warren, L. (2007). Hopes, fears and expectations about the future: What do
older people's stories tell us about active ageing? Ageing and Society, 27(04), 465-
488. doi:10.1017/S0144686X06005824
Clow, B. (2013). The meaning of the healthy living discourse. In A.P Pederson, M.
Haworth-Brockman, B. Clow, H. Isfeld & A. Liwander (Eds.), Rethinking Women
and Healthy Living in Canada (pp. 33-50). British Columbia Centre of Excellence
for Women's Health Vancouver.
Coakley, J., & Donnelly, P. (2009). Issues and controversies: Sports in society (2nd
Canadian ed.). Toronto, ON: McGraw-Hill Ryerson.
Coakley, J., & Pike, E. (2014). Sports in Society: Issues and Controversies. London:
McGraw-Hill Ryerson.
Cockerham, W. C. (2007). Social causes of health and disease. Cambridge, MA: Polity.
Collinson, J. A., & Hockey, J. (2007). ‘Working Out’ Identity: Distance Runners and the
Management of Disrupted Identity. Leisure Studies, 26(4), 381-398.
doi:10.1080/02614360601053384
198
Comeau, G. S. (2013). The evolution of Canadian sport policy. International Journal of
Sport Policy and Politics, 5(1), 73-93. doi:10.1080/19406940.2012.694368
Cooper, P. (1998). The American marathon. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press.
Cousins, S. (1992). Perspectives on older adults in physical activity and sports.
Educational Gerontology, 18(5), 461-481.
Cruikshank, M. (2009). Learning to be old: Gender, culture, and aging. Lanham, MD:
Rowman & Littlefield.
Cumming, G. E., & Henry, W. W. (1961). Growing old, the process of disengagement.
New York, NY: Basic Books.
Dafoe, G. H. (1983). Foreword: Fitness for Canadians. Canadian Journal of Public
Health / Revue Canadienne De Sante'E Publique, 74(1), 1-45. Retrieved from
http://www.jstor.org/stable/i40093395
Davidson, A. (1986). Archaeology, genealogy, ethics. In D. Hoy (Ed.), Foucault: A
critical reader (1st ed. pp. 221-235). Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
Debra, J. R. (2003). Fall proof. A Comprehensive Balance and Mobility Training
Program. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
Denison, J. (2010). Planning, practice and performance: The discursive formation of
coaches' knowledge. Sport, Education and Society, 15(4), 461-478.
doi:10.1080/13573322.2010.514740
199
Denzin, N.K., & Lincoln, Y. S. (2002). The qualitative inquiry reader. London: Sage
Publications.
Dillaway, H. E., & Byrnes, M. (2009). Reconsidering successful aging: A call for
renewed and expanded academic critiques and conceptualizations. Journal of
Applied Gerontology, 28(6), 702-722. doi:10.1177/0733464809333882
Dionigi, R. A. (2004). Competing for life: Older people and competitive sport
(Unpublished Doctor of Philosophy) University of Newcastle.
Dionigi, R. A. (2005). A leisure pursuit that ″goes against the grain″: Older people and
competitive sport. Annals of Leisure Research, 8(1), 1-22.
doi:10.1080/11745398.2005.10600957
Dionigi, R. A. (2006a). Competitive sport as leisure in later life: Negotiations, discourse
and aging. Leisure Sciences, 28(2), 181-196. doi:10.1080/01490400500484081
Dionigi, R. A. (2006b). Competitive sport and aging: The need for qualitative
sociological research. Journal of Aging and Physical Activity, 14(4), 365-379.
Retrieved from
http://journals.humankinetics.com.ezproxy.lib.ucalgary.ca/AcuCustom/Sitename/Do
cuments/DocumentItem/6091.pdf
Dionigi, R. A. (2010). Masters sport as a strategy for managing the aging process. In J.
Baker, J. Horton & P. Weir (Eds.), The masters athlete: Understanding the role of
200
sport and exercise in optimizing aging (1st ed., pp. 137-156). New York, NY:
Routledge.
Dionigi, R. A., Horton, S., & Baker, J. (2013a). How do older masters athletes account
for their performance preservation? A qualitative analysis. Ageing & Society, 33(02),
297-319. doi:10.1017/S0144686X11001140
Dionigi, R. A., Horton, S., & Baker, J. (2013b). Negotiations of the ageing process:
Older adults' stories of sports participation. Sport, Education and Society, 18(3), 370-
387. doi:10.1080/13573322.2011.589832
Dionigi, R. A., & O’Flynn, G. (2007). Performance discourses and old age: What does it
mean to be an older athlete? Sociology of Sport Journal, 24(4), 359-377. Retrieved
from
http://journals.humankinetics.com.ezproxy.lib.ucalgary.ca/AcuCustom/Sitename/Do
cuments/DocumentItem/13777.pdf
Donnelly, P. (2013). Sport participation. In L. Thibault, & J. Harvey (Eds.), Sport policy
in Canada (1st ed., pp. 177-216). Ottawa, ON: University of Ottawa Press.
Dowling, M. (2014). Under new governance? Examining the role of Canadian sport for
life in sport policy and governance. (Unpublished Doctor of Philosophy) University
of Alberta, Edmonton, AB.
Dreyfus, H. L., & Rabinow, P. (1982). Michel Foucault: Beyond structuralism and
hermeneutics. Brighton: Harvester.
201
Dumas, A., & Laberge, S. (2005). Social class and ageing bodies: Understanding physical
activity in later life. Social Theory & Health, 3(3), 183-205.
doi:10.1057/palgrave.sth.8700056
Dumas, A., & Turner, B. S. (2006). Age and aging: The social world of Foucault and
Bourdieu. In J. L. Powell, & A. Wahidin (Eds.), Foucault and aging (pp. 145-157).
New York, NY: Nova Science Pub Incorporated.
Edley, N. (2001). Analysing masculinity: Interpretative repertoires, ideological dilemmas
and subject positions. In M. Wetherell, S. Taylor & S. Yates (Eds.) Discourse as
Data: A Guide for Analysis (pp.189-228). London: Sage Publications.
Ellis, C., & Berger, L. (2003). Their story/my story/our story: Including the researcher's
experience in interview research. In J. F. Gubrium, & J. A. Holstein (Eds.),
Postmodern interviewing (pp. 157-186). London: Sage Publications.
Estes. C. (2001). Social policy and aging: A critical perspective. London: Sage
Publications.
Faber, M. J., Bosscher, R. J., Paw, Marijke J Chin A, & Van Wieringen, P. C. (2006).
Effects of exercise programs on falls and mobility in frail and pre-frail older adults:
A multicenter randomized controlled trial. Archives of Physical Medicine and
Rehabilitation, 87(7), 885-896. doi:10.1016/j.apmr.2006.04.005
202
Falck, R. S., McDonald, S., Beets, M. Brazendale, K, & Liu-Ambrose, T. (2015).
Measurement of physical activity in older adult interventions: A systematic review.
British Journal of Sports Medicine, 0, 1-8. doi:10.1136/bjsports-2014-094413
Faircloth, C.A. (Ed.). (2003). Aging bodies: Images and everyday experience. Walnut
Creek, CA: AltaMira.
Fairclough, N. (2001). The discourse of new labour: Critical discourse analysis. In M.
Wetherell, S. Taylor & S.J. Yates (Eds.), Discourse as data: A guide for analysis
(pp. 229-266). London: Sage Publications.
Farquharson, D. (1981). A brief history of the Canadian masters athletic association. In
You’re Never Too Old. [Canadian Masters Athletics Association publication].
Retrieved from http://canadianmasters.ca/cmawp/wp-content/uploads/CMAA-
History.pdf
Featherstone, M., & Hepworth, M. (1991). The mask of aging and the postmodern life
course. In M. Featherstone, M. Hepworth & B. S. Turner (Eds.), The body: Social
process and cultural theory (pp. 371-389). London: Sage Publications.
Featherstone, M., & Hepworth, M. (1995). Images of positive aging: A case study of
retirement choice magazine. In M. Featherstone, A. Wernick (Eds.), Images of
Aging: Cultural representations of later life (pp. 29-48). London: Routledge.
