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A QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS OF LATINAS IN COLLEGIATE SOFTBALL
By

Katherine Marie Jamieson

A DISSERTATION
Submitted to
Michigan State University
In partial fulﬁllment of the requirements
for the degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
Department of Kinesiology

l 999

ABSTRACT
A QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS OF LATINAS IN COLLEGIATE SOFTBALL
By

Katherine Marie J amieson

Relying on the framework of multiracial feminism (Baca Zinn & Dill, 1994) and
Gerson’s (1985) developmental analysis, this research explores how a select group of
Latinas made decisions about sport involvement. More speciﬁcally, the collegiate
athletic paths of a select group of Latinas are analyzed as a product of their experiences
within larger structural and cultural conditions. The application of these frameworks is
especially relevant for studying the experiences of women in Latino families who face
varied constraining and enabling conditions along what are often unconventional paths
toward collegiate softball.

Among the ﬁndings in the present research were a) women in Latino/a families do
receive familial support for sport involvement, b) women in Latino/a families face varied
forms of structural disadvantage that inﬂuence decisions about involvement in sport,

c) school personnel may hold beliefs about Latina educational and career advancement
that influence the guidance Latinas receive for transitioning from high school to college,

and d) collegiate softball is a social structure organized around inequalities of race, class

and sexuality.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

There are so many people and organizations that have contributed to the
completion of this project. I only hope that if I have left any one entity from this formal
page that I have somehow communicated my genuine appreciation for their support in a
more personal way during the years that this project has been a signiﬁcant part of my life.
That said, I begin this task of giving thanks ﬁrst by acknowledging the 27 women who
gave me access to their experiences, memories, feelings and stories. I am a different
person for having met each of you. Make no mistake about it, you taught me volumes
about living life as a woman, a Latina, a lesbian and a member of a vastly diverse
Latino/a community. The sharing of your experiences with me has added new
dimensions to my thinking and understanding about collegiate athletics and women’s
lives.

I am also indebted to many people at Michigan State University, not the least of
which are my committee members, Yevonne R. Smith, Maxine Baca Zinn, Martha Ewing
and Doug Campbell. I am especially thankful for the intellectually challenging guidance
that I received from my two chairpersons, Yevonne R. Smith and Maxine Baca Zinn.
Their combined intellectual guidance and high expectations have greatly enhanced this
manuscript and my analytic competencies. It has been an incredible privilege to receive
care, guidance and intellectual leadership in a real-life multiracial feminist context. I am
convinced that you are the dynamic duo of the new millenium.

I am also thankful to Deborah Feltz for her consistent interest in my professional

development, her modeling of effective leadership, and her commitment to addressing the

iii

racial imbalance in our department and discipline. My ability to participate in a variety
of educational experiences in the department of Kinesiology was also greatly enhanced
by the women who hold that department together, Verna Lyon, Jan Davenport, JoAnn
lanes and Mariane Oren -— thanks for keeping me on track.

I truly could not have imagined completing this project if I had not received
ﬁnancial, moral and intellectual support from the following organizations. Sincere
thanks go to the College of Education and the Graduate School at Michigan State
University, Western Society for the Physical Education of College Women, and the
Michigan Educational Opportunity Fund.

I of course owe a debt of gratitude to my family, whose interest and support of my
academic goals have been constant. Clearly, I would not be doing this work if it were not
for the encouragement, support and love that I have received from my immediate family
along the way. I am also so very thankful for my extended “familia”. It is the Martinez
family heritage that drives my personal commitments and informs my personal
understanding of life at the intersections of race, ethnicity, class, gender and sexuality.

Finally, I am eternally thankful for the life that I have enjoyed with Amy Stringer
throughout, and at times, in spite of this degree process. You have brought peace, joy,
family, friends, and ﬁm to my life. I am grateful for your support and unconditional love

throughout this emotionally and intellectually challenging experience.

iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS

List of Tables ................................................................................................................. x

List of Figures ............................................................................................................... xi

Chapter One-Introduction
Rationale ............................................................................................................ 2
Background of the Study .................................................................................... 3
Statement of Purpose ......................................................................................... 6
Research Questions ............................................................................................ 8
Signiﬁcance of the Study ................................................................................... 9
Scope and Limitations of the Study ................................................................... 10
Terms and Deﬁnitions ....................................................................................... 13

Chapter Two-Review of Literature

Women in Collegiate Softball ........................................................................... 19
A Brief History of Softball .......................................................................... 20
The Current Structure of Collegiate Softball ................................................ 21
Softball as a Site for Ideological Contests .................................................... 22

Latinas in Social Institutions ............................................................................. 23
Latinas in Educational Settings .................................................................... 23
Latinas in Athletic Settings ......................................................................... 29

Critical Feminist Discourse on Race, Class, Gender and Sexuality .................... 36
Race in Women’s Experiences .................................................................... 37
Class in Women’s Experiences .................................................................... 41

Gender in Women’s Experiences ................................................................. 43

Sexuality in Women’s Experiences ............................................................. 47
Intan Inequalities: Women of Color in Sport ..................................... 51
Structural Inequalities Perspectives ................................................................... 55
Multiracial Feminism .................................................................................. 57

A Developmental Approach: Studying Pathways of
Latina Collegiate Athletes ................................................................................. 59

Summm oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo 6 1

Chapter Three-The Process of Discovery

Design of the Research ..................................................................................... 64
Participants ...................................................................................................... 66
Instrumentation ................................................................................................. 67
Selection of Setting ........................................................................................... 68
Interviews with Former Collegiate Athletes ...................................................... 69
Identiﬁcation of Former Collegiate Athletes .......................................... 70
Procedures and Data Collection ............................................................. 72
Individual Interviews with Current Collegiate Athletes ..................................... 74
Identiﬁcation of Current Collegiate Athletes .......................................... 75
Procedures and Data Collection ............................................................. 76
Analyses of Data ............................................................................................... 77
Theoretical Positioning .......................................................................... 78
Objectivity in Qualitative Research ....................................................... 81
Generalization of Qualitative Research .................................................. 81
Analyses of Interview Data ................................................................... 83
vi

 

Summary .......................................................................................................... 85
Chapter Four-A Social Demographic Proﬁle

Individual Social Proﬁle of Participants in the Present Research ....................... 86
Participant Biographies ..................................................................................... 88
Aggregate Social Proﬁle of Participants ............................................................ 97
Aggregate Social Proﬁle of Parents ................................................................... 98
Social Demography of Latinos/as in the United States .................................... 100
Summary ........................................................................................................ 103

Chapter Five - Baselines and Shifting Social Conditions

Baselines and Early Expectations for Involvement in Organized Sport ............ 104
Parents ...................................................................................................... 106
Siblings, Friends and Neighbors ................................................................ 113

Shifting Social Conditions and Expectations for Sport Involvement ................ 124
Ambivalence about College and Athletics ................................................. 124
Maintaining and Remaking Culture ........................................................... 130
Discomfort in the Classroom ..................................................................... 141
Recruitment Rookies ................................................................................. 146
Community Colleges: A Second Option .................................................... 151

Summary ........................................................................................................ 154

Chapter Six- Navigating Inequalities and Marginality in Collegiate Softball

Class-based Hierarchies in Collegiate Softball ................................................ 156
Gaining Access to Elite Sport Structures ................................................... 157
Accessing Financial Resources: Financial Aid, Scholarships and
“Free-loaders” ........................................................................................... 167

vii

 

..’..— a

Racial Constructions in Collegiate Softball ..................................................... 17 7

Outsiders in the Dugout ............................................................................ 178
Drawing on Difference .............................................................................. 185
Homophobia and Compulsory Heterosexual ity ............................................... 192
Managing Sexualities ................................................................................ 193
Relating Across Sexualities ....................................................................... 202
Summary ........................................................................................................ 206

Chapter Seven-Conclusions

A Multiracial and Developmental Feminist Framework .................................. 208
Social Conditions that Sustained Paths to Collegiate Softball .......................... 211
Baseline Orientations ................................................................................ 211
Accessing Elite Organized Sport Structures ............................................... 212
Obtaining Familial Support ....................................................................... 214
Social Conditions that Reroute Paths to Collegiate Softball ............................. 215
Multiple Inequalities in Sport Contexts ..................................................... 215
Educational Dislocation and Gatekeeping ................................................. 217
Exploitation of Financial Need .................................................................. 219
A Typology of Paths ....................................................................................... 220
Direct Paths to Division One ..................................................................... 221
Direct Paths to Division Two .................................................................... 222
Detours Through Community College ....................................................... 223
Recommendations for Sport Leaders ............................................................... 225
Families and Communities ........................................................................ 226

viii

Secondary Schools .................................................................................... 226

Colleges and Universities .......................................................................... 227
Summary ........................................................................................................ 229
Appendices
Appendix A: Figure 1: Diagram of Research Design ....................................... 230
Appendix B: Demographic Survey-Former Athletes ....................................... 231
Appendix C: Demographic Survey-Current Athletes ....................................... 233
Appendix D: F orrner Athlete Interview Questions ........................................... 235
Appendix E: Current Athletes Interview Questions ......................................... 237
Appendix F: Former Athlete Consent .............................................................. 239
Appendix G: Former Athlete Letter ................................................................ 240
Appendix H: Current Athlete Coaches Letter .................................................. 241
Appendix 1: Current Athlete Letter ................................................................. 243
Appendix J: Current Athlete Informed Consent ............................................... 244
Appendix K: Figure 2: Diagram of Data Collection ........................................ 245
Appendix L: Figure 3: Diagram of Data Analyses .......................................... 246
Appendix M: Figure 4: Model of Baseline Orientations ................................. 247
Appendix N: Figure 5: A Typology of Paths to Collegiate Softball ................ 248
References .................................................................................................................. 249

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Selected Demographic Data, by Participant and Parent ................................... 87
Table 2: Aggregate of Demographic Data for Participants ............................................ 99
Table 3: Aggregate of Demographic Data for Parents ................................................. 101

Table 4: Socioeconomic Characteristics of Major Racial Groups and Hispanic Origin
Groups in the United States, 1997-Female .................................................................. 103

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Diagram of Research Design ....................................................................... 230

Figure 2: Diagram of Data Collection ......................................................................... 245

Figure 3: Diagram of Data Analyses ........................................................................... 246

Figure 4: Model of Baseline Orientations .................................................................. 247

Figure 5: Typology of Paths to Collegiate Softball ..................................................... 248
xi

Chapter One
Introduction

Women’s decisions about Sport involvement, education, career and family life are
made in the midst of varied and shifting social conditions, conditions that situate women
in disparate positions of power (Aptheker, 1989; Cuadraz, 1992; Gerson, 1985). Relying
on the framework of multiracial feminism (Baca Zinn & Dill, 1994; 1996) and Gerson’s
(1985) developmental approach to examining how women make choices about their adult
lives, this research explores how a select group of Latinas made their individual ways to
collegiate softball. More speciﬁcally, the collegiate athletic paths of a select group of
Latinas are analyzed as a product of their experiences within particular social conditions,
especially as they experience these conditions as particularly racialized, classed and
sexualized subjects. The application of these frameworks is especially relevant for
studying the experiences of women in Latino families who face varied constraining and
enabling conditions along what are often unconventional paths toward collegiate softball.
Unlike, Gerson’s (1985) participants, the women I interviewed each had paths that lead to
the same location -— collegiate softball, but their paths were divergent. It is how these
paths diverge that illustrates the signiﬁcance of social conditions in shaping women’s
options for creating adult lives.

In the balance of this chapter, I provide an introduction of this research including
discussions about the rationale, background, purpose and questions that guide this
inquiry. The signiﬁcance and scope of the present research are also outlined in this
chapter followed by a comprehensive list of terms and their operational deﬁnitions. I

now turn to the rationale for the current research.

 

Rationale

Women are of diverse racial and ethnic heritages, ﬂuid and varied sexualities, and
differential class backgrounds. These divergent social locations shape opportunities for
sports involvement at all levels, but are most empirically visible at the collegiate level
(Acosta & Carpenter, 1988; 1994; NCAA, 1994; 1997). Recent NCAA data reveal that
women of color are consistently unequal beneﬁciaries in the project of gender equity
(Boutilier & San Giovanni, 1994; J amieson & Baca Zinn, 1998; NCAA, 1994; 1997).
For example, despite an increase in women’s participation in collegiate sports since the
passage of Title D(, most women of color on NCAA campuses remain underrepresented
in women’s athletics as athletes, coaches, and administrators (Abney & Richey, 1992;
Smith, 1995). At the same time, White women make up a disproportionately high
percentage of female student athletes on these campuses. Perhaps most importantly,
distributive data such as these lay a foundation for asking why current social
arrangements exist, and how they came to be as they are.

These data clearly reveal that all women navigate what is really a race-gender
system in United States society (Baca Zinn & Dill, 1994; 1996; Collins, 1990), education,
and sport. For some this navigation is ﬁlled with detours and dangerous curves, while for
others it is a smooth voyage to their destination of choice. The experiences of Latinas in
the race-gender system in women’s sports are especially signiﬁcant given the present
climate of anti-afﬁrmative action, anti-immigration, major economic shifts, a
dramatically changing racial-ethnic make-up, and the widening gap in the distribution of
wealth in the United States (Eitzen, 1996a, p. 250). Collegiate sport is not unaffected by

these signiﬁcant social trends (Eitzen, 1996a). In fact, despite a growing presence of

women of color in sport, an underlying racial-ethnic structure may continue to operate,
situating Latinas and other women of color in subordinate social locations (Abney &
Richey, 1992; Eitzen & Furst, 1993; Green, 1993; Smith, 1992).

Softball has been among the fastest growing sports for high school student girls
since the passage of Title D(. In 1997, softball ranked fourth among high school female
student athletes in terms of numbers of participants, and 13 percent of all high school
female athletes participated in softball (U. S. Bureau of the Census, 1998). Abell (1998),
a staff writer for the NCAA News suggested that the success of Olympic softball coupled
with the need to comply with Title IX resulted in an explosive increase in the number of
schools offering collegiate softball. For example, in 1984, 451 NCAA schools sponsored
softball, and by 1998 that number had grown to 767 (Abell, 1998). Opportunities for
young women to get involved in softball have also expanded throughout the nation
(Abell, 1998).

While this new era of increased opportunity for involvement in softball sounds
wonderful, it is clearly not accessible to all young girls in all types of neighborhoods
around the nation. In fact, in the current collegiate softball structure a hefty 80 percent of
all student athletes in division one softball programs in 1997 were recruited exclusively
from ASA summer programs (Abell, 1998). It becomes increasingly clear that collegiate
softball is a structure of growing, yet disparate opportunities. Given this reality, it is
curious how this select group of Latinas made their paths to collegiate softball.
W

This research emerges out of lived experiences, previous projects (J amieson,

1990; 1997), and a genuine desire to understand women’s varied interactions in the

institution of sport. The foundation of the present research rests in my own experiences
as a working class, Mexican-Scottish woman who grew up under the primary care and
nurturance of my Mexican mother and her extended family; a family whose roots stretch
across the Southwestern United States and Mexico. My mother grew up on the edge of
poverty, the edge of a working class town, the edge of upward mobility, and the edge of
the Chicano Movement. Poverty, racial-ethnic discrimination and rigid gender
constructions shaped my mother’s social world, including her experiences in school based
sports. Despite challenges, my mom continued to play and to this day claims sport
experiences and resultant friendships as signiﬁcant inﬂuences in her realization that she
could create a life of her own choosing, on and off the playing ﬁeld. Her stories about
sport were really stories about coming of age in a barrio in Southern California in the
1950’s and 1960’s. Not unlike my mother’s experience, the informants in the present
study suggested that despite compromises and at times social consequences for their
commitment to collegiate softball, the educational, social, ﬁnancial and interpersonal
beneﬁts far outweighed the costs.

My own experience as the only Latina on many of my sports teams also prompted
me to focus my master’s thesis on Mexican heritage women in sports. In fact, as I
continued in elite sport settings (e.g., camps, collegiate level) I realized how different I
was, not only from the women who were still competing at these levels, but also from the
women with whom I had grown up. I began to wonder why I was one of very few Latinas
in collegiate athletics. Surely, if I had found my way, others could do the same. Where

did all of my hermanas (Latina sisters) go after high school?

