Clayton, Daniel (2019) “You live together, you train together, you play together, you drink together” : an investigation of transition in British university sport. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

University sports teams represent unique social environments where new members must not only find their place among teammates but also grapple with the challenges associated with starting university. For students this period is fraught with uncertainty, opportunity and a need to belong. Membership of a university sports team can be seen as relevant to all three. Situated at the interface of applied linguistics, social psychology and sport this project seeks to investigate the experiences of students joining such teams as a means of illuminating a hitherto under-researched context: transition in university sport teams and specifically a male football team.

The interdisciplinary design of the project necessitated a broad, cross-disciplinary review of the available work which, in turn, provides a holistic understanding of the researched phenomenon. Drawing on data collected from members of a British university team over a period of three years this thesis aims to provide detailed insights into the complexities and nuances of transition as an ongoing process. Framing the team as a Community of Practice (Wenger 1998), 23 semi-structured interviews were conducted with participants representing different annual intakes of “freshers” (first-year players) and senior players. Participant stories were analysed using both thematic and narrative analysis tools.

The results illustrate the individual nature of transitions; drawing on the findings I argue that the exact nature of a player’s transition to the team is determined by their degree of socialisation through participation in community practice. Hence, transition to the team is not viewed simply as either successful or not successful but specific to an individual’s lived social reality. Indeed, the data show that the team constitutes a highly complex social structure that new players are required to navigate. Team practice is predicated on normative masculine behaviours enacted in a laddish guise, e.g. heavy drinking, risk taking, banter, etc. At the same time, member initiations to traditions, rituals and stories and their perpetuating or challenging them, leads to perpetuating or changing the team’s dominant norms. In concluding the thesis, I will present a model of transition that accounts for socialisation, participation and practice, and constructs transitional experience as fluid and ongoing.

Item Type:	Thesis or Dissertation (PhD)
Subjects:	G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GV Recreation Leisure
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	College sports -- Sociological aspects -- Great Britain, Sports teams -- Sociological aspects -- Great Britain, College students -- Great Britain -- Attitudes
Official Date:	September 2019
Dates:	Date Event September 2019 UNSPECIFIED
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Centre for Applied Linguistics
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Angouri, Jo ; File, Kieran
Format of File:	pdf
Extent:	viii, 223 leaves : colour illustrations
Language:	eng

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