Fell, J., & Williams, A. D. (2008). The effect of aging on skeletal-muscle recovery from
exercise: Possible implications for aging athletes. Journal of Aging and Physical
203
Activity, 16(1), 97-115. Retrieved from
http://journals.humankinetics.com.ezproxy.lib.ucalgary.ca/AcuCustom/Sitename/Do
cuments/DocumentItem/15298.pdf
Foucault, M. (1972). Archaeology of knowledge (translated by A.M. Sheridan Smith).
London and New York: Routledge. (French original published 1969; English
published 1972).
Foucault, M. (1978). The history of sexuality, volume. I: An introduction. New York, NY:
Vintage Books. (French original published 1976).
Foucault, M., (1987). Mental illness and psychology. Berkeley, CA: University of
California Press.
Foucault, M. (1977). Discipline and punish: The birth of the prison. New York, NY:
Pantheon. (French original published in 1975).
Foucault, M. (1991). Governmentality. In G. Burchell, C. Gordon & P. Miller (Eds.), The
Foucault effect. Studies in governmentality (pp. 87-104). London: Harvester
Wheatsheaf.
Foucault, M., & Gordon, C. (1980). Power knowledge: Selected interviews and other
writings, 1972-1977 (1 American ed.). New York, NY: Pantheon Books.
204
Foucault, M., Senellart, M., Ewald, F., & Fontana, A. (Eds.). (2009). Security, Territory,
Population: Lectures at the Collège de France 1977--1978 (Vol. 4). New York, NY:
Macmillan.
Frank, A. (1995). The wounded storyteller: Body, Illness, and ethics. Chicago, IL: The
University of Chicago Press.
Frank, A. (2010). Letting stories breathe: A socio-narratology. Chicago, IL: The
University of Chicago Press.
Fries, C. J. (2014). Older adults' use of complementary and alternative medical therapies
to resist biomedicalization of aging. Journal of Aging Studies, 28(0), 1-10.
http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.lib.ucalgary.ca/10.1016/j.jaging.2013.11.001
Frolich, K., & Poland, B. (2007). Points of intervention in health promotion practice. In
M. O’Neill, A. Pederson, S. Dupere & I. Rootman (Eds.), Health Promotion in
Canada: Critical Perspectives (2nd ed., pp. 46-60). Toronto, ON: Canadian Scholar’s
Press.
Gent, D. N., & Norton, K. (2013). Aging has greater impact on anaerobic versus aerobic
power in trained masters athletes. Journal of Sports Sciences, 31(1), 97-103.
doi:10.1080/02640414.2012.721561
Giddens, A. (1991). Modernity and Self-Identity: Self and society in the late modern age.
Cambridge: Polity Press.
205
Gilleard, C.J. (2002). The third age: Class, cohort or generation? Ageing and Society,
22(03), 369-382.
http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.lib.ucalgary.ca/10.1017/S0144686X0200870X
Gilleard, C., & Higgs, P. (2013). Key Issues in Modern Sociology: Ageing, Corporeality
and Embodiment. London, GBR: Anthem Press. Retrieved from
http://www.ebrary.com
Grant, B. C. (2001). ″You're never too old″: Beliefs about physical activity and playing
sport in later life. Ageing and Society, 21(6), 777-798.
http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.lib.ucalgary.ca/10.1017/S0144686X01008492
Grant, B. C. (2008). An insider's view on physical activity in later life. Psychology of
Sport & Exercise, 9(6), 817-829. doi:10.1016/j.psychsport.2008.01.003
Grant, B. C., & Kluge, M. A. (2007). Exploring "other body(s)" of knowledge: Getting to
the heart of the story about aging and physical activity. Quest, 59(4), 398-414.
doi:10.1080/00336297.2007.10483561
Grant, B.C,. & Kluge, M. A. (2012). Leisure and physical well-being. In H.J. Gibson and
J.F. Singleton (Eds.), Leisure and aging: Theory and practice (pp. 129-142).
Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
Grundy, P. (2000). From amazons to glamazons: The rise and fall of North Carolina
women's basketball, 1920-1960. The Journal of American History, 87(1), 112.
doi:10.2307/2567918
206
Gubrium, J. F., & Holstein, J. A. (Eds.). (2003). Postmodern interviewing. Thousand
Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Gullette, M. M. (1997). Declining to decline: Cultural combat and the politics of the
midlife. Charlottesville, VA: University Press of Virginia.
Gullette, M. M. (2004). Aged by culture. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Gullette, M. M. (2008). What exactly has age got to do with it? My life in critical age
studies. Journal of Aging Studies, 22(2), 189-195. doi:10.1016/j.jaging.2007.12.004
Gullette, M. M. (2011). Agewise: Fighting the new ageism in America. Chicago, IL:
University of Chicago Press.
Hall, M.A. (1996). Feminism and Sporting Bodies: Essays on Theory and Practice.
Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
Hall, M. A. (2002). The girl and the game: A history of women's sport in Canada (1st
ed.). Peterborough, ON: Broadview Press.
Hanson, H. M., Hoppmann, C. A., Condon, K., Davis, J., Feldman, F., Friesen, M., …
Ashe, M. (2014). Characterizing social and recreational programming in assisted
living. Canadian Journal on Aging, 33(3), 285-295.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0714980814000178
Hargreaves, J. (1994). Sporting females: Critical issues in the history and sociology of
women's sport. London: Routledge.
207
Hargreaves, J. (2000). Heroines of sport: The politics of difference and identity. London:
Routledge.
Harvey, J., Thibault, L., & Rail, G. (1995). Neo-corporatism: The political management
system in Canadian amateur sport and fitness. Journal of Sport & Social Issues,
19(3), 249-265. doi:10.1177/019372395019003003
Hastings, D. W., Kurth, S. B., Schloder, M., & Cyr, D. (1995). Reasons for participating
in a serious leisure career: Comparison of Canadian and US masters swimmers.
International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 30(1), 101-119.
doi:10.1177/101269029503000106
Havighurst, R. J. (1963). Successful aging. In R.H. Williams, C. Tibbits, & W. Donohue
(Eds.), Process of aging: Social and psychological perspectives (pp. 299-320). New
Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.
Healthy living kit for seniors. (1992). Health Promotion, 31(1), 28-30.
Henwood, F., Harris, R., & Spoel, P. (2011). Informing health? Negotiating the logics of
choice and care in everyday practices of ‘healthy living’. Social Science & Medicine,
72(12), 2026-2032. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2011.04.007
Hepworth, M. (1995). Positive aging: What is the message? In R. Bunton, S. Nettleton &
S. Burrows (Eds.), The sociology of health promotion: Critical analyses of
consumption, lifestyle and risk (pp. 176-190). London: Routledge.
208
Heuser, L. (2005). We're not too old to play sports: The career of women lawn bowlers.
Leisure Studies, 24(1), 45-60. doi:10.1080/0201436042000250131
Higgs, P. (2013). ‘Disturbances in the field’: The challenge of changes in ageing and later
life for social theory and health. Social Theory and Health, 11(3), 271-284.
doi:10.1057/sth.2013.13.
Higgs, P., Leontowitsch, M., Stevenson, F., & Jones, I. R. (2009). Not just old and sick –
the ‘will to health’ in later life. Ageing & Society, 29(05), 687-707.
doi:10.1017/S0144686X08008271
Hirvensalo, M., Heikkinen, E., Lintunen, T., & Rantanen, T. (2005). Recommendations
for and warnings against physical activity given to older people by health care
professionals. Preventative Medicine, 41, 342-347.
doi:10.1016/j.ypmed.2004.11.020.
Hodge, K., Allen, J.B., & Smellie, L. (2008). Motivation in masters sport: Achievement
and social goals. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 9, 157-176. doi:10.1016/j.psych-
sport.2007.03.002
Holstein, J. A., & Gubrium, J. F. (1995). The active interview. London: Sage
Publications.
Horton, S. (2010). Masters Athletes as Role Models? Combating Stereotypes of Aging. In
J. Baker, J. Horton & P. Weir (Eds.), The masters athlete: Understanding the role of
sport and exercise in optimizing aging (1st ed., pp. 122-136). London: Routledge.