Moreover, despite the accuracy of the claim that a disproportionately lower
number of Latinas participated in school-based sports, the explanation for the
phenomenon seemed inadequate to me. Additionally, the social science depictions of
Mexican and other Latina women did not mesh with my own experiences of growing up
Mexican. Having completed the thesis research, I was convinced that Mexican family
values were not the culprit they had been made out to be, and in fact, they did not exist in
the monolithic manner that many had suggested]. However, while the descriptive and
categorical data obtained in the thesis research was useful, it did not reveal the
complexity of the situation. Thus, I was motivated and inspired to seek a more detailed
telling of Latina’s stories about experiences in sport.

The move from a descriptive analysis of sport participation among Latinas to a
rich, deep depiction of the experiences among Latinas who had made it to collegiate sport
required a pilot study. In the fall of 1996, I set out to conduct one small group interview
with Latinas who had participated in at least two years of high school athletics. Among
the three women interviewed, one played two years of community college athletics. The
purpose of the interview was to learn about the signiﬁcant meanings of sport involvement
for these women, and to begin to understand the power of race, ethnicity, class, sexuality
and gender as shapers of sport experiences among these women. The pilot study for the
present research revealed that these women would have beneﬁted from additional career

and educational counseling in their high schools, that athletics for women was not as

 

' Several scholars in the 60’s and 70’s relied on various frameworks of cultural determinism and family
pathology to explain the social location of Latinos in United States society. In essence their analyses
suggested that Mexican families shared common values that made them less able to become productive
members of United States society. For scholarly rebukes of these limited analyses see Baca Zinn, 1980;
1982; Melville, 1988.

available as it is today and that they never really knew how talented they were. In effect
they had no idea that they were good enough to compete in collegiate athletics, and had
no one guiding them down that path. Additionally, two of the three women felt a strong
need to become employed immediately after high school. In retrospect, they believe their
parents would have supported them in collegiate athletics morally and ﬁnancially,
however at the time having a job seemed more important.

These personal and scholarly experiences illustrate how little is empirically
known about Latina experiences in sport, and yet, how rich these experiences may be.
Previous research efforts also illustrate the prominence of sport as a social institution
organized around inequalities (Abney & Richey, 1992; Acosta, 1999; Birrell, 1990;
Messner & Sabo, 1990; Smith, 1992). The present research emerges out of these varied
experiences and a deep-rooted desire to hear, re-tell and systematically analyze Latina
experiences in sport, especially as they represent varied social locations at the intersection
of race, ethnicity, class and sexuality.

Statement of Emse

An increasingly sophisticated understanding of the experiences of all women in
sport may ﬂow from a comprehensive scholarly consideration of the social conditions that
Latinas and other women of color experience along the way to collegiate sport. This
research will concern itself with a small piece of the signiﬁcant task of analyzing the
experiences of Latinas in collegiate softball. There are two main components to this
overarching purpose, a) to examine how paths are constructed and maintained given the

social conditions within which these women create their lives, and b) to examine the

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signiﬁcance of race, class and sexuality in the experiences of Latinas in collegiate
softball.

Although distributive data make it abundantly clear that Latinas exhibit
disproportionately lower rates of participation in collegiate sport (NCAA, 1997), it is not
empirically clear what is at the root of such inequality. Similar to other social
institutions, the very foundation of sport is organized around faulty beliefs, stereotypes
and false universals about women, especially in terms of race, ethnicity, class and
sexuality. Given this potential for inequalities in the structure of sport, it is curious how
women actually manage to become involved at elite levels of sport. One aim of this study
is to ﬁnd out precisely how this particular group of Latinas became involved in sport and
made it to elite level sport. Along the way, there may have been constraining forces as
well as forces that augmented their chances for involvement. This research will examine
how is it that these particular Latinas became involved in sport, and how they made their
own paths to collegiate softball. This is not an attempt to develop a cohesive set of
conditions navigated by all Latinas, rather the goal is to uncover signiﬁcant conditions
within families, sport, and educational settings that shaped the decisions these women
made about their lives.

Additionally, this research is aimed at revealing the signiﬁcant meanings of sports
involvement among Latinas in the present study. Involvement in sport may have many
consequences for individual and group experiences. It has been suggested that research
and scholarship on women of color in sport examine how it is that some women are
constructed as alien through experiences in the institution of sport (Birrell, 1990).

Accordingly, this research provides analyses of the experiences of these diverse Latinas

as they attempted to navigate the middle class, pervasively white structure of collegiate
softball.
Research Questions

Women’s lives are complex; deciding on signiﬁcant questions about women’s
lives is difﬁcult. Each of the questions listed below represents a thematic area that has
emerged somewhere along the line in the experiences that make up the background to this
study. Moreover, the use of thematic areas to organize the research questions will aid in
the maintenance of particular analytic foci even as the questions continue to evolve
throughout the two speciﬁc phases of this research.

The overarching questions have been looming in my mind for several years now
and I believe still have potential for adding to our understanding of inequalities in sport.
They are a) “What are the varied social conditions that inﬂuence the construction and
maintenance of paths toward collegiate softball?”, and b) “To what extent are race,
ethnicity, class and sexuality signiﬁcant in the experiences of Latinas who are collegiate
softball athletes?” These are simple questions, but they hold the potential for a variety of
complex responses from women in diverse social locations.

Additional substantive questions are set in the following thematic areas.

1. Baseline Orientations

a) Are there particular social conditions that enable or constrain the development

of baseline orientations for sport?

b) To what extent do inequalities of race, class and sexuality inﬂuence the

development of baseline orientations for sport?

H. Maintaining Paths toward Collegiate Softball

a) Are their shifting social conditions that either enable or constrain Latinas in the
maintenance of paths toward collegiate softball?
b) To what extent do inequalities of race, class and sexuality inﬂuence the
maintenance of paths toward collegiate softball?
III. Navigating Collegiate Softball
a) Are their particular social conditions that either enable or constrain the ability
of Latinas to navigate the structure of collegiate softball?
b) To what extent do inequalities of race, class and sexuality inﬂuence the
experiences of Latinas in collegiate softball?
Sigm'ﬁiance of th_e Study
The signiﬁcance of this study is its focus on social conditions that inﬂuence the
pathways of a select group of Latinas who competed in collegiate softball. It is well
established that Latinas and other women of color are consistently bridging cultural
divides in the “dailiness” (Aptheker, 1989) of their lives (Anzaldua, 1987; 1990a;
Pesquera & de la Torre, 1993). Stated differently, many Latinas are constantly having to
work to maintain ties to their working class backgrounds, ethnic heritage, cultural
heritage, and yet to prove their allegiance to social, economic, and educational progress in
United States society (Anzaldua, 1987; 1990b; Pesquera & de la Torre, 1993). Thus,
analyzing social conditions that inﬂuence baseline orientations for sport, ability to make
paths toward sport and ability to navigate pervasively white, middle class collegiate sport
will enhance understandings of the structure of collegiate sport.
Moreover, sociological studies of inequalities and oppression have long been

centered in the perspectives and experiences of dominant group members (Gorelick,

1991; Sabo, 1995). This has resulted in a skewed understanding of social relations in
United States society. Much of science begins and ends with a view from above, while
many feminist scholars have called for a view from below (Gorelick, 1991). The use of
the descriptor ‘below’ is not intended to represent a less signiﬁcant view, but an equally
signiﬁcant view that is situated below the dominant view in any hierarchical social order.
According to Gorelick (1991) the view from above is incomplete and slanted toward the
desired view of those in positions of power in any social structure. Alternatively, the
view from below is a less partial view, a less invested view of the power structure in a
particular society (Gorelick, 1991). This research offers several examples of a “view
ﬁom below” (Gorelick, 1991), or a differently critical perspective on the structure of
women’s collegiate softball.

These analyses also lend themselves to the development of pathways model that
illustrates the various social conditions that may impinge upon women as they make
decisions about sport involvement. Gerson (1985) suggested that women start’out with a
baseline orientation for domestic or non-domestic goals, but as they encounter social
conditions their paths may diverge and they may continue on a path of origin or they may
jump tracks and end up creating a path toward alternative goals. Using Gerson’s model
as a jumping off point, I will unveil a model that illustrates the various paths that Latinas
may take toward their goal of competing in collegiate softball. This model is discussed in
more detail in chapters ﬁve and six of this manuscript.
WM

For purposes of this research, the analytic focus is Latina experiences of collegiate

softball. While much may be gleaned from experiences and stories shared by these

10

 

particular women, their experiences will not necessarily provide an accurate account of
sport experiences for all Latinas, or of all athletes in collegiate softball. Moreover,
softball athletes may not be reﬂective of experiences among athletes in other sports.
However softball was selected as the site to study Latinas due to its larger representation
of Latinas as compared to other collegiate sports. Additionally, the age range of
interviewees may have inﬂuenced the depth of discussion in some cases, such as
discussions about sexuality and relationships with families. It is also salient that a varied,
but strong “culture of softball” has shaped the collegiate athletic experiences of this select
group of women. This is not so much a limitation as it is an additional piece of the
analysis.

This is purposeful, as I believe this approach will offer a differently meaningful
application of ﬁndings than commonly expected in research. In fact, a signiﬁcant
strength of this research lay in it’s centering of the discourse regarding women’s sport
experiences in the lived experiences of Latinas. These ﬁndings may strike a chord with
the actual lived experiences of all women who ﬁnd themselves at the margins of society.
In so doing it offers the potential for applicability and commonality of experien’ize among

women of color, working class women, lesbian women and all women who ﬁnd their

selves interwoven into the analyses of the experiences of this parlpcui
\

 
  

The original purpose of interviews with former collegiate

the interview questions that would be used during the integgiews wi .

experiences of 11 Latinas who were former collegiate softball athletes

foundation for the development of interview questions for phase two of the study. Group

interviews have the potential to produce volumes of data, especially on a speciﬁc, shared
experience, like collegiate softball, however they are difﬁcult to schedule, require
appropriate space to be conducted and may intimidate some participants. For these
reasons there were limits to the number of focus group interviews that could be
conducted. Surely all Latinas were not represented in this group of 11, yet where possible
representation across ethnicity, class status, sexuality and Size/type of college attended
was attempted.

Phase two of the study included face-to-face interviews with twenty individual
current collegiate softball athletes. Much like the situation with focus group interviews,
participants were accepted as they volunteered. Participants did represent diverse Latina
ethnicities, class backgrounds and experiences in varied collegiate settings (e.g.,
community college and university). The sixty to ninety-minute interviews with each of
these women produced a wealth of data; however, interview data is difficult to verify.
There is no reason to believe that participants have shared untruths, yet the details of
experiences are always subject to the way people choose to remember them. Thus, the re-
telling of one’s own stories without collection of veriﬁable data may appear to limit
assertions and analyses. In reality, the way experiences are remembered and re-told will
reﬂect signiﬁcant meanings held by the informant and offer opportunities for additional
analyses.

Finally, by virtue of a ﬁrm foundation in multiracial feminist framework (Baca
Zinn & Dill, 1994; 1996) and a developmental approach (Gerson, 1985) to examining
women’s life choices, this research unveils the interconnectedness of various forms of

inequality, and explores their salience in the paths of a select group of Latina collegiate

12

softball athletes. The theoretical scope of this research includes a focus on social
conditions especially as they reveal built-in inequalities that cut across race, ethnicity,
class, gender and sexuality in the lives of Latinas. In this research I will focus on each of
various social conditions, and will analyze them as changeable, shifting inﬂuences in the
lives of the women I interviewed. This will be accomplished through a critical lens.
Together with the analytic focus and methods of data collection mentioned above, the
critical feminist theoretical underpinnings appropriately delimit this research.
Terms antd Deﬁnitions

The following terms and deﬁnitions are provided as a guide to the reader in
understanding the author’s use of theoretical, organizational and categorical constructs.
Certainly other deﬁnitions may exist for several of the terms located here. This list
describes the author’s intended use of terms for purposes of these analyses.
Amateur Softlgll Association: The major goveming body for all levels of amateur
softball (fast and slow pitch), and the governing body of elite travel ball tournaments

which are a primary conduit to collegiate softball.

 

Baseline Orientation: Refers to baseline orientations as early childhood assumptions
about what one wants to do or be in adulthood (Gerson, 1985). These baselines form the
point from which adult development proceeds (Gerson, 1985, p. 43).

CM: A historically and socially constructed division of society that is linked not only to
economic power, but also to gender, sexuality, race and other systems of inequality
(Andermahr, Lovell & Wolkowitz, 1997; Hum, 1995; Kramarae & Treichler, 1985).
Community College: A two year college often used as a head start to a four year

university or college, or to obtain an Associates degree or certiﬁcate. Community college

13

campuses are more ﬁnancially, academically, and geographically accessible than are most
four year colleges and universities.

Culturﬂorglition: I use the term to reﬂect transient beliefs about appropriate ways of
life that shape women’s Opportunities to make choices about how to construct their own
lives.

Qu_ltI_1r_e: Culture consists of the behavior patterns, symbols, institutions, values, and other
human-made components of society. It is the unique achievement of a human group that
distinguishes it from other groups. Despite similarities among various cultures, a
particular culture constitutes a unique whole (Banks, 1997, p. 62). Cultural systems are
dynamic and as such are said to be both produced and acquired by their members
(Donnelly, 1993; Fine, 1993).

Developmental Anﬁysi_s: An analytic framework developed by Gerson (1985) for
examining the complexity of how women make decisions about their lives. A
developmental analysis focuses on variation among women as a group and change over
time in the lives of women, and includes biography, history and social structure as
signiﬁcant shapers of women’s adult lives (Gerson, 1985, p.38).

Division I Athletics: Member institutions have to sponsor at least seven sports for men
and seven for women (or six for men and eight for women) with two team sports for each
gender. Each playing season has to be represented by each gender as well (fall, Winter,
Spring). Division I schools must meet minimum ﬁnancial aid awards for their athletics
program, and may not exceed maximum ﬁnancial aid awards for each sport.

Division 1] Athletics: Member institutions have to sponsor at lease four sports for men

and four for women, with two team sports for each gender, and each playing season

14

represented by each gender. There are maximum ﬁnancial aid awards for each sport that
a Division H school must not exceed.

Division III Athletics: Member institutions have to sponsor at least four sports for men
and four for women, with two team sports for each gender, and each playing season
represented by each gender. Division III does not award ﬁnancial aid on the basis of
athletic ability -- only on the basis of need.

Ethnicig: A condition Of being culturally distinct on the basis Of race, religion, or
national origin (Eitzen & Baca Zinn, 1993: 291; Eitzen, 1996c). An ethnic group has an
historic origin that preceded the creation of the nation state or was external to the nation
state. It also has shared heritage and tradition, an ancestral tradition, and its members
share a sense of peoplehood. Ethnic groups also have some value orientations, behavioral
patterns, and interests, often political and economic, which differ from those of other
groups within society. Ethnic groups are not monolithic and in fact in modernized
democratic societies are highly diverse, complex, and changing entities (Banks, 1997, p.
66).

Educational Opportunity Program: The Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) Grant is
a state-funded program that Offers ﬁnancial assistance to undergraduate California
residents who demonstrate extreme economic and educational disadvantage. Eligible
students must be admitted to the educational institution by the Educational Opportunity
Program and complete their ﬁnancial aid application to demonstrate ﬁnancial need. The

maximum award amount for 1997-98 was $700.

15

meg: The social characteristics that a society considers proper for its males and
females; masculinity and femininity (Henslin, 1993). A basic principle of social
organization in terms Of socially constructed differences between women and men.
Generational Status: Refers to the number of generations of one’s maternal family that
were born in the United States. My maternal grandparents were born in the United States
making me third generation born in the United States.

I_i_i§p_a_n_it_:: A govemment-imposed term to describe persons in the United States who are
of any Latino/a ethnic heritage. The term Hispanic is politically contested, and its use is
regional and historical in nature (N ieves-Squires, 1991). In this report, the term
“Hispanic” is used when discussing census data, and the term Latino/a when refening to
male or female persons of any Latino/a ethnicity (e.g., Mexican, Cuban, Puerto Rican,
South or Central American).

Latina: A Latina is any woman identifying as a person of any Latino/a ethnicity including
but not limited to Puerto Rican, Cuban, Mexican, South American, and Central American
ethnicities (Nieves-Squires, 1991).