209
Houston, C. J. (2008). An analysis of the Canadian federal policy on sport participation
and its impact on national sport organizations. (Unpublished Masters thesis) The
University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON.
Hui, E. K. H., & Rubenstein, L. Z. (2006). Promoting physical activity and exercise in
older adults. Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, 7(5), 310-314.
doi:10.1016/j.jamda.2006.03.006
Hurd, L. (2000). Older women's body image and embodied experience: An exploration.
Journal of Women & Aging, 12(3), 77-97. doi:10.1300/J074v12n03_06
Hurd-Clarke, L. (2011). Facing Age: Women growing older in anti-aging culture.
Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield.
Hurd-Clarke, L., & Bennett, E. V. (2013). Constructing the moral body: Self-care among
older adults with multiple chronic conditions. Health (London), 17(3), 211-228.
doi:10.1177/1363459312451181
Ingham, A. G., Chase, M. A., & Butt, J. (2002). From the performance principle to the
developmental principle: Every kid a winner? Quest, 54(4), 308-331.
doi:10.1080/00336297.2002.10491781
International Masters Games Association. (2010). Welcome to the IMGA. Retrieved from
http://www.imga.ch/
210
Interprovincial Sport and Recreation Council. (1987). National recreation statement.
Ottawa, ON: Author. Retrieved from http//lin.ca/Files/4467/statement.htm
Jette, S. (2009). Governing risk, exercising caution: Western medical knowledge,
physical activity and pregnancy. (Unpublished Doctor of Philosophy) University of
British Columbia, Vancouver, BC.
Jette, S., Vertinsky, P., & Ng, C. (2014). Balance and biomedicine: How Chinese
Canadian women negotiate pregnancy-related ‘risk’ and lifestyle directives. Health,
Risk & Society, 16(6), 494-511. doi:10.1080/13698575.2014.942603
Johnson, B., & Christensen, L. (2008). Educational research: Quantitative, qualitative,
and mixed approaches. London: Sage Publications.
Kahana, E., Kahana, B., & Kercher, K. (2003). Emerging lifestyles and proactive options
for successful ageing. Ageing International, 28(2), 155-180. Retrieved from
http://link.springer.com.ezproxy.lib.ucalgary.ca/article/10.1007/s12126-003-1022-8#
Katz, S. (1996). Disciplining old age: The formation of gerontological knowledge.
Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia Press.
Katz, S. (2000). Busy bodies: Activity, aging, and the management of everyday life.
Journal of aging studies, 14(2), 135-152. doi:10.1016/S0890-4065(00)80008-0
Katz, S. (2001). Growing older without aging? Positive aging, anti-ageism, and anti-
aging. Generations, 25(4), 27. Retrieved from
211
http://ezproxy.lib.ucalgary.ca/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?dire
ct=true&db=ofs&AN=510217224&site=ehost-live
Kaufman, S. R., Shim, J. K., & Russ, A. J. (2004). Revisiting the biomedicalization of
aging: Clinical trends and ethical challenges. The Gerontologist, 44(6), 731-738.
doi:10.1093/geront/44.6.731
Kemp, N. (2014). Coaching masters athletes. (Resource No. 1). Ottawa: Coaching
Association of Canada. Retrieved from
http://www.coach.ca/files/Coaching_Master_Athletes_FINAL_EN.pdf
Kennedy, E. & Markula, P. (2011). Women and exercise: The body, health and
consumerism. New York, NY: Routledge.
Kesäniemi, A., Riddoch, C. J., Reeder, B., Blair, S. N., & Sørensen, T. I. (2010). Review
advancing the future of physical activity guidelines in Canada: An independent
expert panel interpretation of the evidence. International Journal of Behavioural
Nutrition and Physical Activity, 7(41), 1-14. Retrieved from
http://www.biomedcentral.com.ezproxy.lib.ucalgary.ca/content/pdf/1479-5868-7-
41.pdf
Keysor, J. J. (2003). Does late-life physical activity or exercise prevent or minimize
disablement?: A critical review of the scientific evidence. American Journal of
Preventive Medicine, 25(3, Supplement 2), 129-136.
http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.lib.ucalgary.ca/10.1016/S0749-3797(03)00176-4
212
Kidd, B. (1996). The struggle for Canadian sport. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Kikulis, L. (2013). Contemporary policy issues in high performance sport. In L. Thibault,
& J. Harvey (Eds.), Sport policy in Canada (pp. 97-146). Ottawa, ON: University of
Ottawa Press.
Kimmerle, J., Gerbing, K., Thiel, A., & Cress, U. (2012). Exchange of complementary
and alternative medical knowledge in sport-related internet fora. Sociology of Sport
Journal, 29(3), 348-364. Retrieved from
http://journals.humankinetics.com.ezproxy.lib.ucalgary.ca/AcuCustom/Sitename/Do
cuments/DocumentItem/05_Kimmerle_SSJ_2012_0040-ej.pdf
Kirby, J., & Kluge, M. A. (2013). Going for the gusto: Competing for the first time at age
65. Journal of Aging and Physical Activity, 21, 290-308. Retrieved from
http://journals.humankinetics.com.ezproxy.lib.ucalgary.ca/AcuCustom/Sitename/Do
cuments/DocumentItem/04_Kirby%20JAPA_20120054_290-308-ej.pdf
Kleiber, D. A. (1999). Leisure experience and human development: A dialectical
approach. New York, NY: Basic Books.
Kvale, S. (1996). Interviews: An introduction to qualitative research interviewing.
Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Kvale, S., & Brinkmann, S. (2009). Interviews: Learning the craft of qualitative research
interviewing. London: Sage Publications.
213
Laliberte Rudman, D. (2006). Shaping the active, autonomous and responsible modern
retiree: An analysis of discursive technologies and their links with neo-liberal
political rationality. Ageing & Society, 26(02), 181- 201.
doi:10.1017/S0144686X05004253
Lalonde, M. (1974). Nouvell perspective de la sante des Canadians/ A new perspective
on the health of Canadians. Ottawa, ON: Health and Welfare Canada.
Laslett, P. (1991). A fresh map of life: The emergence of the third age. Harvard, MA:
First Harvard University Press.
Laz, C. (2003). Age embodied. Journal of Aging Studies, 17(4), 503-519.
doi:10.1016/S0890-4065(03)00066-5
Lewis, J. E., & Meredith, B. (1988). Daughters who care: Daughters caring for mothers
at home. London: Routledge.
Liechty, T., Dahlstrom, L., Sveinson, K., Son, J. S., & Rossow-Kimball, B. (2014).
Canadian men's perceptions of leisure time physical activity and the ageing body.
Qualitative research in sport, exercise and health, 6(1), 20-44.
doi:10.1080/2159676X.2012.712990
Llopis, E., & Padrón, M. (2007). The aging athlete. In F.M. Vanhoenacker, M. Mass & J.
Gielen (Eds.), Imaging of orthopedic sports injuries (pp. 449-466). Berlin: Springer.
214
Lorentzen, J. M. (2008). 'I know my own body': Power and resistance in women's
experiences of medical interactions. Body & Society, 14(3), 49-79.
doi:10.1177/1357034X08093572
Low, J., & Thériault, L. (2008). Health promotion policy in Canada: lessons forgotten,
lessons still to learn. Health Promotion International, 23(2), 200-206.
doi:10.1093/heapro/dan002
Lupton, D. (1999). Risk and sociocultural theory: New directions and perspectives.
Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Lupton, D. (2003). Medicine as culture: Illness, disease and the body in western societies
(2nd ed.). London: Sage Publications.
Macintosh, D., Bedecki, T., & Franks, C. E. S. (1987). Sport and politics in Canada:
Federal government involvement since 1961. Kingston, ON: McGill-Queen's
University Press.
Macintosh, D., & Whitson, D. (1990). The game planners: Transforming Canada’s sport
system. Montreal, QC: McGill-Queen's University Press.
MacNeill, M. (1999). Social marketing, gender, and the science of fitness. In P. White &
K. Young (Eds.), Sport and Gender in Canada (pp. 216-231). Don Mills, ON:
Oxford University Press.
215
Markula, P. (1995). Firm but shapely, fit but sexy, strong but thin: The postmodern
aerobicizing female bodies. Sociology of Sport Journal, 12(4), 424-453. Retrieved
from
http://ezproxy.lib.ucalgary.ca/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?dire
ct=true&db=sih&AN=10012156&site=ehost-live
Markula, P., & Pringle, R. (2006). Foucault, sport and exercise: Power, knowledge and
transforming the self. London: Routledge.
Marshall, V. W., & Altpeter, M. (2005). Cultivating social work leadership in health
promotion and aging: Strategies for active aging interventions. Health & Social
Work, 30(2), 135-144. Retrieved from
http://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.lib.ucalgary.ca/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA132851570
&v=2.1&u=ucalgary&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w&asid=dfb50e549bcd42f1f5730018fab
cc6b3
Martin, P., Kelly, N., Kahana, B., Kahana, E., J. Willcox, B., Willcox, D. C., & Poon, L.
W. (2014). Defining successful aging: A tangible or elusive concept? The
Gerontologist, 55(1), 14-25. doi:10.1093/geront/gnu044
Mason, M. (2010). Sample size and saturation in PhD studies using qualitative
interviews. Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 11(3), 1-19. Retrieved from
http://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/1428/3027
216
Mazzeo, R. S., & Tanaka, H. (2001). Exercise prescription for the elderly. Sports
Medicine, 31(11), 809-818. doi:10.2165/00007256-200131110-00003
McArdle, W. D., Katch, F. I., & Katch, V. L. (2010). Exercise physiology: Nutrition,
energy, and human performance. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
McDermott, L. (2011). Doing something that’s good for me”: Exploring intersections of
physical activity and health. In E. Kennedy & P. Markula (Eds.), Women and
Exercise: The Body, Health and Consumerism (pp.197-226). London: Routledge.
McFarland, E. (1970). The development of public recreation in Canada. Ottawa:
Canadian Parks/Recreation Association.
Medic, N. (2010). Understanding masters athletes’ motivation for sport. In J. Baker, S.
Horton & P. Weir (Eds.), The masters athlete: Understanding the role of sport and
exercise in optimizing aging (1st ed., pp. 105-121). London: Routledge.
Merrill, S. Bryant, C. & Green, D. (2014). ACE senior fitness manual. San Diego, CA:
American Council on Fitness.
Mills, D. (1998). Sport in Canada: Everybody’s business. Leadership, partnership and
accountability. Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, Sub-Committee on the
Study of Sport in Canada. Ottawa, ON: Government of Canada. Retrieved from
http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publications.aspx?DocID=1031530&Mode
=1&Parl=36&Ses=Language=E
217
Minkler, M., Blackwell, A. G., Thompson, M., & Tamir, H. (2003). Community-based
participatory research: Implications for public health funding. American Journal of
Public Health, 93(8), 1210-1213. doi:10.2105/AJPH.93.8.1210
Minkler, M., & Estes, C. L. (1991). Critical perspectives on aging: The political and
moral economy of growing old. Amityville, NY: Baywood Publishing Company.
Montepare, J.M., & Zebrowitz, L.A. (2002). A social-developmental view of ageism. In
T.D. Nelson (Ed.), Ageism: Stereotyping and prejudice against older persons (pp.
77-125). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Munro, J. (1970). A proposed Sports Policy for Canadians. Ottawa: Department of
National Health and Welfare.
Nelson, M. (2007). Physical activity and public health in older adults: Recommendation
from the American college of sports medicine and the American heart association.
Circulation, 116(9), 1094. doi:10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.107.185650
Nessel, E. H. (2004). The physiology of aging as it relates to sports. Journal of the
American Medical Athletic Association, 17(2), 12-17.
Nettleton, S., & Burrows, R. (1997). If health promotion is everybody's business what is
the fate of the health promotion specialist? Sociology of Health & Illness, 19(1), 23-
47. doi:10.1111/1467-9566.ep10934220
218
Norris, S. R. (2010). Long-term athlete development Canada: Attempting system change
and multi-agency cooperation. Current Sports Medicine Reports, 9(6), 379-382.
doi:10.1249/JSR.0b013e3181fe3c44
Oakley, A., (2007). Fracture: Adventures of a broken body. Bristol: The Policy Press.
Oakley, A. (1981). Interviewing women: A contradiction in terms. In H. Roberts (Ed.),
Doing Feminist Research (pp. 30-61). London: Routledge.
Oberg, E. B., Thomas, M. S., McCarty, M., Berg, J., Burlingham, B., & Bradley, R.
(2014). Older adults' perspectives on naturopathic medicine's impact on healthy
aging. Explore, 10(1), 34-43. doi:10.1016/j.explore.2013.10.003
O’Brien Cousins, S. (1995). Social support for exercise among elderly women in Canada.
Health Promotion International, 10(4), 273-282. doi:10.1093/heapro/10.4.273
O'Brien Cousins, S. (1998). Exercise, aging, and health: Overcoming barriers to an
active old age. Philadelphia, PA: Taylor & Francis.
O'Brien Cousins, S. (2000). My heart couldn't take it″: Older women's beliefs about
exercise benefits and risks. Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 55B(5),
283-294. doi:10.1093/geronb/55.5.P283
O’Brien Cousins, S. (2003a). A self-referent thinking model: How older adults may talk
themselves out of being physically active. Health Promotion Practice, 4(4), 439-
448. doi:10.1177/1524839903255417
219
O’Brien Cousins, S. (2003b). Seniors say the ‘darndest’ things about exercise: Quotable
quotes that stimulate applied gerontology. The Journal of Applied Gerontology, 22,
359-378. doi:10.1177/0733464803253588
O'Brien Cousins, S., Bell, G., Harber, V., & Horne, T. (1995). Active living among older
Canadians: A review and critical analysis of health benefits and outcomes. Ottawa:
Canadian Fitness and Lifestyle Research Institute.
O'Brien Cousins, S., & Edwards, K. (2002). Alice in menopauseland: The jabberwocky
of a medicalized middle age. Health Care for Women International, 23(4), 325-343.
doi:10.1080/0739933029008900
O’Brien Cousins, S. & Gillis, M. M. (2005). “Just do it… before you talk yourself out of
it”: The self-talk of adults thinking about physical activity. Psychology of Sport and
Exercise, 6(3), 313-334. doi:10.1016/j.psychsport.2004.03.001
O'Brien Cousins, S., & Horne, T. (1999). Active living among older adults: Health
benefits and outcomes. Philadelphia: Brunner/Mazel.
O’Brien Cousins, S. & Vertinsky, P. A. (1995). Recapturing the physical activity
experiences of the old: a study of three women. Journal of aging and physical
activity, 3(2), 146-162. Retrieved from
http://journals.humankinetics.com.ezproxy.lib.ucalgary.ca/AcuCustom/Sitename/Do
cuments/DocumentItem/8362.pdf
220
Oghene, O. P., McGannon, K. R., Schinke, R. J., Watson, S., & Quartiroli, A. (2015).
Understanding the meanings created around the aging body and sports through
media representations of elite masters athletes. Qualitative Research in Sport,
Exercise and Health, 7(5), 739-758. doi:10.1080/2159676X.2015.1033738
O'Neill, M., Pederson, A., Dupéré, S., & Rootman, I. (2007). Health promotion in
Canada: Critical perspectives (2nd ed). Toronto, ON: Canadian Scholars’ Press.
O'Neill, M., & Stirling, A. (2007). The promotion of health or health promotion. In M.
O’Neill, A. Pederson, S. Dupéré & I. Rootman (Eds.), Health promotion in Canada:
Critical perspectives (2nd ed. pp. 32-45). Toronto, ON: Canadian Scholars’ Press.
Pageot, J. C. (1989). Move through the years: A blueprint for action in the area of fitness
in the third age. Recreation Canada, 47(5), 24-27.