Minorig Group: A group that 1) is relatively powerless compared with the majority
group, 2) possesses traits that make it different from others, 3) is systematically
condemned by negative stereotyped beliefs, and 4) is singled out for differential and
unfair treatment (Eitzen, 1996c, p. 285).

Multiracial: signiﬁes the salience of race in gendered identities, but also includes the
intersecting effects of class, sexual preference, and other socially constructed systems of

inequality (Baca Zinn & Dill, 1994).

16

Multiracial Feminism: A framework developed by Baca Zinn and Dill (1994; 1996) for
analyzing gendered identities as they are mediated by other systems of inequality,
especially inequalities of race and ethnicity. Multiracial feminism provides a means Of
making sense of relational identities of gender and makes room for women of color,
women of various social classes, and women of various sexual identities in the discourse
about all women’s lives.

National Collegiate Athletic Association: The organization through which the nation's

 

colleges and universities speak and act on athletics matters at the national level. It is a
voluntary association of more than 1,200 institutions, conferences, organizations and
individuals who collaborate in the administration of intercollegiate athletics.

Pathways: Refers to the particular ways that women interact with and navigate social
institutions as they create their adult lives (Gerson, 1985). The concept of pathways
offers an illustration of the particular social conditions that women encounter as they
work toward achieving their original goals (Gerson, 1985).

Pell Grant: The Federal Pell Grant is offered to eligible undergraduate students and serves
as the foundation for eligibility in other Federal and State need-based grant and loan
programs. The annual award for full-time students ranges from $400 to $2,700.

Lac; A concept that signiﬁes and symbolizes social conﬂicts and interests by refening to
different types of human bodies (Omi & Winant, 1994). Race is a framework of ranked
categories segmenting the human population that has it’s historical roots in the global
expansion of Western Europeans which began in the 1400s (Sanjek, 1994). Race is also
an ideological construct that situates White men at the top of a socially constructed

hierarchy based on false racial categories.

17

Sexualig: In current terms, sexuality is a ﬁeld of knowledge constructed by multiple
public discourses (e.g., media, medicine, religion, families) through which power gains
access to the body (Anderrnahr, Lovell & Wolkowitz, 1997, p. 201). It is the intersection
of erotic desires and practices with political, social, economic and historical contexts
(Kramarae & Treichler, 1985; Humm, 1995).

Social Location: “One’s position in society based on family background, race, ethnicity,
or sex” (Baca Zinn & Eitzen, 1999, p. 479).

m: The term sport refers to a social institution, rather than a particular game or
pastime. I adopt Coakley’s (1994) deﬁnition of sport as “institutionalized competitive
activity that involves vigorous physical exertion or the use of relatively complex physical
skills by individuals whose participation is motivated by a combination of intrinsic and
extrinsic factors” (p. 21).

Structural Condition: Social structures, patterns of relationships (i.e., families, schools,
teams) that inﬂuence and shape Opportunities and experiences of women as they make
choices about their lives.

Structural Inequality Perspective: Emerging out of a conﬂict perspective, structural
inequalities suggests that the social structure actually produces and reproduces
inequalities based on various socially signiﬁcant statuses (e.g., race, class, gender, sexual
preference) (Eitzen & Baca Zinn, 1992).

Women of Color: Refers to women who share an experience of historical oppression
based on race/ethnicity, class, gender, and sexuality. The term women of color refers to
the connection between Third world women and United States women as individuals

struggling for equality on the basis Of race, class, gender, and sexuality.

18

Chapter Two
Review of Literature

The purpose of chapter two is to provide a review of the meaningful research and
scholarly literature that has informed this study of Latinas in collegiate softball. In this
chapter I review the literature on women in collegiate softball, Latinas in educational and
employment settings, and make connections between these and opportunities for
participation in collegiate athletics. I also provide critical reviews of current discourses
on race, ethnicity, gender, class and sexuality. All women live at the intersection of each
of these categories of analysis, thus my focus will turn to the literature that addresses the
way that these categories of analysis intersect and consistently shape the sport experiences
of women of color. Finally, I will outline the critical theoretical ﬁameworks upon which
these analyses rest, a developmental approach to women’s pathways (Gerson, 1985) and
multiracial feminism (Baca Zinn & Dill, 1994, 1996).
Women in Collegiate Softball

Softball has been among the fastest growing sports for high school student girls
since the passage of Title IX. In 1997, softball ranked fourth among high school female
student athletes in terms of numbers of participants, and 13 percent of all high school
female athletes participated in softball (U. S. Bureau of the Census, 1998). The Amateur
Softball Association (ASA) had more than 1.4 million youth participants on 79,000 teams
during their 1996 season (U. S. Bureau of the Census, 1998). During the academic year
1996/97 there were 770 NCAA softball teams, accounting for over 13,000 athletes, and
averaging a little over 17 athletes per team (U. S. Bureau of the Census, 1998). In 1996,

more than eight percent of the population participated in recreational softball, and seven

19

percent of women chose softball as a recreational activity (U. S. Bureau of the Census,
1998). Still, little scholarship has focused on women’s experiences of collegiate softball.
In what follows I will provide a brief review of the scholarship and research on women in
softball that I have found useful and relevant to the current research.

A Brief Histogg of Softball

Softball has had an industrial and working class link Since the existence Of
formalized women’s leagues was ﬁrst recognized (Emery, 1994). Softball is thought to
have developed out of an indoor version of baseball that was played primarily in the
Midwest (Oglesby, 1998), and took on its current name in 1932 (Emery, 1994). The
following material is drawn from Emery (1994, pp. 116-117). The year 1933 marked the
ﬁrst Amateur Softball Association championship for women, and by 1938 there were
nearly 1,000 women’s softball teams in southern California alone. These numbers grew
during WWII when more women entered the labor force and created opportunity for
additional industrial based teams. The large majority of these teams had industrial
backing, some including women of color. While support of women’s softball teams,
leagues and championship tournaments seems quite progressive for the 19305, these
teams garnered positive publicity, healthier workers, increased productivity and
supposedly team unity for their sponsoring employers. Images of the teams and
individual athletes emphasized femininity and family ﬁrst, and athletic ability last.

It has been suggested that Smith College and other women’s colleges on the east
coast encouraged women’s participation in baseball as early as 1866 (Dickson, 1994).
The more formalized men’s game was under scrutiny around this time as it had become a

site for violent play among “carousing, crude men” (Dickson, 1994, p. 51). According to

20

Dickson (1994), the game that had been played at Smith and at other women’s colleges
on the east coast was converted to softball around 1940. The national fast-pitch
tournaments governed by the Amateur Softball Association (ASA), which began in 1933
and continue today, also served as a precursor to collegiate softball. The ﬁrst collegiate
softball championships were held in 1982. In 1996, softball made its debut as an
Olympic medal sport with the USA team winning the gold medal.

The Current Structure of Collegiate Softball

Abell (1998), a staff writer for the NCAA News suggested that the success of
Olympic softball coupled with the need to comply with Title D( resulted in an explosive
increase in the number of schools offering collegiate softball. For example, in 1984, 451
NCAA schools sponsored softball, and by 1998 that number had grown to 767 (Abell,
1998). Opportunities for young women to get involved in softball have also expanded
throughout the nation (Abell, 1998). Cindy Cohen, chair of the division one softball
committee told Abell (1998) that compared to her experiences as a young girl, today’s
opportunities are markedly better. While this new era of increased Opportunity for
involvement in softball sounds wonderful, it is clearly not accessible to all young girls in
all types of neighborhoods around the nation. In fact, what Abell (1988) and her
informant failed to discuss is the high cost and high visibility of elite youth softball.

ASA magazine recently printed an article about the proﬁtability of hosting their
tournaments (McCall, 1999). Girls fast pitch tournaments were the most numerous and
most proﬁtable for host cities. Relying on the numbers reported by ASA, it is estimated
that the cost per individual for a two-day tournament was $250.00. This is a rough

estimate that includes travel while in town, two-night stay in town, meals, and sight-

21

seeing (McCall, 1999). This estimate may rise substantially among athletes on elite
teams that often travel across the nation to compete in multiple tournaments throughout
the summer months. Connect this prohibitive cost with the fact that 80 percent of the
softball student athletes in division one institutions in 1997 were recruited from ASA
summer programs (Abell, 1998), and it becomes increasingly clear that collegiate softball
is a structure of growing, yet disparate opportunities.

Softball as a Site for Ideologicafl Contests

Sociological research and scholarship suggests that softball has potential as a site
for contesting male privilege and hegemonic conceptions of femininity (Lenskyj, 1994;
Birrell & Richter, 1994). In their interviews with feminist identiﬁed participants in two
women’s softball leagues, Birrell and Richter (1994) revealed several different forms Of
feminist principles in softball. The feminist perspectives applied to softball illustrate how
“feminist sport” can be transformative, consciousness raising, and liberating for many
women. Lenskyj’s (1994) case study of the NotsoAmazon women’s softball league in
Toronto revealed similar ﬁndings. Softball was a site for rearticulating sport in a feminist
and womanist framework. However, the accounts by Lenskyj (1994) and Birrell and
Richter (1994) share two signiﬁcant limitations in terms of application to the present
research. First, neither provided an analysis of how race inﬂuenced the experience of
liberation in these feminist women’s softball leagues. For the most part, gender and
sexuality were prioritized, which made for informative analyses, but incomplete analyses.
Second, Birrell & Richter (1994) and Lenskyj (1994) did not examine collegiate sport
contexts, which are structurally, politically and socially quite distinct from community

recreational leagues.

22

Sim—arr

Women’s participation in collegiate softball is a recent social phenomenon, and
one that continues to be shaped by a particular structure of collegiate athletics. I have
provided a brief discussion of the evolution of modern softball, the primary method of
accessing collegiate softball, and the value of recreational softball as a site for political
contest. The scholarship and research reviewed above illustrate the rigidity and elitism of
collegiate softball, and simultaneously show the political and transforrnative power of
non-collegiate forms of softball. A discussion of the representation of Latinas in
collegiate athletics and softball follows in this chapter.
Latinas in Social Institutions

Social demographic data reveal that despite signiﬁcant growth in numbers among
all Latinos, Latinas continue to face lower college attendance and graduation rates, lower
than average family annual income, and higher than average rates of poverty (Rumbaut,
1995; US. Bureau of the Census, 1998). While it is not the focus of this chapter, social
demography and systemic inequalities faced by Latinos/as in the United States are
important aspects of the discourse on Latinas in educational settings. Chapter four
provides a more detailed examination of the social demography of Latinos/as in the
United States. What follows in this section is a review of literature that analyzes the
experiences of Latinas in educational and athletic settings.

W

To date, research and scholarship on educational preparation and retention suggest
that many Latinas have expressed a need for assistance in navigating post-secondary

educational system (Cardoza, 1991; Nieves-Squires, 1991; Sirnoniello, 1981). This sense

23

of dislocation from educational institutions may have a direct effect upon opportunities
for participation in collegiate athletics as well. In fact, Latinas are disproportionately
underrepresented as students and as student athletes on NCAA campuses (NCAA, 1997).
While it is true that most women struggle to navigate these social institutions, the
particular experiences of Latinas have yet to inform sociological analyses of gendered
identities. Clearly, a complex and ﬂuid connection exists between varied Latino/a
cultural traditions and shifting social structural inequalities (Zavella, 1994). As Latina
experiences of collegiate softball enter the discourse on women in the social institution of
sport, it is imperative that knowledge and insight be gleaned from scholarship by and
about Latinas in various social institutions. Thus, it is important to understand how
Latinas have fared in educational settings as these experiences may directly inﬂuence
opportunities, perceived and real, to participate in collegiate sport.

The literature on Latinas in higher education suggests that entry to college is
difficult for a number of reasons (Cardoza, 1991; Nieves-Squires, 1991; Ortiz, 1988;
Simoniello, 1981). Among the parents of Cardoza's (1991) subjects there was a
distinction made between aspirations and expectations for their daughters' educational
attainment. While parents may m to support their daughters' educational goals, they
often may not M to be able to do this due to ﬁnancial limitations (Cardoza, 1991). It
was also suggested that Latina high schoolers were not encouraged to take college
preparatory courses or tests. In effect they were not being prepared or encouraged to
pursue a college education. Cardoza also noted that Latinas may often be the ﬁrst in their
families to go to college (Cardoza, 1991), which makes every aspect of this new

experience even more challenging.

24

If!

H

An investigation of attitudes toward achievement and success in professional
United States Mexican women suggested that they perceived discrimination as women
and as persons of Mexican heritage, and also perceived a need for a sponsor or mentor to
give them the "inside track" (Simoniello, 1981). Without a mentor, these women
believed, they would not have been able to navigate their way through the academy.
Having a role model was extremely important to Cardoza's (1991) subjects. Additionally,
Ortiz (1988) suggested that Hispanic women in higher education are Often seen as
antithetical to the "Hispanic woman". It is often assumed that Latinas are not interested
in attending college. What may seem like disinterest in education may actually be
perceived inability to do the work or pay the ﬁnancial cost.

Many new college students face difﬁculties in adjusting to the collegiate social
scene, as well as meeting the academic requirements. The research cited above suggests
that Latinas may face speciﬁc challenges as the ﬁrst in their families to go to college, as
one of a small number of Latinos/as on this nation’s college campuses and as one who
may feel like an outsider (Cardoza, 1991; Ortiz, 1988; Simoniello, 1981). As of 1997,
only nine percent of Latinos/as reported having earned a bachelor’s degree while 24
percent of non-Hispanic White and 14 percent of non-Hispanic Black persons had
attained the same level of education (U .S. Bureau of the Census, 1998). The numbers
alone suggest that Latinos/as will be isolated from other Latinos/as often on our nation’s
campuses. Moreover, the small numbers of Latino/a college students partially explain the
small number of student athletes, but does not explain the disproportionately lower

representation of Latinas in NCAA athletics.

25

One reason that Latinas may not be found in NCAA athletics is that they are often
enrolled in two-year colleges, which are governed by the National Junior College Athletic
Association (NJCAA). In 1996, nearly 40 percent Of 18 to 19 year old Latinas who were
enrolled in school were enrolled below college, twice as many as the national average for
all women (Bureau of the Census, 1998). Thirty one percent of the 233,000 Latinas (18
to 19 years old) that were enrolled in school were enrolled in a two-year college and 30
percent were enrolled in a 4-year college, ahnost a one to one ratio of two-year to four-
year college enrollment. The data for women of all races show a one to two ratio for the
two-year to four-year college enrollment. Latinas, more than any other group of women
are likely to be enrolled in a two-year college.

Many two-year colleges offer excellent career and/or academic curricula, and they
clearly provide educational access for many persons who might otherwise not enroll in
college at all. Yet, for Latinas, two-year colleges may simply become a holding pattern
leading to nowhere in particular. Nora and RendOn (1994) reviewed selected literature
about access, retention and transfer rates of Latino students in community colleges. They
found that approximately 75% of students who enter a community college do so with the
desire to transfer to a four-year institution, yet only about 25% of students execute this
transfer successfully. The analysis conducted by Nora and Rendon (1994) suggests that
access to community colleges does not necessarily translate into academic achievement
for Latinos. It would be useful to compare data on transfer rates by students and student-
athletes. Ability to ﬁnance an education is a constant mediating factor among Latinas, it
may follow that those who compete in athletics at a two-year college may be better

situated than others to access various ﬁnancial aid resources.

26

Gaining access to higher education is not the only hurdle that Latinas and other
educationally dislocated women must clear. Cuadraz and Pierce (1994) used their unique
standpoints as working class women of different racial and ethnic origins to critically
examine class conﬂict in educational settings. The term “scholarship student” was used
to describe an individual from working-class origins who experience social and economic
mobility into the middle classes, largely because of his or her academic excellence and
achievements.” (Cuadraz & Pierce, 1994, p. 21). This is an important conceptual
deﬁnition that lends itself also to examining the role of Latinas who are “scholarship
athletes”. Case studies by Cuadraz and Pierce (1994) and Cuadraz (1992) unveiled the
complexity of moving out of working class communities and historically
underrepresented racial-ethnic groups and into a middle class realm of higher education.
Cuadraz (1992) interviewed ten Chicana scholarship students about their experiences in
graduate school. At some point, Cuadraz (1992) argued, “The scholarship path was no
longer simply a matter of individual achievement, but was a structural opportunity which
became accessible to those who achieved but had historically been excluded” (p.31).
Relying on Bourdieu’s concept of “cultural capital”, Cuadraz (1992) argued that
educational institutions do not reduce inequalities, but accentuate them, especially as
socialization into and through higher education may simply be a continuance of the
socialization received by youth in their middle and upper class homes (p.32).