Paterson, D. H., & Warburton, D. E. (2010). Review physical activity and functional
limitations in older adults: A systematic review related to Canada’s physical activity
guidelines. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity,
7(38), 1-22. Retrieved from
http://www.biomedcentral.com.ezproxy.lib.ucalgary.ca/content/pdf/1479-5868-7-
38.pdf&embedded=true
Paulson, S. (2005). How various ‘cultures of fitness’ shape subjective experiences of
growing older. Ageing and Society, 25(02), 229-244.
http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.lib.ucalgary.ca/10.1017/S0144686X04002971
221
Paulson, S., & Willig, C. (2008). Older women and everyday talk about the ageing body.
Journal of Health Psychology, 13(1), 106-120. doi:10.1177/1359105307084316
Pederson, A. P., Haworth-Brockman, M., Clow, B., Isfeld, H., & Liwander, A. (2013).
Rethinking women and healthy living in Canada. British Columbia Centre of
Excellence for Women's Health Vancouver.
Pederson, A., Liwander, A., & Rice, W. (2013). Physical activity. In A.P Pederson, M.
Haworth-Brockman, B. Clow, H. Isfeld & A. Liwander (Eds.), Rethinking Women
and Healthy Living in Canada (pp. 143-164). British Columbia Centre of Excellence
for Women's Health Vancouver.
Pelkonen, M., Notkola, I., Lakka, T., Tukiainen, H. O., Kivinen, P., & Nissinen, A.
(2003). Delaying decline in pulmonary function with physical activity: A 25-year
follow-up. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, 168(4),
494-499. doi:10.1164/rccm.200208-954OC
Petersen, A. (1997). Risk, governance and the new public health. In A. Petersen, & R.
Bunton (Eds.), Foucault, Health and Medicine (pp.189-206). London: Routledge.
Peterson, S. L., Weber, J. C., & Trousdale, W. W. (1967). Personality traits of women in
team sports vs. women in individual sports. Research Quarterly. American
Association for Health, Physical Education and Recreation, 38(4), 686-690.
doi:10.1080/10671188.1967.10616513
222
Pfister, G. (2012). It is never too late to win – sporting activities and performances of
ageing women. Sport in Society, 15(3), 369-384.
doi:10.1080/17430437.2012.653206
Phoenix, C., & Grant, B. C. (2009). Expanding the agenda for research on the physically
active aging body. Journal of Aging and Physical Activity, 17, 362-379.
http://hdl.handle.net/10036/3887
Phoenix, C., & Griffin, M. (2013). Narratives at work: What can stories of older athletes
do? Ageing & Society, 33(02), 243-266. doi:10.1017/S0144686X11001103
Phoenix, C., Smith, B., & Sparkes, A. C. (2010). Narrative analysis in aging studies: A
typology for consideration. Journal of Aging Studies, 24(1), 1-11.
doi:10.1016/j.jaging.2008.06.003
Phoenix, C., & Sparkes, A. C. (2006). Young athletic bodies and narrative maps of aging.
Journal of Aging Studies, 20(2), 107-121. doi:10.1016/j.jaging.2005.06.002
Phoenix, C. & Sparkes, A. C. (2007). Sporting bodies, ageing, narrative mapping and
young team athletes: an analysis of possible selves, Sport, Education and Society,
12(1), 1-17. doi:10.1080/13573320601081468
Physical and Health Education Canada. (2010). What is physical literacy? Retrieved from
http://www.phecanada.ca/programs/physical -literacy/what-physical-literacy
223
Pickard, S. (2013). A new political anatomy of the older body? An examination of
approaches to illness in old age in primary care. Ageing & Society, 33(6), 964-987.
doi:10.1017/S0144686X12000293
Pike, E. C. (2011a). The active aging agenda, old folk devils and a new moral panic.
Sociology of Sport Journal, 28(2), 209-225. Retrieved from
http://ezproxy.lib.ucalgary.ca/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?dire
ct=true&db=s3h&AN=63308878&site=ehost-live
Pike, E.C. (2011b). Growing old disgracefully? The gender/aging/exercise nexus. In E.
Kennedy & P. Markula (Eds.), Women and Exercise: The Body, Health and
Consumerism (pp.180-196). London: Routledge.
Pike, E. C. (2015). Assessing the sociology of sport: On age and ability. International
Review for the Sociology of Sport, 50(4-5), 570-574.
doi:10.1177/1012690214550009
Polkinghorne, D. E. (2007). Validity issues in narrative research. Qualitative Inquiry,
13(4), 471-486. doi:10.1177/1077800406297670
Powell, J. L. (2006). Social theory and aging. Lanham, MA: Rowman & Littlefield
Publishers.
Powell, J. L. (2011). Aging and social policy: A Foucauldian excursion. New York, NY:
Nova Science Publishers.
224
Powell, J. L. (2013). Aging, Culture and Society: A Sociological Approach. Hauppauge,
NY: Nova Science Publishers, Inc. Retrieved from http://www.ebrary.com
Powell, J., & Biggs, S. (2000). Managing old age: The disciplinary web of power,
surveillance and normalization. Journal of Aging and Identity, 5(1), 3-13.
doi:10.1023/A:1009541314124
Powell, J. L., & Biggs, S. (2004). Ageing, technologies of self and bio-medicine: A
Foucauldian excursion. International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, 24(6),
17-29. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/01443330410790696
Powell, J. L., & Gilbert, T. (2009). Phenomenologies of aging - critical reflections. In J.
L. Powell, & T. Gilbert (Eds.), Aging identity: A dialogue with postmoderninsm (1st
ed., pp. 5-17). Hauppauge, NY: Nova Science Publishers Inc.
Powell, J. L., & Longino Jr, C. F. (2001). Towards the postmodernization of aging: The
body and social theory. Journal of Aging and Identity, 6(4), 199-207.
doi:10.1023/A:1012945309105
Powell, J. L., & Wahidin, A. (2006). Foucault and aging. New York, NY: Nova Science
Publishers.
Pringle, R. (2007). Social theory for coaches: A Foucauldian reading of one athlete's poor
performance A commentary. International Journal of Sports Science and Coaching,
2(4), 385-393. http://dx.doi.org/10.1260/174795407783359641
225
Prohaska, T., Belansky, E., Belza, B., Buchner, D., Marshall, V., McTigue, K. & Wilcox,
S. (2006). Physical activity, public health, and aging: Critical issues and research
priorities. The Journals of Gerontology. Series B, Psychological Sciences and Social
Sciences, 61(5), S267-273. Retrieved from
http://psychsocgerontology.oxfordjournals.org.ezproxy.lib.ucalgary.ca/content/61/5/
S267.full#cited-by
Public Health Agency of Canada. (2005). The integrated pan-Canadian healthy living
strategy 2005. Ottawa, ON: Government of Canada.
Public Health Agency of Canada. (2006). Healthy Aging in Canada: A New Vision, A
Vital Investment. From Evidence to Action. Ottawa, ON: Government of Canada.
Retrieved from http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/seniors-aines/alt-formats/pdf/
publications/pro/healthy-sante/haging_newvision/vision-rpt_e.pdf
Rathwell, S., & Young, B. W. (2014). Modeling commitment and compensation: a case
study of a 52-year-old masters athlete. Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and
Health, 7(5), 718-738. doi:10.1080/2159676X.2014.981572
Rea, H. (1969). Report of the task force on sports for Canadians. Ottawa, ON:
Department of National Health and Welfare.
Reed, J., Cook, G., Childs, S., & Hall, A. (2003). Getting old is not for cowards:
Comfortable, healthy aging. Joseph Rowntree Foundation. Retrieved from
https://www.jrf.org.uk/report/getting-old-not-cowards-comfortable-healthy-ageing
226
Reinhardt, U. E. (2003). Does the aging of the population really drive the demand for
health care? Health Affairs, 22(6), 27-39. doi:10.1377/hlthaff.22.6.27
Ritzer, G. (1996). Modern Sociological Theory. New York, NY: McGraw Hill.