From the work of Cuadraz (1992) and Cuadraz & Pierce (1994) I have gleaned the
following signiﬁcant experiences of Latinas in higher education. They are a) receiving
mixed messages about academic ability, b) experiencing feelings of separation from

peers, c) experiencing of privilege and penalty due to “scholarship” status, (I) facing

27

[J

social constructions of their achievements as institutional hand-outs, and e) deﬁance Of
traditional family roles and ideologies. According to Cuadraz and Pierce (1994) the mere
presence of Latinas and working class white women unveiled the hierarchical structure Of
higher education, especially as it had historically excluded them, and continued to
marginalized them within its elitist walls. Yet, Cuadraz (1992) argued that although
scholarship women were “pushed to the margins, they were really insiders to the very
social structure that reproduced such inequalities. In fact, these women were in a unique
position to experience the contradictions Of being inside in an outside way” (p. 32).

Being “inside in an outside way” is another way of expressing what many scholars have
suggested is a less-partial and therefore more accurate view of a particular social structure
due to one’s marginal location within the social structure (Collins, 1991; Cuadraz, 1992;
Gorelick, 1991; Pronger, 1996).

Segura (1993) examined the educational experiences of 20 Chicanas who had not
graduated from high school, nor been prepared to enter a job of choice. Her interview
participants were adult women involved in an education and employment training
program in northern California. Segura (1993) argued that low levels of academic
achievement among Chicanas is not explained by targeting individual, institutional or
cultural culprits, rather it is necessary to examine how each of these entities interact to
create conditions that impede the educational attainment of Chicanas. Among Segura’s
(1993) ﬁndings about constraints to educational attainment were a) reluctance of family
members to “interfere” with the work of educational professionals, b) channeling of
Latina students into non-academic programs Offering a lower quality of instruction, c)

lack of encouragement or preparation from teachers/counselors for college attendance,

28

lrh

\II.»

‘1

I.

51..

and d) lack Of clearly safe, anti-racist leaming environments. Segura (1993) also
identiﬁed the following conditions that enhanced educational attainment of her interview
participants; a) consistent encouragement from parents for educational achievement, b)
teacher innovation, c) multicultural curriculum, (1) teacher “caring” and involvement, and
e) formalized expectations for achievement.

Latinas in Athletic Settings

Since the passage of Title D( of the Educational Amendments Act of 1972, there
have been marked increases in the rates Of sport participation among girls and women. In
1997, high school females accounted for 40 percent of all high school athletes (U. S.
Bureau of the Census, 1998). The same data are not available by race and ethnicity, thus
it is not possible to make comparisons. While the intent of Title IX was to improve sport
opportunities for all women, the reality of competing equities (e. g., race, class, sexuality,
and others) has rendered this structural change impotent in the struggle for real equity in
sport. In sharp contrast to increasing rates of sport participation among high school and
college age women, Latinas remain disproportionately underrepresented in North
American sport (Jamieson & Baca Zinn, 1998).

Contrary to popular belief, Latina participation in sport is not a new phenomenon.
The following material is drawn from Jamieson and Baca Zinn (1998, p. 180). There are
examples of Latina athleticism dating back to the 19408 when the All American Girls
Baseball League (AAGBL) began recruiting talented and experienced Cuban baseball
players (Gregorich, 1993). Many Cuban women had been playing organized baseball in a
league similar to the AAGBL called Estrellas Cubanas. The ﬁrst Cuban woman to play

baseball in the AAGBL was Eulalia Gonzales, who played for the Racine Bells. Two

29

 

years later, in 1949, Isabel Alvarez, Ysora del Castillo, Mirtha Marrero, and Migdalia
Perez joined the AAGBL minor league ranks (Gregorich, 1993). Additionally, the sport
of professional tennis boasts a diverse ﬁeld Of Latina athletes. While not all United States
natives, Gigi Fernandez, Mary Jo Fernandez, Aranxta Sanchez-Vicario, and Conchita
Martinez have participated in multiple tennis events in North America. In women’s
professional golf, Nancy Lopez stands out among her peers, especially as the youngest
inductee to the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Hall of Fame (LPGA
homepage, 1997). In the college ranks, Lisa Fernandez, a softball pitcher for the
University of California at Los Angeles, was named the top female collegiate athlete of
the year in 1993, and pitched for the 1996 Olympic gold medal winning United State’s
national softball team. Although these are examples of elite athletes, it is clear that
Latina athleticism exists. Thus, their invisibility in the research on women in sport is
curious.

A report commissioned by the Women’s Sports Foundation (WSF) (1989)
examined the United States Department of Education’s High School and Beyond
database. Data in the High School and Beyond study included questionnaires, transcript
records, and school information for more than 12,000 respondents who were high school
sophomores in 1980, and were subsequently re-interviewed in 1982, 1984, and 1986. The
WSF (1989) report focused on two issues, the inﬂuence of sport participation on high
school experiences (measured by perceived popularity, participation in extracunicular
activities, high school grades, educational aspirations, and test scores), and the inﬂuence
Of sport participation on social mobility (measured by academic performance, educational

progress and attainment, and occupational expectations and attainment).

3O

Data from the WSF (1989) report suggested that participation in high school
athletics was signiﬁcantly and positively associated with high school retention, lower
dropout rates, higher achievement test scores, self-reported popularity, college attendance,
and progress toward a bachelor’s degree for rural Hispanic females. In fact, Hispanic
female athletes from rural schools were three times less likely than their non-athletic
peers to drop-out of school (WSF, 1989). Hispanic female athletes in sub-urban schools
were more likely than non-athletes to feel popular, get involved in extracunicular
activities, stay involved in sports as adults, and aspire to community leadership (WSF,
1989). All Hispanic female athletes in the WSF (1989) study were two to four times
more likely than Hispanic female non-athletes to attend and stay in college. However,
these results did not hold true in urban settings (WSF, 1989), where the majority of the
nation’s Latino population resides (Rumbaut, 1995).

A body of research largely lead by Picou (1978) and his colleagues (Picou &
Hwang, 1982; Picou, McCarter & Howell, 1985) offers a more critical examination of the
purported athletic participation/academic achievement relationship. Picou (1978) found
that “the impact of athletic achievement for educational aspirations was primarily
mediated by social and psychological processes” (p. 43 7). In fact, the notion that students
engaged in athletics internalized values, norms and behaviors that spilled over into
academic aspirations was not supported across racial groups. Picou (1978) also refuted
the “increased interpersonal encouragement” hypothesis, which suggested that athletes
received more encouragement for college aspirations than did not athletic peers (p. 437).

Picou & Hwang (1982) examined the interactional and linear additive models of

educational aspirations among “disadvantaged athletes” (p. 359). The interactional model

31

 

suggested that participation in interscholastic athletics has stronger socialization
consequences for disadvantaged youth who receive relatively little structural and
interpersonal support for educational and occupational aspirations and achievements (p.
60). The linear additive model suggested that participation in interscholastic athletics
was one of many potential inﬂuences that would enhance educational achievement for
disadvantaged youth. Picou & Hwang (1982) found that a) the importance of
interscholastic athletics for the formation of educational aspirations was relatively similar
for both advantaged and disadvantaged athletes, b) with the exception Of black women,
athletes who were classiﬁed as academically disadvantaged held higher educational goals
than their non-athletic peers, and c) interscholastic athletic involvement was most
important for white men who received little or no parental and peer inﬂuence for college
aspirations.

Picou, McCarter and Howell (1985) examined the importance of high school
athletics for adult achievement and educational attainment. Following students beyond
high school, Picou, McCarter and Howell (1985) found that a) white men beneﬁted most
form athletic involvement in terms of eventual employment opportunities, b) black
women who had been interscholastic athletes experienced negative effects in their
employment opportrmities, c) white men were the only group to experience positive effect
of athletic involvement on their educational attainment, and d) black women experienced
a negative effect on educational attainment. These data were drawn from a regional
sample, thus may not represent the experience Of diverse men and women across the
nation. Yet, they add to a growing body of literature that suggests that educational and

athletic achievements have different consequences for different people. Under-

32

 

representation of women of color in varied athletic contexts and roles may be a
contributing factor in the ﬁndings discussed above.

The most comprehensive analysis of Latino/a representation in the National
Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) (Acosta & Carpenter, 1988) suggested that
Latino/a leadership in NCAA athletics was scarce at best. As part of a longitudinal study
on the representation of women in collegiate athletics, questionnaires were sent to NCAA
colleges and universities that offer intercollegiate athletic programs for women.
Approximately 800 institutions were surveyed with a response rate Of 70 percent. The
Acosta & Carpenter (1988) data yielded the following estimates of Latina leadership in
NCAA athletics. There were roughly .009 Latina administrators, .08 Latina head
coaches, and .07 Latina assistant coaches per school in all NCAA institutions. In the
same study, Latinas accounted for 1.3 percent of all female athletes among the NCAA
institutions that responded (Acosta & Carpenter, 1988). The signiﬁcant lack of Latinas in
positions of leadership within women’s sports has consequences that may inﬂuence not
only perceived opportunities as athletes, but also as coaches and administrators. Many
persons may serve as role models to Latina students and student athletes, however, the
fact is that the chance of having a coach or administrator who is Latina is less than one in
800 according to Acosta and Carpenter’s data (1988). This absence of Latina leaders
clearly inﬂuences the disproportionately low representation of Latinas as they see very
few persons in the realm of athletics with whom they share cultural and historical
commonalties.

More recently, the NCAA has expanded it’s graduation rates summary (NCAA,

1997) to include a breakdown of data by race/ethnicity and gender. The graduation rates

33

 

Ib-

Va.

5.

report included data on all undergraduate students who were enrolled in a full-time
program of study for a degree and all student-athletes receiving athletics aid during the
fall of 1996/1997 academic year. Racial/ethnic group membership was self-reported. The
data on participation rates for Latinas revealed three signiﬁcant trends. First, it is clear
that across the NCAA institutions, Latinas were disproportionately under represented as
student-athletes. In 1997, Latinas accounted for six percent of all female students in
NCAA institutions. In the same year Latinas made up a disproportionately lower
percentage of student athletes, accounting for only three percent. In contrast, White
women accounted for 71 percent of all female students, and 75 percent of all female
athletes, a disproportionately higher percentage of female athletes.

A second trend suggested that participation in intercollegiate athletics by Latinas
might be less varied than that Of other women. Sport speciﬁc data were limited in the
NCAA report, however data were collected for the sports of basketball, cross-country and
track (one category), and all “other” sports. In all divisions combined Latinas made up
two percent of all female basketball athletes, three percent of all female cross country and
track athletes, and three percent Of all “other” athletes. The category “other sports”
accounted for more than half of all female athletes in the report and represented more
than 15 different sports. Again, White women continued to be over represented,
accounting for 84 percent of all women in the category “other”. The ﬁgure for Latinas
(three percent; N=498) was slightly higher than their overall participation percentage but
still a disproportionately low ﬁgure.

A third trend identiﬁed in the NCAA (1997) data suggested that Latinas received

a disproportionately lower amount of athletic scholarships to pay for their education at

34

 

NCAA institutions. In fact, a very small percentage of all female students (N=1,430,894)
received athletic related scholarships (two percent). However, the trend across
racial/ethnic groups varied. For example, White females receiving athletics aid accounted
for 1.3 percent of all female students, while Latinas who received athletics aid made up
only .05 percent of this total. Even more illustrative is the fact that only two percent of all
female students on NCAA campusesare student-athletes receiving athletic related aid.
Among Latina students less than one percent (.8 %) are student-athletes, while among
White women the ﬁgure matches the overall ﬁgure at two percent. Given these data, a
disparity of 1.2 percent would account for more than one thousand Latinas who did not
receive their fare share of athletic related aid at NCAA institutions. This results in a
signiﬁcant discrepancy in educational funding among female students on NCAA
campuses.

These data taken together suggest that athletic experiences in high school and
college are not created equally. Overall, these studies revealed that high school athletics
may have some holding power and may offer Signiﬁcant educational beneﬁts for Latinas
in rural settings, but had no holding power or other beneﬁts for those in urban settings
(WSF, 1989). Intercollegiate athletic participation rates revealed disproportionately
lower numbers of Latinas in leadership roles (Acosta & Carpenter, 1988) and as student-
athletes (NCAA, 1997), constricted choices for sports participation (NCAA, 1997) and
differential chances for receiving athletic related educational funds (Coakley & Pacey,

1984; NCAA, 1997).

35

Summgy

The literature reviewed in the preceding section was focused on experiences
among Latinas in both educational and athletic settings. These scholarly and research
efforts suggest that Latinas are often not only underrepresented in classrooms and on
athletic teams, but also face various forms of disadvantage in these social institutions.
Clearly many factors, structural and cultural in nature, contribute to the educational
experiences among Latinas. In turn, the educational experiences of Latinas are inﬂuenced
by and exert inﬂuence upon athletic experiences in schools. This review of literature has
shown that educational and athletic structures are organized around inequalities that
situate many Latinas at a disadvantage for accessing higher education and elite levels of
athleticism.
Critical Feminist Discourse on RaceLlass, Gender and Sexua_lig

In the sociological study of any society it is impossible to make sense of people’s
lives without examining social stratiﬁcation and it’s historical and political salience in
various regions. In the United States, race, class, gender and more recently sexuality have
been examined as institutionalized axes of social stratiﬁcation. While they operate at
institutional levels (e.g., in hiring practices, in curriculum design, in Opportunities for
leisure pursuits), they have real consequences in personal lives. Clearly all women (and
men) live at the axes of these structured inequalities, however it is the socially
constructed meanings that maintain a social hierarchy that privileges some while
disadvantaging others. Latinas face multiple inequalities in their personal and collective
attempts to meet educational, employment and athletic goals. Moreover, early

scholarship on race, class, gender and sexuality treated each of these categories as ﬁxed

36

and unambiguous entities. This research attempts to uncover their complexity as
dynamic, situational and historically speciﬁc shapers of women’s lives. Thus, in what
follows, I will treat race, class, gender and sexuality separately and then as intersecting
inﬂuences in the lives of women.

Race in Women’s Experiences

In order to think about Latina experiences Of collegiate athletics, it is critical to
reﬂect on the meaning and history of the category “race” in the United States. The notion
of race as a dynamic, socially constructed category, rather than a ﬁxed, unambiguous
biological determinant seems to offer the most promise for understanding women’s
experiences as racialized subjects (F rankenberg, 1993; Omi & Winant, 1994). Orni &
Winant (1994) argue that there have been three historically speciﬁc paradigms of race
theory that scholars have relied upon over the past half-century. These paradigms include
ethnicity, class and nation based theories of race.

The ethnicity paradigm arose in the 1920’s and 1930’s and offered an explicit
challenge to the previous biologistic paradigm. Marking this shift most signiﬁcantly was
a naming of racial difference in social and cultural terms rather than the previously
accepted biological terms (Omi & Winant, 1994). Basically, the ethnicity paradigm
supported concepts of cultural pluralism and assimilation as it argued that like white
immigrants, people of color would gradually assimilate into the mainstream of United
States society. Over time, the limitations of this immigrant model would become clear
and ethnicity-based theories would attempt to address emerging dynamics of race in the

United States (Omi & Winant, 1994).

37

The class paradigm of racial theorizing was made up Of a variety of approaches
that emphasized economic structures and processes in their analyses of racial dynamics
(Omi & Winant, 1994). In much the same way that socialist feminism failed to fully
explain the oppression of women of color (Andersen, 1993), other class-based theories of
market relations, stratiﬁcation and class conﬂict did not ﬁrlly address the power of race to
situate people in positions of domination and subordination. Nation based theories of
race were rooted in colonialism where actual “racial dynamics are viewed as products of
colonialism and therefore, as outcomes of relationships that are global and epochal in
character” (Omi & Winant, 1994, p. 37). It’s strength in comparison to ethnicity or class
paradigms lay in its inclusion of several elements of racial Oppression, such as
inequalities, political discourse, cultural domination and territorial and institutional
segregation, rather than focusing on a single fundamental aspect (Omi & Winant, 1994).

It is important to note that actual shifts in theoretical paradigms are not absolute
and in fact, strands of each paradigm may be found in the others (Omi & Winant, 1994).
These paradigmatic shifts may be seen in the sport studies literature as well. Sociological
analyses of race in sport have centered on sport as a mirror of race relations in the larger
social order. The primary foci for research have been in three areas, differences between
Black and White athletes, discriminatory practices in sport, and sport as a mechanism to
improve racial relations (Birrell, 1989, 1990; Eitzen, 1996a; Frey & Eitzen, 1991; Sage,
1990; Smith, 1992). To date, analyses Of race in sport sociology have further obscured
diversity in three ways. First, analyses have equated race with black, leaving out other
racial categories. Second, Black athlete has typically meant Black male athlete, distorting

any analytical consideration of gender as racialized experience. Third, class is obscured

38

by the tendency to read race as race-class (Birrell, 1989; 1990). For the most part white
persons have been considered raceless in much of the research and scholarship on sport,
treating their experiences as the human model, rather than demarcating it as particularly
White experience.

Differential treatment by race has been documented in sport, including the
Opportunity to occupy speciﬁc positions, differential standards for success, and
disproportionate numbers of ethnic minorities in "star-roles" (Pascal & Rapping, 1970;
Yetrnan & Eitzen, 1982; Johnson & Marple, 1973; Phillips, 1976; Loy, McPherson, &
Kenyon, 1978). Recently positional segregation by race has been documented in
women’s collegiate volleyball (Eitzen & Furst, 1993). In general, Whites are found in
positions high in interaction, coordinative tasks, leadership, and outcome control. Blacks
are found in peripheral positions where these skills are not required and physical skills are
(Eitzen & Furst, 1993; Leonard, Ostrosky & Huchendorf, 1993). Studies of positional
segregation Offer clear examples of the power of socially constructed notions of race to
shape the sport Opportunities and experiences among women. What they do not Offer is
insight to the varied responses that Latinas and other women Of color may employ in
resistance to racially linked positions on their teams.

The exclusion of women and Hispanic, Asian, Native American groups ﬁ'om
analyses of race has resulted in an incomplete theoretical understanding of the salience of
race in sport and in society (Birrell, 1989; 1990; Dewar, 1993; Hall, 1996; Smith, 1992).
Smith (1992) provided a review of scholarly and research literature on women of color in
sport and society in which she suggested that analyses Of women of color in sport had

primarily been categorical and distributive in nature resulting in useful, but superﬁcial

39

understandings of sport as an institution organized around race, class, and gender. Smith
(1992) argued that sociological understandings of women in sport and society will
continue to be limited and distorted as long as women of color are not included as
research participants and scholars. Despite this and other calls for research that is
inclusive of varied identities and experiences (Baca Zinn et. al., 1986; Birrell, 1990;
Dewar, 1993; Pronger, 1996; Smith 1992), much of Sport sociology remains entrenched
in what Sabo (1995) has referred to as “White science” or “the historically constructed
realm of knowledge production that, in particular, is rooted in Anglocentric, androcentric,
and rationalistic cultural and political agendas” (p. 23 8). ‘

Theoretically, some would argue that in current social arrangements race is more
salient than ethnicity for situating Latinas in subordinate social positions because for the
most part people do not know what ethnicity someone is or what cultural values go with a
particular ethnic group (Omi & Winant, 1994). Despite the fact that ethnic heritage may
not elicit the same magnitude of social response as do racial constructions, it is a
signiﬁcant factor shaping Opportunities in women’s lives. In terms of Latino/a identity,
lumping of all Latinos/as into one “Hispanic” monolithic cultural category further
colonizes people of varied Latino/a ethnicities. Moreover, census data clearly show that
ethnicity has real consequences in the lives of diverse women, as women of different
Latina ethnicities are situated in varied positions of privilege and penalty (see chapter
four). Historically, nativity and ethnic heritage have ﬁgured heavily into the social and
political landscape of the United States and they continue to situate Latinas in various

social locations.

40

gag in Women’s Experiences

Class analyses in sport sociology have tended to obscure other meaningful social
categories of analysis, such as race, gender, and sexuality, by suggesting class as the most
salient of all oppressions/privileges in sport settings. Sociological analyses of class have
focused on elite athletes and “big-time” athletic programs (Flint & Eitzen, 1987; Sage,
1996), on sport as a site for the production and reproduction of class stratiﬁcation
(Greendorfer, 1978; Hasbrook, Greendorfer & McMullen, 1981; Hasbrook, 1986; 1987),
and sport as a site for upward mobility (Coakley, 1994; Sage, 1990). Progressive
analyses of class in sociology focus on relations of power and differential access to
power, rather than analyzing monetary or material wealth. In fact, material wealth and
commodities are critically examined to include things that do not typically have a
monetary value associated with them, but offer their owner some sort of entree to
privilege. Elite athletic skill may be seen as just such a commodity or material
possession, especially as it may offer one entree to the privileged world of post-secondary
education. This body of literature is signiﬁcant in understanding how Latinas, in their
varied positions of privilege and penalty, experienced the social institution of softball.

Eitzen (1996b) suggests that in sport, just as in the larger society, the poor pay
more than their fair share for the maintenance and growth of sport programs. Subsidized
public arenas serve as both symbolic and actual burdens on the poor and powerless
(Eitzen, 1996b; Kidd, 1990). The unequal cost of spectatorship keeps most lower class
persons and families from attending sporting events (Eitzen, 1996b; Sage, 1990). The
exploitation of big-time college athletes serves the needs of capitalists and maintains a

system controlled by dominant ideology (Eitzen, 1996b; Sage, 1996). Finally, unequal

41

ﬁnancing of public schools and their sports programs creates greater access to sport for
some, and little or no access for others (Eitzen, 1996b). In sport, class stratiﬁcation is
primarily manifested in terms of access, patronage, control, and social mobility (Sage,
1990). The power elite may control access to sport in at least two signiﬁcant ways. First,
by restricting membership, such as in the case of country clubs or golf and tennis
facilities, only those of the appropriate social class are admitted. Additionally, sport
participation may be out Of reach for many working class persons simply due to time and
ﬁnancial constraints (Sage, 1990).

Sport has been frequently cited as an avenue for social mobility, especially for
minority groups (Snyder & Spreitzer, 1976). Some arguments for the social mobility-
sport relationship have relied on testimonials Of lessons learned through participation in
sport that translated to success in the occupational world (Loy, 1968; Sage, 1990). Others
have relied on the visibility of lower social class members making it big in sport (e.g.,
golfer, Nancy Lopez and boxer, Oscar de la Hoya). Critics of the social mobility-sport
relationship suggest that very few people make it big in sport. Only 1 in 10,000 men
make it to professional sport levels (Sage, 1990). This ratio is of course even more
disparate among women. Despite this limited extent of actual social mobility through
sport, sport symbolically serves to promote and sustain the hegemonic ideology about
widespread social climbing in the larger American social structure (Sage, 1990).

One study of women’s participation in NCAA athletics revealed that White
women received the majority of full scholarships and tended to receive some form of
partial aid or tuition waiver more often than other women in division I and 11 programs

(Coakley & Pacey, 1984). Moreover, “other minority” women (not including Black

42

women) received less partial aid and were most likely to be participating in division I and
H women’s athletics without any form of aid (Coakley & Pacey, 1984). Increasingly, data
such as these reveal a disparate opportunity structure that shapes not only participation
patterns, but also perceptions of opportunity for participation in sport among all women.

Relying on Gerson’s (1985) model of social conditions and women’s decisions
about their lives, class becomes a signiﬁcant category of analysis for this research.
Regardless of actual self-identiﬁed class status and measures of annual income, racial-
ethnic women experience varying degrees power in social institutions. Thus, parent’s
educational attainment, parent’s employment level and generational status become
important aspects of class status among the Latinas who were interviewed here. The
realities of life such as dislocation from higher education, perceived need to work, and
other social conditions that shape women’s baseline orientations toward collegiate
athletics. Moreover, it is precisely how successful one is at navigating middle class
structures of education and organized sport that shapes how direct or curvy one’s path
may be.

Gather in Women’s Experiences

Feminist analyses of sport have uncovered various systems of oppression and
domination of both women and men (Hall, 1992; Messner, 1990) and have exposed
gender as a signiﬁcant organizing principle in American society and North American
sport. In the seventies and early eighties the study of women’s experiences as gendered
individuals in male dominated sport reigned supreme (Bell, 1986; Boutilier & San
Giovanni, 1983; Cahn, 1994; Felshin, 1981; Gerber, Felshin, Berlyn & Wyrick, 1974;

Hargreaves, 1993; Hart, 1981). Gender analyses for the most part left men out of the

43

equation, and treated women as the gendered beings. Role conﬂict, gender roles, and
essentialist conceptions of women and men were the leading intellectual tools. Bell
(1986) suggested an internal role-conﬂict existed for girls who wanted to do well in sport,
but were also required to live up to the dominant cultural expectations of womanhood.
Gerber, et. al., (1974) suggested a dialectic of woman and sport existed as well as an
apologetic employed to ease the dissonance between these mutually exclusive roles. A
dialectic of sport and woman was soon the focus of analyses.

The purported incompatibility between woman and sport served to expose limited
conceptions of these socially and culturally speciﬁc terms. Boutilier & San Giovanni
(1983) argued that to even have discourse on the dialectic suggested some investment in
mutually exclusive deﬁnitions of woman and sport.

TO ask if women can remain women and still play sports means that one has in

mind a view of women and sport that accepts the socially constructed deﬁnitions

of these two realities as contradictory and conﬂicting. To ask this question means
that one accepts the white, male, heterosexual, middle class defrnitions of women

and of sport (p. 117).

The trivialization of female athletic endeavors also serves to maintain the dialectic
between woman and sport. By constantly comparing women's sporting activities to the
more legitimized male version, the conﬂicting characteristics of woman and sport are
highlighted (Eitzen & Baca Zinn, 1989; Felshin, 1981). Trivialization of women’s
athletic endeavors occurs at all levels of sport and may take on various forms. Bryson
(1987) suggested that there are four speciﬁc ways that those in power have contained

women’s sport participation. First, sport is deﬁned in terms that contribute to masculine

44

hegemony. Second, men are making critical decisions about sport that affect the
environment in which women's sport exists. Third, achievements and successes of
women in sport are largely ignored by the media, by the institution of sport itself. Finally,
Bryson (1987) suggested that even when female athletes or women's sport gets any sort of
recognition, it is commonly trivialized either in comparison to "real" sport or in
comparison to women's more meaningful accomplishments in the home.

Lenskyj (1990) argued that the maintenance of male power and privilege depends
in part on ensuring that sex differences are carefully constructed and institutionalized in
social structures, beliefs, and practices" (p. 240). One of the most pervasive forms of
institutionalization today is the media. Today women in athletics receive more media
coverage than at any other time in our history. However, the gender hierarchy is carefully
woven into mediated representations Of women in athletics. In their essay on media
representations of female athletes, Kane & Greendorfer (1994) suggested that gender
difference is translated into gender hierarchy, because in existing social arrangements
females are deﬁned not only as "other than" but "less than" their male counterparts (p.
31). They also argue that "By portraying female athletes as femirrized and sexualized
others, the media trivialize and therefore undermine their athletic achievements" (Kane &
Greendorfer, 1994, p. 31) and maintain gender as an individual attribute, rather than
exposing sport as a gendered institution.

Recently, feminist scholars have recognized the limitations of a gender-only
perspective, and suggest that gender interacts with other systems of inequality to produce
multiple hierarchies within sport and society (Birrell, 1989; 1990; Hall, 1996; Messner &

Sabo, 1990; Messner, 1993; Smith, 1992). For example, Hall (1996) suggested that sport

45

studies scholars are currently moving toward analyses that provide insight to the many
forms of domination present in sport and society, thus concepts and theories of gender
roles, socialization, and role conﬂict offer little analytical progress today. Hall (1996)
made the following argument:

Now we need to focus on sport as a site for relations of domination and

subordination (gender, race, class, sexuality, and other forms) and on how sport

serves as a site of resistance and transformation (p. 31).

Studying gender as it is mediated challenges partiality and distorted images that
have been historically based in false universals of woman and man. Baca Zinn & Dill
(1994) suggested that for racial-ethnic women, lesbian women, older women, disabled
women, and lower social class women, gender is but one part of a larger pattern of
unequal social relations. How gender is experienced depends on how it intersects with
other systems of inequalities (Baca Zinn & Dill, 1994). They further suggest that "race,
class, and gender stratiﬁcation affect all [women and men], not just those who are most
oppressed" (p.5). Biological traits such as race and gender have meaning only because
they have been socially ranked and rewarded (Baca Zinn & Dill, 1994). For Baca Zinn
and Dill (1994), it is the social response to these otherwise meaningless characteristics
that results in inequality. In sport, these social responses include constructing and
maintaining difference through gendered and racialized arguments such as "natural"
athletic ability of African American men and women and cultural conﬂict among Latina
athletes and families.

Current discourse suggests that there are several masculinities and femininities to

be constructed by various women and men. However, the equation of masculinity with

46

athlete may be especially problematic among elite, skilled female athletes. This may be
even more signiﬁcant among female athletes who participate in sports that are socially
constructed within a gender binary of masculine or feminine. In such a conception Of
sport activities, softball is often considered more masculine than feminine. Binary
conceptions however offer very little in the way of understanding how women who may
be diverse in their own gender constructions actually experience elite forms of
competitive softball. Similar to the ﬂuidity of racial theories, gender theories also overlap
even as they may seem outdated or less sophisticated. Elite female athletes may often be
sandwiched in between the strength and empowerment they may get from sport and the
concomitant question of their loyalty to established feminine roles. In the present study,
examples of role conﬂict, the apologetic as well as individual forms of womanhood were
articulated. For the most part, being a woman was but one aspect of the collegiate
softball experience among the Latina women interviewed.

SergLalitY in Women’s Experiences

Why talk about sexuality in a study about Latinas in collegiate softball? Athletics
and softball in particular may provide space in which to challenge dominant social
constructions of sexuality as well as maintain the current gender order (Lenskyj, 1994).
Little empirical data exists to provide insight to the salience of sexual identities in the
experiences of Latinas in sport settings. Much of what informs this research comes out of
a growing body of literature by and about Latina lesbians and the emerging literature on
lesbianism and homophobia in sport.

Recent scholarship on the experiences of gay men and women in sport suggest

that sexual preference, while linked with gender identities, is a signiﬁcant shaper of

47

men’s and women’s lives in its own right (Lenskyj, 1986; 1987; 1990; 1991; 1994;
Pronger, 1990; 1996). Sport has become the most appropriate site for monitoring the
maintenance of the current gender system especially as homophobia and compulsory
heterosexuality have become the “glue” that holds this system together (Griffin, 1996;
Lenskyj, 1994). In fact, dominant forms of sport are socially and culturally classiﬁed as
feminine or masculine depending on their functions in enhancing heterosexual
attractiveness (Lenskyj, 1987; 1990; 1991; 1994). The possibility of being labeled
“lesbian” is enough to keep some women out Of sport. The presence and visibility of
lesbians threatens the allegiance of all women to men in the project of male domination.
Accusations such as these promote conceptions of individual deviance rather than
zeroing in on systemic domination of all women and men. “Credentialed” heterosexual
women pose less of a threat than do lesbians, whose independence from men is sexual,
social, emotional, and economic” (Lenskyj, 1991). These credentials may be accrued
through compulsory heterosexual practices, such as marriage, childbearing, and a failure
to challenge the gender order in any public way. Thus, media images, half-time reports,
and life stories are inclusive of heterosexual practices in order to maintain the myth that
most women in sport are straight and that lesbian life is unfulﬁlling. The camouﬂaging
of lesbians and gay men in sport has served to protect the right of straight men to
sexualize female athletes, while maintaining their own privileged status as the true
athletes (Lenskyj, 1986; 1987; 1990; 1991; 1994). Moreover, the blaming of lesbians for
the bad image of women’s sport works to subordinate all women, not just those who

choose a lesbian identity.