Robertson, V. J., & Baker, K. G. (2001). A review of therapeutic ultrasound:
Effectiveness studies. Physical Therapy, 81(7), 1339-1350. Retrieved from
http://ptjournal.apta.org/content/81/7/1339.full.pdf+html
Roach-Pierson, R. (1991). Experience, difference, dominance and voice in the writing of
Canadian women's history. In K. Offen & Roach Peirson, R. (Eds.), Writing
Women’s History: International Perspectives (pp. 79-96). Basingstoke, UK:
Macmillan.
Ronkainen, N. J., Ryba, T. V., & Nesti, M. S. (2013). ‘The engine just started coughing!’
— limits of physical performance, aging and career continuity in elite endurance
sports. Journal of Aging Studies, 27(4), 387-397.
http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.lib.ucalgary.ca/10.1016/j.jaging.2013.09.001
Rose, D. (2003). Fall proof: A comprehensive balance and mobility training program.
Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
Rowe, J. W., & Kahn, R. L. (1987). Human aging: Usual and successful. Science,
237(4811), 143-149.
227
Rowe, J. W., & Kahn, R. L. (1998). Successful aging (1st ed.). New York, NY: Pantheon
Books.
Safai, P. (2003). Healing the body in the 'culture of risk': Examining the negotiations of
treatment between sport medicine clinicians and injured athletes in Canadian
intercollegiate sport. Sociology of Sport Journal, 20(2), 127-146. Retrieved from
http://ezproxy.lib.ucalgary.ca/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?dire
ct=true&db=sih&AN=10072314&site=ehost-live
Safai, P. (2007). A critical analysis of the development of sport medicine in Canada,
1955-80. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 42(3), 321-341.
doi:10.1177/1012690207088115
Schroots, J. J., & Birren, J. E. (1990). Concepts of time and aging in science. In J. E.
Birren, & K. W. Schaie (Eds.), The handbook of the psychology of aging (3rd ed.,
pp. 45-64). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
Secretariat for Fitness in the Third Age. (1989). Move through the years: A blueprint for
action. Ottawa, ON: Government of Canada.
Segall, A., & Fries, C. J. (2011). Pursuing health and wellness: Healthy societies, healthy
people. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Seidman, S. (1994). The postmodern turn: New perspectives on social theory.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
228
Seniors and active living. (1994). Health Promotion in Canada, 32(3), 7-8.
Shilling, C. (1993). The body and social theory (1st ed.). London: Sage Publications.
Shim, J. K., Russ, A. J., & Kaufman, S. R. (2006). Risk, life extension and the pursuit of
medical possibility. Sociology of health & illness, 28(4), 479-502.
doi:10.1111/j.1467-9566.2006.00502.x
Shogan, D. A. (1999). The making of high-performance athletes: Discipline, diversity,
and ethics. Toronto, ON: University of Toronto Press.
Sparkes, A. (2002). Telling tales in sport and physical activity: A qualitative journey.
Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics Publishers.
Special Senate Committee on Aging. (2009). Canada’s aging population: Seizing the
opportunity. Final Report. Ottawa, ON: Government of Canada. Retrieved from
http://www.parl.gc.ca/Content/SEN/Committee/402/agei/rep/AgingFinalReport-
e.pdf
Spirduso, W. W., Francis, K. L., & MacRae, P. G. (2005). Physical dimensions of aging.
Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
Statistics Canada. (2007). Canadian community health survey: detailed information for
2007 (cycle 4.1). Ottawa, ON: Statistics Canada. Retrieved from
http://ww23.statcan.gc.ca:81/imdb/p2SV.pl?Function=getSurvey&Survld=3226&Su
229
rvVer=0&InstaId=15282&InstaVer=4&SDDS=3226&lang=eng&db=imdb&adm=8
&dis=2
Statistics Canada. (2011). The Canadian Population in 2011: Age and Sex. Ottawa, ON:
Statistics Canada. Retrieved from http://www12.statcan.ca/census-
recensement/2011/as-sa/98-311-x2011001-eng.cfm
Stebbins, R. A. (2001). Serious leisure. Society, 38(4), 53-57. doi:10.1007/s12115-001-
1023-8
Strain, L. A., Grabusic, C. C., Searle, M. S., & Dunn, N. J. (2002). Continuing and
Ceasing Leisure Activities in Later Life A Longitudinal Study. The Gerontologist,
42(2), 217-223. doi:10.1093/geront/42.2.217
Taylor, S. (2001a). Locating and conducting discourse analytic research. In M. Wetherell,
S. Taylor & S.J. Yates (Eds.), Discourse as data: A guide for analysis (pp. 5-48).
London: Sage Publications.
Taylor, S. (2001b). Evaluating and applying discourse analytic research. In M. Wetherell,
S. Taylor & S.J. Yates (Eds.), Discourse as data: A guide for analysis (pp. 311-330).
London: Sage Publications.
Taylor, A. H., Cable, N. T., Faulkner, G., Hillsdon, M., Narici, M., & van, d. B. (2004).
Physical activity and older adults: A review of health benefits and the effectiveness
of interventions. Journal of Sports Sciences, 22(8), 703-725.
doi:10.1080/02640410410001712421
230
The Secretariat for the Intersectorial Healthy Living Network. (2005). The integrated
pan-Canadian healthy living strategy. Ottawa: Public Health Agency of Canada.
Retrieved from http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/hp-ps/hl-mvs/ipchls-
spimmvs/pdf/ipchls-spimmvs-
Theberge, N. (2007). 'It's not about health, it's about performance' sport medicine, health,
and the culture of risk in Canadian sport. In J. Hargreaves, & P. Vertinsky (Eds.),
Physical culture, power, and the body (1st ed., pp. 176-194). London: Routledge.
Thibault, L., & Harvey, J. (2013a). Sport policy in Canada. Ottawa, ON: University of
Ottawa Press.
Thibault, L., & Harvey, J. (2013b). The evolution of federal sport policy from 1960 to
today. In L. Thibault, & J. Harvey (Eds.), Sport policy in Canada (pp. 11-36).
Ottawa, ON: University of Ottawa Press.
Thorpe, H. (2011). Snowboarding bodies in theory and practice. New York, NY:
Palgrave Macmillan.
Tremblay, M. S., Warburton, D. E., Janssen, I., Paterson, D. H., Latimer, A. E., Rhodes,
R. E., & Zehr, L. (2011). New Canadian physical activity guidelines. Applied
Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, 36(1), 36-46. doi:10.1139/H11-009
Tulle, E. (2003). The bodies of veteran elite runners. In Faircloth, C. A. (Ed.). Aging
bodies: Images and everyday experience. (pp. 229-258). Walnut Creek, CA:
AltaMira.
231
Tulle, E. (2008a). Acting your age? Sports science and the ageing body. Journal of Aging
Studies, 22(4), 340-347. doi:10.1016/j.jaging.2008.05.005
Tulle, E. (2008b). The ageing body and the ontology of ageing: Athletic competence in
later life. Body & Society, 14(3), 1-19. doi:10.1177/1357034X08093570
Tulle, E. (2008c). Ageing, the body and social change: Running in later life. New York,
NY: Palgrave Macmillan.
Turner, B. S. (1992). Regulating bodies: Essays in medical sociology. London:
Routledge.
Turner, B. S. (1995). Aging and identity: Some reflections on the somatization of the self.
In Featherstone M., Wernick A. (Eds.), Images of Aging: Cultural representations of
later life (pp. 249-287). London: Routledge.
Turner, B. S. (1996). The body in society: Explorations in social theory. London: Sage.
Turner, B. S. (2004). The new medical sociology: Social forms of health and illness. New
York, NY: W.W. Norton.
Van Heuvelen, M. J., Kempen, G. I., Ormel, J., & Rispens, P. (1998). Physical fitness
related to age and physical activity in older persons. Medicine and Science in Sports
and Exercise, 30(3), 434-441. doi:10.1097/00005768-199803000-00015
232
Vertinsky, P. (1992). Sport and exercise for old women: Images of the elderly in the
medical and popular literature at the turn of the century. The International Journal of
the History of Sport, 9(1), 83-104. doi:10.1080/09523369208713781
Vertinsky, P. (1994). The eternally wounded woman: Women, doctors, and exercise in
the late nineteenth century. Chicago, IL: University of Illinois Press.