48

 

Carla Trujillo (1994) suggested that the mere existence of sexual identity conﬁnes
Latinas and other women. She also offered an example of how she is constrained due to
her public identity as a Latina and a lesbian. She put it this way:

I am invalidated by family and stereotyped in the minds of many. I am charged by

the mainstream with personalizing too much, suspected by my own communities

for ‘succeeding’ in the white heterosexual world. I am granted conditional
acceptance by some and receive minimal toleration by others. I am desperately
attempting to live, amid all this prejudice and negation, a life as positive and fully

self-actualizing as I can. (p. 276).

In the introduction to their edited collection of writings about Latina sexualities
Alarcon, Castillo and Moraga (1993) stated the following. “Our sexuality has been
hidden, subverted, distorted within the ‘sacred’ walls of the ‘familia’ — be it myth or
reality - and within the ever more privatized walls of our bedrooms.” Although sexuality
is not the focus of the present research sexuality is a major axis in the matrix of
domination, and women’s athletics have clearly been adopted by many as a battleﬁeld for
sexual identity politics. Thus, experiences of collegiate softball, regardless of individual
sexual identities, will be shaped by current social constr actions of sexualities. It is
imperative in the present research to link the power struggles that emerge out of identities
as racialized, sexualized, classed and gendered persons in United States society and sport.

Griffin (1998) interviewed college athletes, coaches and administrators regarding
their experiences as lesbian women in collegiate sport settings. The experiences shared
by Grifﬁn’s (1998) informants suggested that sexuality was something to be strategically

managed throughout athletic careers. Various strategies employed by collegiate athletes

49

included aspects of denial, shame & self-hating, secrecy, cautious pride and liberated
pride reﬂecting particular comfort levels with lesbian identities. Moreover, Grifﬁn
(1998) found that among her informants small schools, low proﬁle athletic settings and
established lesbian, gay and bi-sexual campus groups made it “easier” to choose to come
out. However, the choice to come out was more complicated for women of color and
women of lower social class status. While all lesbian women face signiﬁcant
consequences in choosing to come out, white women are privileged in the sense that they
may ﬁnd a home among other white lesbian women.

For many Latinas who are lesbian, choosing to come out means risking family ties
and being viewed as a vendida (sell-out) to Latino/a culture (Chavez-Leyva, 1996;
Trujillo, 1994). Chavez Leyva (1996) suggested that ethnicity itself may have become a
form of sexual control. In much the same way that suspicions about female athletes may
scare some women away from sport involvement (Grifﬁn, 1996; 1998), constructions of
lesbianism as a pathology contracted from American culture may constrain the sexuality
Of Latinas. Thus, the threat is that one’s ethnicity will be “erased” if one also chooses a
“deviant” sexuality is a powerful one. The signiﬁcant point here is that different women
face different consequences for the choices they make.

Grifﬁn’s (1998) informants supported this when they suggested that racial
identities did Shape their thinking about coming out. However, this was not the
experience of the white women that Grifﬁn (1998) interviewed. This suggests that for
white lesbian women whiteness is naturalized and not racialized, while women of color
are simultaneously racialized and sexualized. It is imperative to discuss sexuality in the

lives of all women, but especially in the lives of Latinas as their sexualities have been

50

 

constrained in ways that are different from that of white women. Chavez Leyva (1996)
argued the following in this regard:

The trajectory of Latina lesbian histories challenges the models, the chronology,

the very language set forth by scholars of white lesbian and gay history. Regional

differences, disparate economic opportunities, intersections of racism and sexism,

immigrant status, nativity, ethnic affiliation, varying degrees of assimilation, and

ﬁnally, cultural and religious values, often distinct from those Of the dominant

society, create a unique context for Latina lesbian history (p. 146).
It is only within a multiple context such as Chavez Leyva (1996) suggests that Latina
sexualities and their relevance to community, family and political identities may be fully
explored. The collegiate athletic setting may be one of the most appropriate places to
begin to bring Latinas into the discourse on sexualities.

Intersecting Inequalities: Women of Color in Spgrt

Several studies have suggested that race, class and gender are ever present as a
distinguishing characteristic, especially in the building of masculinities and femininities
(Bissinger, 1990; Foley, 1990; Grey, 1996). In each of these studies, the power of
intersecting inﬂuences Of race, class, and gender was revealed to be operating in sport
(Bissinger, 1990; Foley, 1990; Grey, 1996). In a study of high school sports in an
increasingly diverse Kansas community, Grey (1996) found that American athletics and
related rituals resulted in the further marginalization of immigrant and minority students,
rather than the liberating and cohesive effects sport is purported to Offer.

Foley (1990) suggested that American high school football ritual is a powerful

metaphor of American capitalist culture. Football rituals, such as the homecoming

51

 

ceremony, traveling to other communities, cheerleading, and fan support reﬂected
hierarchies of privilege based on race, class and gender (Bissinger, 1990; Foley, 1990).
More speciﬁcally, various forms of football ritual can be used as a standard by which to
judge one’s willingness to assimilate (Foley, 1990; Grey, 1996). Ultimately immigrant
and minority students learn that the way to gain respect is by conforming to “American”
standards, and sport becomes the most visible means to claim one’s American allegiance.
Grey’s observation of the ongoing racial tensions in a Kansas high school led him to
interpret this phenomenon in this way, “Not only did the Hispanic student who excelled at
sports raise his relative status in the school and become a member of the so-called jocks,
but his status in the community increased as well” (p. 304). Thus, participation in
American sports provided students an opportunity to assimilate not only on campus, but
also in the larger community, creating a false sense of racial harmony.

Ironically, the effects of dismantling racism for the duration of an event such as a
football game, may actually make racial and class divisions more painfully obvious. The
myth of inter-racial harmony and dismantling of inequalities is a myth that ends at the
stadium gates (Foley, 1990). In each of these studies, the communities remained
stratiﬁed by race, class, and gender despite the presence of a few celebrated minority
athletes, cheerleaders, and coaches. Inter-group contact and increased visibility of
minority athletes was not enough to challenge a racial order that is embedded in
inequalities.

Abney and Richey (1992) have argued that the opportunity to occupy positions of
sport leadership has been constrained for African American women due to stereotypes,

lack of access to education, lack of ﬁnancial resources, and lack of role models.

52

Historically, African American women have been carefully constructed, by the media, as
marginal women, who are sexually deviant, and possess “natural” physical ability (Cahn,
1994; Corbett & Johnson; 1993; Green, Oglesby, Alexander & Franke, 1981; Smith,
1992; Williams, 1994). It has been suggested that "the silence surrounding African
American athletes reﬂects the power of these stereotypes to restrict Aﬁ'ican American
women to the margins of cultural life, occupying a status of distant 'Others'" (Cahn, 1994;
p. 127). More recently, scholars have argued against culturally deterministic explanations
of African American female's over representation in certain sports (Cahn, 1994; Corbett
& Johnson, 1993; Green, et. al., 1981; Smith, 1992), and have questioned the notion of
gender equity, as another form of White and middle class women’s privilege (Coakley &
Pacey, 1984).

Challenges to myths and stereotypes of African American women in sport have
revealed structural barriers to full and varied participation (Green, et. al., 1981).
Differential socialization for African American young girls was cited as a signiﬁcant
factor in their entry and experience in sport (Greendorfer & Ewing, 1981), as well as
among Hispanic females (Acosta, 1993). Others have focused on historical context and
challenged conventional research that reiﬁes race as the single situator of African
American women in society and sport (Cahn, 1994; Corbett & Johnson, 1993; Williams,
1994). Expanding the discourse to include all women of color in sport has been a recent
phenomenon (Birrell, 1990; Dewar, 1993; Smith, 1992). Abney and Richey (1992)
suggested that stereotyping, ignorance, attitudes toward “difference”, institutionalized
discrimination, political constraints on sports organizations, and lack of minority women

in leadership positions all contribute to lower participation rates among minority women

53

in sport. Additionally, socialization into certain sports (and away from others) may
actually be the result of a combination of factors, such as lack of opportunity,
exclusionary practices, ﬁnancial outlay, lack of role models, rural/suburban access to
facilities, and variety of programs offered (Acosta, 1993; Coakley, 1994).

Together, these studies have contested the argument that sport is a natural site for
the de-politicization of race, as well as a site for the creation and maintenance of
community harmony. They further suggest that sport is an ideal site for the maintenance
of the racial order (Bissinger, 1990; Foley, 1990; Grey, 1996). Even resistance by
immigrant and minority persons can be co-opted as evidence of a lack of desire to
become American (Grey, 1996). Ultimately, in sport just as in other social institutions
race, class, sexuality and gender matter, and they hold different consequences for
different groups of people.

Summm

In this section of the review of literature I have discussed those scholarly and
research materials that I have found most useful in drinking about the signiﬁcance of race,
class, gender and sexuality in the experiences of women. I have shown that each of these
categories of analysis is powerful in shaping women’s experiences of the social world. I
have described the how these categories of analysis operate independently and
interdependently in sport settings and I have suggested that sport is a viable site for the
continued exploration of the signiﬁcance of race, class, gender and sexuality. In what
follows, I discuss the signiﬁcance of multiracial feminism, an example of a structural
inequalities framework for examining women’s experiences of the social institution of

softball.

54

Structural Inequalities Perspectives

Sociological analyses of sport have relied primarily on two major theoretical
frameworks, functionalism and conﬂict theory. While there exist various branches of
each of these macro perspectives, they are fundamentally different in how they view
social systems. Where functional theorists suggest that the social system is a “natural”
structure and it exists apart from its members, conﬂict theorists argue that the social

structure has been constructed by its inhabitants and would not exist if people had not

 

created it (Coakley, 1994; 1996; Frey & Eitzen, 1991). Further distinguishing the two
grand theories is their approach to social stratiﬁcation.

The functionalist views social stratiﬁcation as a necessary and beneﬁcial aspect of
the maintenance of the social order. Underlying this perspective is the notion that there
will always be scarce rewards available, but that the opportunity to compete for these
rewards is equally available to all members of the social system (Coakley, 1994; 1996).
Ultimately, social stratiﬁcation is conceptualized as a means of ﬁltering the most highly
skilled and capable persons to positions of leadership to ensure the maintenance of the
social order. Role theory and socialization theory are examples of functional perspectives
that have been applied to the study of the social institution of sport (Coakley, 1994; Hall,
1 996).

For conﬂict theorists, social stratiﬁcation exists because people have created
social meaning around identities such as race, class, gender and sexuality. Equality of
condition and equality of opportunity are not separate entities in this perspective. It is
argued that inequality of conditions becomes structured across generations into social

classes, which then limit the degree of equality of opportunity that may be realized

55

(Coakley, 1994; 1996). Stated differently, the social location of persons directly affects
their access to opportunities and social mobility. Moreover, conﬂict theorists suggest that
changes to the social structure are constant and affect members of various social classes
differently, providing some with privilege, while others are penalized (Coakley, 1996).

A structural inequalities perspective focuses its analytical lens on the social

structure. It removes value-laden conceptions of gender and seeks to uncover the ways

ZI'T':

that the social structure works to produce gendered outcomes or to maintain other E
inequalities. Inequalities are viewed as relationships that shift with changing structural
contexts (Coakley, 1996; Messner, 1993; Messner & Sabo, 1990; Sage, 1990). A
structural inequalities perspective takes into account multiple systems of oppression,
avoiding false reiﬁcation of class or gender over other systems of domination (Baca Zinn,
et. al, 1986; Messner & Sabo, 1990; Sage, 1990). Race, class, gender, and sexuality may
be treated as interlocking systems of domination in a structural inequalities ﬁamework
(Baca Zinn, et. al., 1986; Eitzen & Baca Zinn, 1992).

Moreover, structural inequalities ﬁ'ameworks shiﬁ the analysis ﬁom the individual
to the institution (Eitzen & Baca Zinn, 1992). Rather than identifying deﬁciencies in
marginalized groups, a structural inequalities approach identiﬁes the organizational
structure that perpetuates hierarchies of privilege in sport and society (Eitzen & Baca
Zinn, 1992; Sage, 1990). Thus, structural inequalities frameworks take into account the
fact that as sport and society continue to shift and take on alternative forms, individuals
and communities will experience these changes differently (Eitzen & Baca Zinn, 1992).

The consequences of inequalities of race, class, gender and sexuality will not only be

56

experienced in disproportionate ways, but will also lead to new and different systems of
inequality (Eitzen & Baca Zinn, 1992).

Multiracial Feminism

Multiracial feminism, as Baca Zinn and Dill (1994) deﬁne it is "not a singular or
uniﬁed feminism but a body of knowledge situating women and men in multiple systems
of domination" (p. 11). A multiracial feminist analysis "treats racial inequality as a vital
shaper of women's and men's lives and advances a powerful and coherent premise-that
racial ancestry, ethnic heritage, and economic status are as important as gender for
analyzing the social construction of women and men" (Baca Zinn & Dill, 1994, p. l 1).
This perspective is in concert with Messner and Sabo's (1990) call for a non-hierarchical
theory of sport. "A non-hierarchical theory involves the development of theories that
allow us to conceptualize varied and shifting forms of domination in such a way that we
do not privilege one at the expense of distorting or ignoring others" (Messner & Sabo,
1990, p. 10). This is precisely the type of theory that will inform sport scholars in a more
comprehensive manner.

Multiracial feminism is “an attempt to go beyond a mere recognition of diversity
and difference among women to examine structures of domination, speciﬁcally the
importance of race in understanding the social construction of gender” (Baca Zinn & Dill,
1996, p. 321). In this way, multiracial feminism moves sociological analyses away from
gender-only perspectives, and toward an intersections approach to the study of multiple
inequalities. The speciﬁc characteristics that distinguish multiracial feminism ﬁ'om other
feminist frameworks are described below. The following material is taken from Baca

Zinn and Dill (1996, pp. 326-327).

57

. Multiracial feminism asserts that gender is constructed by a range of interlocking
inequalities. A person experiences race, class, gender and sexuality differently
depending upon their social location in the simultaneous and interlocking structures
of race, class, gender and sexuality.

. Multiracial feminism emphasizes the intersectional nature of hierarchies at all levels
of social life. Differently stated, intersecting forms of domination produce both
oppression and opportunity. Thus, at the same time that structures of race, class,
gender and sexuality create disadvantages for women of color, they provide
unacknowledged beneﬁts for those who are at the top of these hierarchies; whites,
members of the upper classes and males.

. Multiracial feminism highlights the relational nature of dominance and subordination.
Race is recognized as a vital element in patterns of relations among minority and
white women.

. Multiracial feminism explores the interplay of social structure and women’s agency.
That is to say that within the conditions of race, class, gender and sexual oppression,
women create viable lives for themselves, their families and their communities.

. Multiracial feminism encompasses wide-ranging methodological approaches, and
relies on varied theoretical tools as well. More speciﬁcally, this framework holds that
marginalized locations are well suited for grasping social relations that remained
obscure ﬁ'om more privileged vantage points. Lived experience, in other words,
creates alternative ways of understanding the social world and the experience of

different groups of women within it.

58

6. Multiracial feminism brings together understandings drawn ﬁom the lived
experiences of diverse and continuously changing groups of women. Among Asian
Americans, Native Americans, Latinas and Blacks are many different national,
cultural and ethnic groups. Each one of these groups is engaged in the process of
testing, reﬁning, and reshaping these broader categories in their own image. Such
internal differences heighten awareness of and sensitivity to both commonalties and
differences among diverse women.

This research has its analytic focus on the experiences of a select group of Latinas
who made successful paths to collegiate softball. Multiracial feminism (Baca Zinn &
Dill, 1994; 1996) provides a framework for examining how these women experienced
both enabling and constraining social conditions as particularly racialized, classed and
sexualized persons. Moreover, this ﬁamework recognizes the importance of individual
agency in the making of women’s lives. Thus, how these women respond to the social
conditions they encounter along the way to softball is clearly inﬂuenced by their social
location within a web of oppressive forces of race, class and sexuality.

A Developmental Approach: Studjp'ng Pathways of Latina Collegiate Athletes

Kathleen Gerson (1985) examined how women respond to the social conditions
they inherit and carve out lives for themselves. She offered what she calls a
“developmental approach” to studying women’s pathways toward their adult lives.
Gerson (1985) suggests,

We can ignore neither the subtle ways that childhood experiences inﬂuence later

life choices nor the structural constraints on women’s options. But neither is

enough. A complete theory of women’s behavior must include how women

59

themselves, as actors who respond to the social conditions they inherit, construct

their lives out of the available raw materials (p. 37).