Vertinsky, P. (1995). Stereotypes of aging women and exercise: A historical perspective.
Journal of Aging and Physical Activity, 3, 223-237. Retrieved from
http://journals.humankinetics.com.ezproxy.lib.ucalgary.ca/AcuCustom/Sitename/Do
cuments/DocumentItem/8441.pdf
Vertinsky, P. (1998). Run, Jane, Run: Tensions in the current debate about enhancing
women’s health through exercise. Women and Health, 27(4), 81-111.
doi:10.1300/J013v27n04_06
Vertinsky, P., & Job, C. (2006). Breaking traditions, and swimming out of place:
Gertrude Ederle and the greatest sports story in the world. Stadion: International
Journal of the History of Sport, 31(1), 111-135.
Vincent, J. A. (2006). Ageing contested: Anti-ageing science and the cultural
construction of old age. Sociology, 40(4), 681-698. doi:10.1177/0038038506065154
Verbrugge, M. (2002). Gender, science & fitness: Perspectives on women’s exercise in
the United States in the 20th century. Health & History, 4(1): 52-72. Retrieved from
http://www.jstor.org/stable/40111421
233
Wacquant, L. (1992). Toward a social praxeology: The structure and logic of Bourdieu's
sociology. In P. Bourdieu, & L. J. Wacquant (Eds.), An invitation to reflexive
sociology (pp. 1-59). Oxford: Blackwell.
Wainwright, S. P., & Turner, B. S. (2006). 'Just crumbling to bits'? an exploration of the
body, ageing, injury and career in classical ballet dancers. Sociology, 40(2), 237-255.
doi:10.1177/0038038506062031
Wall, K. L. (2012). Game plan: A social history of sport in Alberta. Edmonton:
University of Alberta Press.
Wallace, J. B. (1994). Life stories. In J. F. Gubrium, & A. Sankar (Eds.), Qualitative
methods in aging research (1st ed., pp. 137-154). Thousand Oaks, California: Sage
Publications.
Warriner, K., & Lavallee, D. (2008). The retirement experiences of elite female
gymnasts: Self identity and the physical self. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology,
20(3), 301-317. doi:10.1080/10413200801998564
Weir, P., Baker, J., & Horton, S. (2010). The emergence of masters sport: Participatory
trends and historical developments. In J. Baker, J. Horton & P. Weir (Eds.), The
masters athlete: Understanding the role of sport and exercise in optimizing aging
(1st ed., pp. 7-14). London: Routledge.
234
Wilson, D.M., Osei-Waree, J., Hewitt, J.A. & Broad, A. (2012). Canadian provincial,
territorial, and federal government aging policies: A systematic review. Advances in
Aging Research, 1(2), 38-46. doi:10.4236/aar.2012.12005
World Health Organization. (1986). Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion. Ottawa:
World Health Organization, Health and Welfare Canada, Canadian Public Health
Association.
World Health Organization. (2002). Active ageing: A policy framework. World Health
Organization.
Zola, I. (1972). Medicine as an instrument of social control. Sociological Review, 20(4),
487-504. doi:10.1111/j.1467-954X.1972.tb00220.x
235
Appendices
Appendix A: Recruitment Flyer
Women Changing the Culture of Sport
• Are you a female athlete between the ages of 60-75 years of age?
• Do you compete regularly in vigorous physical activity at the master’s level?
• Do you maintain competitive standards/times in your sport?
• Do you have a coach and/or regularly scheduled training program?
• Have you sustained an injury from training or participating in your sport?
If you answered yes to any of these questions then you may be eligible to participate in a
study being conducted in the faculty of Kinesiology at the University of Calgary. Your
perspectives on sports participation among aging women will help researchers to develop
sport participation models and health interventions for aging women.
Participation is minimal and consists of a brief interview with Christiane Job a doctoral
student in the faculty of Kinesiology.
Please contact Christiane at ________________
Department Dr. Doug Brown: ___________ Christiane Job: (403) 220 - 7749
Email: ___________
236
Appendix B: Consent Form
TITLE: Women Changing the Culture of Sport: A Narrative
Analysis of Aging Women’s experiences as Athletes
SPONSOR: Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of
Canada
INVESTIGATORS: Dr. Douglas A. Brown
Christiane Job, Ph.D.
(student)
BACKGROUND The research is being conducted by Christiane Job, a graduate student in the Faculty of Kinesiology at the University of Calgary, as part of her doctoral dissertation. Her supervisors, Dr. Douglas Brown, an associate professor in the Faculty of Kinesiology at the University of Calgary and Dr. Patricia Vertinsky, a professor in the School of Human Kinetics at UBC, are overseeing the project. The results from this study will potentially help researchers and practitioners create effective health promotion messages and exercise programs for aging women. The information generated by the project may also be used by policy makers to increase physical fitness and sporting opportunities for groups of women who face barriers to participation.
Department Dr. Doug Brown: ___________ Christiane Job: (403) 220-7749
Email:____________
237
WHAT WOULD I HAVE TO DO?
Your perspectives on sports participation among aging women and experiences communicating this information will be extremely helpful and appreciated as we explore the issues mentioned above. The interview will take approximately 45 min and will be conducted at your place of work, or another convenient location. Most of the questions are fairly general and related to your specific experiences. The interview will be audio recorded on a digital recorder. This will be a semi-structured interview and you will be provided with potential questions prior to our initial meeting. You may be asked to participate in a second interview. The audiotapes will be converted into written transcripts.
WHAT ARE THE RISKS?
This method of research will cause no physical or psychological discomfort and inconveniences for the participants.
WILL I BENEFIT IF I TAKE PART?
If you agree to participate in this study there may or may not be a direct benefit to you. The information we get from this study may help us to provide more informed exercise and physical activity prescriptions for aging women. Your participation will help to enhance our understanding of exercise for aging women and will contribute to the body of knowledge in this area.
WILL I BE PAID FOR PARTICIPATING, OR DO I HAVE TO PAY FOR ANYTHING?
As a participant in this study, you will not be compensated for expenses incurred because of this study. Expenses such as parking will be reimbursed by the co-investigator at the time of the interview.
WILL MY RECORDS BE KEPT PRIVATE?
The co-investigator will transcribe verbal information that is shared during the interview process. The audio files and the transcripts from the data will be secured by password on a computer and stored for five years and then erased. The transcripts will be kept private and you will be provided with a pseudonym for the duration of the data analysis and in any research publications that may result from this research. As this is a small sample size there is a possibility that participants may be able to identify themselves or other participants in published data. Consent forms (see below) will be kept separately from the interview material in a sealed envelope and locked file. The University of Calgary Conjoint Health Research Ethics Board will have access to the records.
238
SIGNATURES Your signature on this form indicates that you have understood to your satisfaction the information regarding participation in the research project and agree to participate as a subject. In no way does this waive your legal rights nor release the investigators, sponsors, or involved institutions from their legal and professional responsibilities. You are free to withdraw from the study at any time without jeopardizing your health care. Your continued participation should be as informed as your initial consent, so you should feel free to ask for clarification or new information throughout your participation. If you have further questions concerning matters related to this research, please contact: Douglas A. Brown ______________ or Christiane Job (403) 220-7749 If you have any questions concerning your rights as a possible participant in this research, please contact The Director, Office of Medical Bioethics, University of Calgary, at 403-220-7990.