In Gerson’s (1985) estimation, neither structural coercion, nor socialization
theories are comprehensive enough to explain the divergent paths that women may take.
Thus her developmental approach provides an analytic lens for examining both early
childhood socialization experiences and shifting social conditions throughout adulthood.
Gerson (1985) suggests that women differ in their early expectations about the goals they
plan to pursue as adults.

“Exposed to a diverse, complex set of experiences as children, women, like men,

develop a variety of conscious and unconscious aspirations long before they are

able to test these wishes as adults” (p. 20).

For some women, these early expectations take the form of well-designed plans in
which the future seems certain. For others, these goals are less clear, more like vague
hopes that may or may not be realized (Gerson, 1985, p. 20). Gerson (1985) suggests that
however misty or clear, these early expectations form the baseline for adult life.
Moreover, once established, these early orientations are subject to the real constraints and
opportunities encountered in adulthood. That is, the social conditions adult women face
can either undermine or support their original goals. Unexpected events can lead adults
to reevaluate past assumptions and reorient themselves toward the future. Thus,
pathways through adulthood may either follow or diverge from one’s baseline.

Gerson (1985) also acknowledges women’s agency in creating meaningful lives

despite the social conditions they inherit. On this she suggested the following.

60

 

 

Although social institutions constrain behavior in powerful ways, of which we are
oﬁen unconscious, they are rarely static or completely unyielding. Social
arrangements, like the people who embody them, are constantly being changed as
successive generations inherit a speciﬁc historical context and make their imprint

on the social order (Gerson, 1985, p. 37-3 8).

Unlike, Gerson’s (1985) participants, the women I interviewed all had paths that
lead them to the same location — collegiate softball, but their paths were divergent in
many ways. It is how these paths diverge that illustrates the power of social conditions to
shape women’s options in creating adult lives. Simultaneously, the women I interviewed
are constantly aware of their vast choices compared to women who went before them.
Thus, they may make structurally coerced choices at times, but they also exercise human
agency in their interactions within particular social structural contexts. I am most
interested in how Gerson’s (1985) developmental approach will enable the illumination
of these women’s experiences as both heirs to particular social conditions and actors upon
them.
mar!

In this review of literature, I have suggested that the invisibility of Latinas is not
unique to sports studies, and reﬂects a long-standing national neglect of Latino/a
communities in the United States (Jamieson & Baca Zinn, 1998). More speciﬁcally,
Latinas remain invisible in sport studies due to a) the false homogenization of women in
research and scholarship (Andersen, 1993; Baca Zinn & Dill, 1994; 1996; Dewar, 1993;
Birrell, 1990); b) the primacy of gender as an analytic category in sport studies (Baca

Zinn, et. al., 1986; Birrell, 1989, 1990; Dewar, 1993); and c) the simple fact that Latinas

61

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do exhibit disproportionately lower rates of participation in sport as compared to other
women (NCAA, 1994; 1997). What remains unexamined in sport studies is why Latinas
exhibit disproportionately lower rates of participation in sport. Dislocation from
educational settings, lack of ﬁnancial resources, lack of visible similar others in athletic
pursuits, and unfamiliarity with the collegiate system may all play a role in the current
rate of participation among Latinas. Yet, there may also be a host of other factors
constraining sports participation among Latinas (Abney & Richey, 1992; Acosta, 1999;

J amieson, 1995; Jamieson & Baca Zinn, 1998).

This review of literature also suggests that in United States society, race masks
other forms of disadvantage, making room for, and giving credence to culturally
deterministic explanations of racial and ethnic inequalities (Anzaldua, 1987; 1990a; Baca
Zinn & Dill, 1994; Birrell, 1990; Collins, 1990; Segura, 1992). This body of research and
scholarship, to paraphrase Hall (1996), suggests that Latinas do not simply experience
increased rates of oppression; their disadvantaged status in sport is qualitatively different
from that of their White counterparts (Hall, 1996). Moreover Latina experiences of sport
may be distinctly different ﬁom that of other Latinas who are diverse in terms of race,
class, ethnicity and sexuality.

The connections between the bodies of literature reviewed in this chapter are the
foundation for the analyses that follow. Women’s experiences in sport are diverse and
complex, making it necessary to offer comprehensive understandings of the varied social
conditions that shape women’s decisions about sport involvement. The bodies of
literature reviewed here suggest that all women face shifting social conditions, including

social constructions of race, class and sexuality that inﬂuence decisions about sport

62

involvement. How these conditions shape the development of baseline orientations for
sport and maintenance of pathways toward collegiate softball is the focus of this research.

The speciﬁc design of this research follows in chapter three of this manuscript.

63

Chapter Three
The Process of Discovery

In this chapter I will discuss the design, data collection and analyses that were
used to complete this research. An overview of the research design is provided ﬁrst,
followed by a description of the participants, instrumentation, setting, procedures for data
collection, and analyses of data. It is my sense that although understandings of diverse
women in various social institutions are expanding, a gap remains between distributive
and categorical understandings and rich, thick descriptions of real life experiences of
women. Clearly, the questions that I had set were simply not going to be answered via a
written survey subjected to statistical measures of validity and reliability. Thus, in order
to answer my intellectual and analytical questions about experiences in the social
institution of sport I had to actually talk with Latinas. In what follows I will describe in
detail how these conversations actually came to be, and how they were molded into a
particular type of informative analysis.
Design of the Research

The current research was designed to examine women’s experiences in collegiate
soﬁball in a manner that allowed for the evolution of questions as well as the opportunity
to analyze data across multiple cases. Having many examples of feminist qualitative
research designs, but few examples of inquiries about the experiences of Latinas in sport,
this research employed complementary interview methods in two phases. Following a
pilot study, it was clear that the range of issues, experiences and questions relevant to
women’s experiences in collegiate sport could not fully be identiﬁed prior to conducting

the interviews for this research. Thus, this research began by conducting focus group

64

hrs

5

Lu

W

interviews with former collegiate softball athletes. Many of the participants in phase one
of this research were not only former collegiate athletes, but also current collegiate
coaches, professional softball athletes, and elite amateur softball athletes. It was by
design that these interviews made up phase one of this research, as these women not only
shared their experiences as athletes, but also informed my understanding of current
practices in collegiate softball.

For several reasons, the design of this research also included individual interviews
with current athletes in phase two. First, interview protocol and questions for current
athletes were reﬁned through interviews and analyses in phase one of this research.
Second, individual interviews are an effective method of pursuing more detailed data
regarding information that may have been obtained in a group interview. Third, current
athletes may have an investment in the structure of collegiate softball that former
collegiate athletes do not (although this difference may be somewhat diminished given
that many former collegiate athletes were also collegiate coaches).

This particular design of research allowed for ﬂuid analyses. That is, I was able
to move back and forth between phase one and phase two data. Although, the interviews
and analyses in phase one informed the evolution of interview questions in phase two, the
interviews in phase two continued to further clarify analyses of data in both phases.
Ultimately, this research design produced qualitative data that examined the structural
and cultural conditions that shaped the collegiate athletic paths of a particular group of
Latinas. This brand of evolving interview processes and ﬂuid analyses is based in some
very traditional forms of analyzing interview data (Vaughn, Schumm and Sinagub, 1996)

as well as in more current themes of standpoint epistemology. I talk more about my

65

particular theoretical position later in this chapter. A diagram of the design of research
(ﬁgure 1) may be found in appendix A.
Participants

1 elected to speak only to Latinas who had participated in collegiate softball
because I was interested in uncovering how their experience of sport may differ from
what we have come to know based largely on White women’s experiences (Birrell, 1989,
1990; Dewar, 1993; Hall, 1996). For purposes of this study, participants were of any
Latino/a ethnicity however, the vast majority of participants were of Mexican heritage
mirroring the predominantly Mexican make-up of Latino/a persons in the United States
and California (Rumbaut, 1995; U. S. Bureau of the Census, 1998). Where possible,
purposive sampling methods were used to increase the likelihood of representation across
Latina ethnicities, classes, and sexualities. The process of identifying and contacting
both former and current collegiate athletes is described in more detail in the discussion of
procedures later in this chapter.

In all, interviews with former collegiate athletes included 11 Latinas who had
completed at least one year of collegiate level softball in the US in the past ten years, and
no longer competed as a collegiate softball athlete at the time of data collection. This
included any collegiate level of competition, from community college to NCAA division
one. One additional participant was a senior who at the time of the interviews was
returning for her ﬁnal year of eligibility in collegiate softball. This particular woman also
participated in an individual interview as a current collegiate athlete. Current collegiate
athletes were Latinas who had completed at least one year of collegiate level softball in

the US, and at the time of data collection competed as collegiate softball athletes. This

66

included any collegiate level of competition, from community college to NCAA division
one, and student-athletes of any class standing (e. g., freshman to senior). In all, 19
current collegiate softball athletes of Latina heritage were interviewed, 17 of which will
be included in these analyses.

Instrumentation

The data collection instruments used in the present research were developed by
the principal investigator. The “Latinas in Sport Background Questionnaire”, a two page,
16 item demographic survey, was administered to all participants in order to understand
self-identiﬁed categories of ethnicity, sexuality and class, as well as other relevant
distributive data. This demographic survey included questions about the age, class,
ethnic identity, sexuality, collegiate experience, sport experience, income & ﬁnancial aid
status of participants. It also included questions about ethnicity, educational attainment
and occupational status of parents of participants in the present research. Demographic
surveys differed slightly for former athletes and current athletes only in speciﬁc questions
about income and occupation. Administration of the demographic survey at the
beginning of the interviews maximized time for the discussion portion of the interview,
and allowed for clariﬁcation of survey responses. These demographic surveys may be
found in appendix B and appendix C.

A facilitators guide was developed for use during the focus group interviews and
the individual interviews. In both cases the questions developed were simply guides,
used to focus the discussion. Each guide included thematic areas and various levels of
questions from easy and non-threatening to questions requiring more thought and

personal revelation. The guides included questions about initial involvement in sports,

67

experiences along the way to collegiate level sport, supportive conditions, challenges
faced and memorable experiences in the context of softball. These interview guides may
be found in appendices D and E.

Selection of Setting

Women’s collegiate softball was selected as the site for this research for several
reasons. Softball has been among the fastest growing sports for high school student girls
since the passage of Title D(. In 1997, softball ranked fourth among high school female
student athletes in terms of numbers of participants, and 13 percent of all high school
female athletes participated in softball (U. S. Bureau of the Census, 1998). On the
college level, however, NCAA (1994; 1997) data have shown disproportionately low
rates of participation in intercollegiate athletics for Latinas. Softball is one of two
collegiate sports that has shown slight promise as a site of increased presence of Latinas,
however, these numbers are still quite low. Thus, it was expected that a reasonable
number of Latinas who competed in collegiate softball could be identiﬁed and invited to
participate in the current research.

The state of Califomia was chosen as the site to conduct this research primarily
because it offers a large number of Latino/a persons from which to identify participants,
but also because it contains an “affordable” two and four-year college system. The
California Community College system and California State University system are two
rare examples of affordable higher education in the nation. Thus, the opportunity to
identify Latinas at these institutions, as well as the many other institutions located within
California seems somewhat enhanced. Additionally, the California State University

system has been touted as a leader in the project of compliance with Title IX of the

68

educational amendments act, making it mandatory that each of the twelve campuses have
proportional representation within male and female athletic programs. This proactive
policy may make more scholarships available to women at these institutions, and increase
the likelihood that Latinas will be participating in collegiate softball. Moreover, as a
border state (Mexico/U S), Califomia offers a unique, politically charged setting in which
to study divisions of race-ethnicity and other inequalities in women’s sport. For these
reasons, California based women’s collegiate softball has been deemed a viable site for
the proposed research.
Interviews with Former Collegipte Athletes

Focus group interviews while commonly used in marketing and advertising, have
a history in the social sciences as well (Johnson, 1996; Krueger, 1994; Vaughn, Schumm,
Sinagub, 1996). The studies of audience reaction to war-time radio broadcasts conducted
by Paul Lazarsfeld and Robert Merton and Merton’s (1946) signiﬁcant work for the US
Airforce are considered to be the earliest examples of focus group interview research
(Johnson, 1996; Krueger, 1994; Vaughn, Schumm & Sinagub, 1996). A focus group is
deﬁned as a small group discussion in which a qualiﬁed moderator uses prepared
questions and probes to generate discussion around a speciﬁc theme (Krueger,
1994;Vaughn, Schumm & Sinagub, 1996). Others have suggested that the goal of the
focus group interview is to elicit perceptions, feelings, attitudes, and ideas from
participants about a selected topic (Vaughn, Schumm & Sinagub, 1996, p. 5). In this

case, the topic was the experiences of collegiate softball settings.

In the present study, focus group interviews provided a broad base of information

ﬁom a group of 11 former collegiate athletes. The focus groups were homogenous in that

69

all participants had played at least one year of collegiate level softball, but heterogeneous
in the sense that they may have had very different experiences on different teams, and at
various competitive levels. The basic format of the focus group interviews required an
average of one and one half to two hours to complete, and included introductions, a brief
outline of the research, completion of informed consent (appendix E) and demographic
survey (appendix B) and a set of focused interview questions (appendix D). I facilitated
each of the focus group interviews on my own, and recorded them via audiotape and hand
written notes.

Identiﬁcation of Former Collegiate Athletes

Former Collegiate Athletes were identiﬁed from collegiate softball media guides,
professional softball web pages and by snowball method. Because these athletes are no
longer on prominent collegiate team rosters in athletic media guides, their identiﬁcation
was more difficult than was that of the current athletes. Several media guides provided a
section on former collegiate athletes, complete with years played, current occupation, and
general information on current place of residence. From these sections in the media
guides, I was able to identify Latino/a surnames and begin to develop a list of Latinas
who had competed in collegiate softball.

Several former collegiate athletes who are Latina have joined the Women’s
Professional Fast Pitch Association, and thus were identiﬁed through web pages and hard
copies of team rosters. Team rosters included the hometown of each of the athletes, so
those who reside in California were easily identiﬁed. Often, pictures and surnames were

available to aid in identifying Latino/a heritage women. These names were combined

70

with those identiﬁed in the collegiate media guides to form a list of approximately forty
former collegiate softball athletes of Latino/a heritage.

From this list, regional groups were developed and reviewed in order to identify
viable sites in which to conduct focus group interviews. A viable site was one that
showed the potential for ﬁve to ten Latinas to attend a “local” facility for a one and one
half to two hour interview. Four to six regions were identiﬁed with a goal of completing
four well attended (at least six participants) focus group interviews. After identiﬁcation
of regions, a letter (appendix G) was mailed to each potential participant (N= 40) brieﬂy
describing the research, requirements for participation in the study, potential sites and
dates for the focus group interviews, and a document of informed consent Individuals
were asked to complete and return the informed consent by a speciﬁed date in order to
indicate their interest in participating in the study.

Due to a low response rate to the mailing, phone calls were made to committed
participants to request assistance with identiﬁcation of additional participants. In some
cases, phone numbers were provided for other former collegiate softball athletes, but
often committed participants contacted others on their own. In two cases, the interviews
were almost completely arranged for me by one of the interview participants. This type
of interest and desire to contribute to this research was energizing and motivational for
me. A large majority of the past collegiate softball athletes that could be identiﬁed
through media guides were still involved in collegiate softball (e. g., as coaches) thus,
springtime is extremely busy for these women. The focus group interviews that did occur
were conﬁrmed only days prior to their facilitation and had lower attendance than

originally desired. Yet, the information and experiences shared by these eleven women

71

greatly enhanced the interviews with current collegiate athletes and provided provocative
data regarding the experiences of Latinas in collegiate softball.

Procedures and Data Collection

Focus group participants were asked to arrive at a prescribed time and were
informed that the interview would last approximately 90 minutes. Each interview began
with introductions, a brief description of the research and completion of the informed
consent and demographic survey. A semi-structured set of questions were used to keep
participants on the topic however, latitude was given for participants to share relevant
information that may evolve out of group interactive discussion. Focus group interviews
were conducted in a location that was easily accessed by all participants, and that had
facilities suitable for interactive discussion and audiotaping of the interviews.