Participant’s Name Signature and Date
Investigator/Delegate’s Name Signature and Date
Witness’ Name Signature and Date
A copy of this consent form has been given to you to keep for your records and reference
239
Appendix C: Letter of Introduction
Letter of Introduction (Request for Interview)
Women Changing the Culture of Sport: A Narrative Analysis of Aging Women’s experiences as Athletes Date _________________
Dear _________________ participant name,
My name is Christiane Job and I am a doctoral candidate in the faculty of Kinesiology at the University of Calgary. I am writing you to invite you to participate in a study I am conducting for my doctoral dissertation. The research entails an examination of medical knowledge about sporting practices for aging women and includes: 1) an analysis of medical texts and popular literature about vigorous exercise, sports participation and competitive sporting practices for aging women between the ages of 60-75 published over the last several decades and 2) interviews with women who participate in vigorous training regimes and compete in masters sport competitions, as well as medical doctors and coaches who support their bodies throughout these practices. If you agree to participate, you will be interviewed by myself for approximately 45-90 minuets at a location of your choosing. I appreciate that you are very busy and I will ensure that the interview is convenient and efficient. The interview will examine your perspectives on sport for aging women and your experiences as someone who engages in this type of activity regularly or works with individuals who participate in this type of activity. The research will help me to gain a fuller understanding about current ideas about vigorous activities and sports participation for aging women, and help me to identify barriers to sport participation that some women may encounter as they age. Findings will be used to help guide the creation of exercise and sport participation models for women in Canada.
Department Dr. Doug Brown: _____________
Christiane Job: (403) 220 - 7749 Email: _____________
240
An Information Sheet and Consent Form is attached. If you would like to participate, please contact me at (403) 220-7749 or by email ________. Your participation would be most appreciated. I look forward to hearing from you. Sincerely yours, Christiane Job Doctoral Candidate
241
Appendix D: Potential Interview Questions
Potential Interview Questions
(sub-points are probes for the interviewer)
Interview Questions For Athletes
1. Background Information How long have you been participating in competitive sports? What type of training do you currently participate?
• How often? • Types of activities, regime/schedule?
Do you have a coach? Do you train with peers? How has your participation in sport changed as you have aged? 2. Athletic Identity What does “aging” mean to you?
• Is this different than “old” • Are there different stereotypes about aging athletes? • What do these stereotypes mean to you?
Do you think about your age when you participate in sport? How do you measure your ability?
• Has this changed as you have aged? • Does this impact your understanding of yourself as an athlete?
Do you consider yourself to be an athlete?
• Is this understanding of yourself as an athlete different than your understanding of self as an older person?
• Describe what an athlete is/looks like? • Can you identify ways you express your sporting identity (clothing,
groups, networks, other hobbies/interests)? How do you describe your sporting pursuits to people outside of your sporting circle? How has participation in sport affected your lifestyle?
• Are there ways that you dress, act and socialize that reflect your athletic identity?
242
3. Athletic/Sporting Experiences Can you identify any risks or benefits associated with sport participation at your age? Where do you get your information about training and physical health as you age?
• Is this information easily obtained? • Do you consider yourself to be in tune with your body? • How important is this outside information for both your general
understanding and your training/competition practices? How does advice differ between your doctor and your coach?
• Who’s advice is more important? • Do you listen to their advice?
Have you ever been injured while training or in competition?
• How did you know you were injured? • Have you experienced more/different types of injuries as you have aged? • Has this hindered or enhanced your understanding of your body?
How did you treat your injuries?
• Have you fully recovered? • How does age affect your recovery?
Are there any important questions about sport for aging women that I have not asked? Any other comments? Interview Questions for Medical Professionals
1. Background Information Would you please tell me about your medical training and background?
• Where and When did you receive Medical School • Experience • Specialization • In what capacity have you worked with aging athletes?
Were there any principles (or doctrinal theories) about sport participation and aging when you first started your career?
• When you first started your practice what type of information did you provide to aging women athletes?
• Has this changed over your career? • How did this advice compare to general ideas in the medical community at
that time?
243
2. Expertise and Recommendations How often does the topic of sport and exercise come up with your patients?
• Do women ever ask for advice about enhancing their sporting activities? • If not, then why is sport participation not a popular subject?
What advice do you usually give women between the ages of 55-75 who participate in vigorous exercise regularly?
• What types of activities do you recommend? • What do you not recommended? • What is your response to how much? And how intense?
Does your advice vary depending on their fitness levels and experience?
• Do the women take your advice? • Can you recall instances where women do not follow your advice?
In your experience can you identify where these women get information about training?
• What is your role as a medical professional? • What other sources exist (coaches)? Do they conflict? • How informed do you think these women are?
Do you see women who come with sport specific injuries or illnesses?
• How do you interpret their intensity of sport participation? What types of injuries do you see most often with this group?
• Are these injuries associated with their aging bodies or training regimes? • How does the body recover from injury as one ages?
From your perspective how does participation change as women age? Are there techniques you suggest to help maintain the body for vigorous sports participation?
• Are there precautions women should take? • Alternative forms of therapies?
Is there a particular type of person who is most likely to continue to participate in sport throughout their lifetime?
• Do these individuals consider themselves to be athletes? • Do you consider them to be athletes?
Would you recommend vigorous sports activities to your patients as they age?
244
Are there any important questions about sport for aging women that I have not asked? Any other comments? Interview Questions for Coaches
1. Background Information Would you please tell me about your sport training and coaching background?
• Athletic experiences • Specialization – Aging Athletes or sport specific
Can you Please describe your role as a coach
• What you do? • Do you design training programs? • How much time do you spend with your athletes?
How have ideas about sport participation and aging changed within the sporting community during the time you have been a coach?
• What were you your initial understandings about the aging athlete? • When you first started coaching what type of information did you
provide? • How did this advice compare to general ideas in the sporting community
at that time? • Has your advice and training regimes changed?
2. Expertise and Recommendations Can you highlight some of the risks and benefits associated with sport participation and vigorous training for aging athletes? Do aging athletes require a different coaching style?
• How does your advice differ? • How are their programs different?
Is success measured differently as one ages? What advice do you usually give women between the ages of 55-75 who participate in vigorous exercise regularly?
• What are the most common concerns with this population? • What types of activities do you recommend? • What do you not recommended? • What is your response to how much? And how intense?
Are aging athletes open to your suggestions?
• Have you experienced resistance to your advice?
245
Does your advice vary depending on their fitness levels and experience? 3. Knowledge Transfer and Information Sources Where do you get your information about training strategies and practices for aging women? In your experience can you identify where these women get information about training?
• What is the role of doctors? • What other sources exist? Do they conflict? • How informed do you think these athletes are?
What types of injuries do you see most often with this group?
• Are these injuries associated with their aging bodies or training regimes? • How does the body recover from injury as one ages?
From your perspective how does participation change as women age? Are there techniques you suggest to help maintain the body for vigorous sports participation?
• Are there precautions women should take? • Alternative forms of therapies?
Is there a particular type of person who is most likely to continue to participate in sport throughout their lifetime?
• Do these individuals consider themselves to be athletes? • Do you consider them to be athletes?
Are there any important questions about sport for aging women that I have not asked? Any other comments?
246
Appendix E: Alberta Sport Organizations
Sport Web Site
Athletics http://www.athleticsalberta.com/ http://www.calgaryspartans.com/ http://greyhoundstrack.com/
Badminton http://www.badmintonalberta.ca/ Basketball Calgary Women’s Basketball
http://www.cwbasketball.com/league.php?scriptName=HOME&leagueID=5274
Curling Premier Super League Calgary http://www.calgarycurling.com/ http://www.albertacurling.ab.ca/
Fastball Calgary Industrial League http://cisafastpitch.com/
Field Hockey http://fieldhockey.ab.ca/ Hockey http://www.hockeyalberta.ca/index.php?ci_id=302860 Swimming http://cmsc.ab.ca/ Alpine http://albertaalpine.ca/about/contact-us/ Biathlon http://www.biathlon.ca/ NetBall http://www.netballalberta.com/ Ringette http://www.ringettealberta.com/ Running http://www.calgaryroadrunners.com/ Soccer Calgary Classics
http://www.womensoccer.ab.ca/ http://www.albertasoccer.com/
Speed Skating http://www.albertaspeedskating.ca/ Synchronized Swimming
http://www.calgaryaquamums.ca/index.htm http://www.synchroalberta.com/
Triathlon http://www.triathlon.ab.ca/ Volleyball http://www.albertavolleyball.com/ Water Polo Calgary Masters Splash
http://www.albertawaterpolo.ca/
Sport Organization Web Site Alberta Sport Connection http://www.albertasport.ca/ Alberta 55 Plus https://www.alberta55plus.ca/ In Motion Network Alberta http://www.inmotionetwork.org/