Each of the interviews had a distinct arnbience. For example, one interview took
place in an indoor batting practice facility, while another took place in the home of one of
the participants. I traveled usually alone, but once with my sister, and facilitated these
focus group interviews in the evening during the week. They were all casual in style
often with beverages and snacks available for participants, lots of interaction between
participants, laughter, and thoughtful discussion. I sometimes felt awkward about my
privilege as a listener who did not have to expose as much of myself as did the women
that this research focused on. Most often, I felt proud to be among these women, to be
welcomed into their homes, and into their personal experiences. In some interviews what
I enjoyed most was the interactions between participants, especially those who had
remained close friends after their years of collegiate softball. They had knowledge of

each other, and a respect for each other that seemed to come out of a shared and valued

72

history. Although this history may have begun for them when they met on their
collegiate softball teams, they seemed to connect on a deeper level than merely as softball
teammates.

There was one interview completed in a pizza parlor. At a certain point in the
evening noise became a hindrance to our communication, but in the interest of time, we
had to continue in a less noisy corner of the restaurant. This was my least favorite and
least informative interview, not because of the persons involved but literally due to
background noise. I found it difﬁcult to concentrate on what these women were saying
and consequently did not probe as deeply into their experiences as I was able to in other
settings. Overall, the focus group interviews began tentatively and superﬁcially but
eventually moved into deeper more thoughtful expression of personal experiences within
families, schools and sport. For the most part participants waited for me to raise a
particular topic for discussion, but once they began interacting more freely, other issues
of importance to them were discussed. Often participants elicited information from each
other that I may never have gotten to on my own. This type of interactive discussion on a
particular topic was ideal for beginning this process of discovery about the experiences of
Latinas in collegiate softball.

Focus groups closed with participants getting a chance to ask questions, generally
about the research or about my experiences in sport. I did not leave a single interview
without revealing something about myself to the group, at their request. This was
comfortable for me and actually made me feel less awkward about my position as a
collector of their experiences. Some of the women asked how these data would be used

in the future and if they could see it as soon as it was written. I was both happy and

73

anxious about their interest in the outcome of this research. Their requests made it clear
to me that this was important to them. I felt a sense of anticipation from many of these
women. Each time I left a focus group I felt like I had new investors and partners in this
research.

On three occasions I was invited to join the interview participants for something
following the interview. One time I was able to observe a private pitching lesson lead by
two of the interview participants. A second time I was invited to have a late dinner, and
on another occasion my sister (who sat in on one interview) and I were invited to a gay
dance bar. Several of the women involved in the focus group interviews were also
coaches who helped me to gain access to current softball athletes, thus I was able to stay
in contact with them after the focus group interviews. They each played a signiﬁcant role
in my ability to schedule and conduct meaningful interviews with current athletes.
Individual Interviews with Current Collegiate Athletes

Following the focus group interviews, a selected sample of current collegiate
softball athletes was invited to participate in semi-structured individual interviews.
Similar to the focus group interviews, individual interviews centered on a) paths to
collegiate softball, b) support systems, c) challenges, and d) meanings of sport
Meipaton. However, these interviews were more focused and provided a setting in
which to ﬁnther observe the themes that had emerged from interviews with former
collegiate athletes along with current experiences in collegiate softball. This semi-
Stmcmred approach to qualitative interviewing allowed access to “unexpectedly
Signiﬁcant topics” (Bryman, 1988, p. 7) as they arose in conversation with participants

(BOgdan & Biklen, 1992; Harnmersley & Atkinson, 1983; Weiss, 1994). It was my job

74

to focus the discussion, but also to respect and value individual experiences as they
diverged from the speciﬁc line of inquiry (Bryman, 1988; Weiss, 1994).

Identiﬁcation of Current Collegi_ate Athletes

Current collegiate athletes were identiﬁed through review of collegiate athletics
media guides and a snowball method relying on participants in both phases of the study
to assist in the identiﬁcation of potential study participants. A list of potential
participants was developed and letters were mailed to the coaches of these student-
athletes (appendix H) to inform the coach of the research, request their assistance in
contacting the student-athletes and gain their support for the study. Additionally,
enclosed with the letter to the coach were individual letters to each student-athlete
(appendix 1) inviting each individual to participate in the research. Interested participants
were asked to respond through the mail if they were interested in participating in the
study.

Phone calls were made to coaches to answer any questions about the study and
coordinate convenient times to plan interviews with student-athletes. In most cases
coaches were very responsive to the letters and acted as vital communication links
between the student-athletes and myself. A couple of coaches offered to schedule the
intcI'Views for me since they knew the schedules of their student-athletes and had daily
interactions with them. I declined these offers in an effort to “weed out” those student-
athletes who may have only participated to please a coach. After a student-athlete had
exPl'eSsed interest in participating in the study, a second contact was made to schedule the
inteI'View (usually a phone call, but sometimes e-mail or fax was used). Interviews took

place from the southern edge of California up to northern California.

75

Procedures and Data Collection

Interview participants met the interviewer at a location of mutual choice (e.g.,
coffee shop, library, athletic ﬁeld). Interviews lasted between 45 minutes and 90
minutes, and were recorded by the interviewer’s hand-written notes as well as audiotaped
when permitted by the participant (Bogdan & Biklen, 1992; Thomas & Nelson, 1990;
Weiss, 1994). Every participant in the present study permitted audiotaping of interviews.
Participants were informed of the purpose of the research, were allowed to see their own
interview forms and notes upon request, were provided time for asking questions of the
interviewer and were asked to verify the accuracy of biographical statements that would
be part of the completed report of research (Bogdan & Biklen, 1992). Each interview
began with a brief description of the research followed by completion of the informed
consent (appendix J), demographic survey (appendix C), and discussion of structured
interview questions (appendix E). Participants were asked to begin the discussion by
sharing how they initially became involved in sports and eventually made it to collegiate
softball. The interview took on a casual, yet directed discussion format that allowed for
movement in and out of the prescribed topical areas.

Throughout each interview, I attempted to keep the discussion focused on the
previously identiﬁed topics and yet allowed room to explore other relevant topics as they
came up. The semi-structured approach was meant to include unexpected relevant
discussion, rather than preclude participants from straying from the existing topics. The
majority of interviews began slowly and at a cursory level of discussion, however once
participants began sharing their experiences in sports discussions seemed to get easier,

more relaxed and more deeply personal. It was purposeful that the interview instrument

76

 

 

 

began with easy, straightforward questions and moved into more thought provoking, in-
depth questions. In a couple of cases time was a constraint and discussion remained at a
somewhat superﬁcial level, or particular topics were skipped entirely. Yet, most
interviews felt as though they could have gone on indeﬁnitely. These somewhat varied
interactions with participants are a valuable part of the research experience and simply
reveal the contributions made by both researcher and research participant.

Interviews concluded with a verbal expression of thanks by the researcher and
time for the interviewee to ask questions. Nearly all participants wanted to know more
about the process of writing their stories and in what form their stories would become
available for public consumption. They wanted to know where it might be published and
when they would get to see it. Some asked about the researcher’s experiences in graduate
school and in collegiate athletics. On occasion the wrap-up discussion went on for ten to
15 minutes. All participants were provided with a postal address, phone and e-mail
address for the researcher and were encouraged to contact her if they had questions or
further comments to share. A diagram of the entire process of data collection is located
in appendix K (ﬁgure 2).

Analyses of Data

What does it all mean, anyway, when the talking is done, the microphone cable is

rewound, and the tapes are labeled and transcribed? What is the status of an

interview narrative? An interview is not, in any simple sense, the telling of a life
so much as it is an incomplete story angled toward my questions and each

[woman's] ever-changing sense of self and of how the world works.

(Frankenberg, 1993, p. 41)

77

As Ruth Frankenberg (1993) so eloquently pointed out, the interview is really but
a slice of life and it is cut by the researchers investigative scalpel. While it is noted that
the interview can not tell a life story, it may tell many stories that may reveal
connections, contradictions, and ways of organizing life within a larger social context. It
has also been suggested that in doing qualitative research “we contextualize events in a
social system within a web of meaning, and provide a namable causation. We transform
[events] into meaningful patterns and in doing so we exclude other patterns, meanings, or
causations” (Fine, 1993, p. 290). Clearly, I have contextualized the experiences of both
former and current collegiate athletes in my project of analyzing the structural and
cultural conditions that inﬂuenced the paths of these women to collegiate softball. In this
section of chapter three I will discuss my theoretical positioning, objectivity and validity
in qualitative methods, and will provide a detailed description of the analyses of these
data.

W

I have applied a structural inequalities perspective to the sense making of these
data. A structural inequalities perspective takes into account multiple systems of
oppression, avoiding false reiﬁcation of class or gender over other systems of domination
(Baca Zinn, et. al, 1986; Messner & Sabo, 1990; Sage, 1990). Race, class, gender, and
sexual preference may be treated as interlocking systems of domination in a structural
inequalities framework (Baca Zinn, et. al., 1986; Eitzen & Baca Zinn, 1992). Moreover,
the application of a structural inequalities framework shifts the analytic focus from the

individual to the institution (Eitzen & Baca Zinn, 1992), revealing the organizational

78

structure that perpetuates hierarchies of privilege in women’s collegiate sport (Eitzen &
Baca Zinn, 1992; Sage, 1990).

Multiple feminist perspectives were also signiﬁcant in my analyses of the
experience of collegiate softball among Latinas. One such perspective, Multiracial
Feminism is “an attempt to go beyond a mere recognition of diversity and difference
among women to examine structures of domination, speciﬁcally the importance of race in
understanding the social construction of gender” (Baca Zinn & Dill, 1996, p. 321). A

Multiracial Feminist (Baca Zinn & Dill, 1994; 1996) framework moves sociological
analyses away from gender-only perspectives, and toward an intersections approach to
the study of multiple inequalities. This perspective is in concert with Messner and Sabo's
(1990) call for a non-hierarchical theory of sport which “involves the development of
theories that allow us to conceptualize varied and shifting forms of domination in such a
way that we do not privilege one at the expense of distorting or ignoring others" (p.10).
Ultimately, I have examined the individual experiences of these women in order to make
sense of the signiﬁcance of race, class and sexuality as power constructs that situate all
Women differently in the social institution of sport.

I am particularly interested in how these inequalities shape women’s paths to
c011egiate athletics. Relying on Gerson’s (1985) framework for examining the shifting
Structural and cultural inﬂuences on women’s decisions about work, career and
motherhood, I analyze the varied conditions that shaped the paths of Latinas to collegiate
softball. Gerson’s (1985) analyses suggest that a “comprehensive explanation of
W0Inen’s behavior must include how women themselves, as actors who respond to the

social conditions they inherit, construct their lives out of the available raw materials”

79

(Gerson, 1985, p. 37). A signiﬁcant aspect of Gerson’s (1985) model is that it reﬂects

shifting constraints and enabling conditions in the lives of women. For example, women

may receive messages as young women about doing well in school, but as they prepare to

leave high school these messages may change to reﬂect the needs of their families. If it is
perceived that earning a wage is a more immediate need, then education may be delayed.
This example is reﬂective of both cultural conditions (e. g., messages about the
importance of education) and structural conditions (e.g., needs of a ﬁnancially
constrained family unit). It is ﬁ'om this theoretical framework that I have identiﬁed and
analyzed the varied structural and cultural conditions faced by this selected group of
Latinas who successfully made paths to collegiate softball.

It is additionally signiﬁcant to note that I also rely on the particular perspectives

of the women who were interviewed as a starting point for these analyses. That is, I
value the real life experiences of these particularly situated women as meaningful
knowledge about the social world (Birrell, 1990; Collins, 1990; 1991; Pronger, 1996).
From their particular standpoints, they each offer a meaningful glimpse into the
experiences of women in sport structures. Learning about women’s lives clearly requires
mllltiple perspectives, and women in varied social locations are often best situated to
Provide these perspectives. As “outsiders within” (Collins, 1991) or persons with a
“View from below” (Gorelick, 1991) all women are situated in ways that offer a critical
exanimation of the social structure from which they emerge to create their lives. While, I
Will apply multiple feminist frameworks to make sense of women’s experiences of
collegiate softball, I purposefully begin at the standpoint of each of the women

interviewed in the present research.

80

 

Objectivig in (Mimtive Research

Although it is often suggested that data are more valid if collected in a setting
where the investigator is distanced from the data, some suggest that a researcher may be
subjective in his/her beliefs about a particular research issue, without making the data any
less objective (Fine, 1993). Perhaps more to the point is the recommendation that a
researcher ought to acknowledge what they bring to the research in their “selves”
(Krieger, 1985; Meniam, 1988; Peshkin, 1991). In this research, my own Chicana and

bi-racial experiences suggest to me that relations among women in sport are more
complex than liberal equity policies or universal feminism have addressed. It is this
Chicana consciousness, my own experiences as a collegiate athlete, and my working class
upbringing that have shaped my approach to the study of women’s sport as a site for
Onltural and social reproduction. And, it is this collective consciousness, along with the
application of both structural inequalities and multiple feminist perspectives that will
ﬁlter the varied accounts from interview participants, to make intellectual and analytical

sense of these accounts. These aspects of who I am will indeed shape my re-telling of

Stories shared by interview participants.

Generalizability of Qualitative Research

Analyses of interview data are particularly vulnerable to accusations of low
inteI‘nal validity, perhaps due to the reﬂexive nature of the method, and the varied
interactions between interviewer and interview participants (Maxwell, 1992; Thomas &
N<=lson, 1990). However, the method of analysis in the present research is consistent
with suggestions regarding the enhancement of validity and reliability in qualitative

research. For example, Merriam (1988) and others (Denzin, 1971; Peshkin, 1991) have

81

 

suggested several ways to ensure internal validity in qualitative methods in general.
These methods are 1) triangulation of data, 2) checks for plausibility (check data and
interpretations with subjects), 3) data collection over a long period of time, with
interviews and repeated observations, 4) peer examination and evaluation of one’s
ﬁndings, 5) involvement of participants in all phases of research, and 6) clariﬁcation of
researcher’s own bias and theoretical orientation at the beginning of the research.

In the present research, data from focus group interviews, individual interviews,
demographic surveys, and relevant literature were triangulated in order to maximize the
meaningful validity of these ﬁndings. Data collected via the demographic surveys were
reviewed with each interview participant to clarify the information reported. Data
collected during interviews was subjected to a consistent process of clarifying and
understanding meaning. Although this was done in one interview with each participant,
it was an ongoing process for the researcher throughout the six week period of data
collection. Despite not having a colleague in review of the raw data, two advisors were
Periodically consulted throughout the analyses process. Participant involvement has been
lithited following collection of these data. This seemed appropriate for the goals of the
cul‘rent research. A discussion of researcher biases may be found in chapter one and in

ﬁle discussion that preceded this section of the manuscript.

While the methods discussed above were employed to enhance generalizability of
til<=se data, Firestone (1993) argues that qualitative methods are not at any great
disadvantage and that reservations about the lack of generalizability seem to be
°Verstated (p. 16). He identiﬁes three broad arguments are generally used to assert

Claims of generalizability. These are a) extrapolation from sample to population, b)

82

 

 

analytic generalization or theoretical extrapolation, and c) case to case translation
(Firestone, 1993, p. 17). Case to case translation is the argument most often linked to
qualitative methods (Firestone, 1993). I have relied on F irestone’s (1993) notion of case
to case translation to conceptualize the generalizability of the present data. Given this
conceptual framework, generalizability may be “enhanced by thick description that
allows assessment of the applicability of study conclusions to one’s own situation” (p.
18). I follow F irestone’s (1993) logic also when I suggest that despite attempts to
maximize the generalizability of these frndings, it is incumbent upon the reader to “assess
these claims critically” (p. 16).
Analyses of Interview Da_1_t_a
Vaughn, Schumm, and Sinagub (1996) have offered a step by step approach to the
analysis of focus group data. Taking their one from the work of Glaser and Strauss
(1967) and Lincoln and Guba, (1985), the trio suggested the following ﬁve steps: 1)
identify the big ideas, 2) unitize the data, 3) categorize the units, 4) negotiate categories,
and 5) identify themes and apply theory. These ﬁve steps have guided the analyses of
bOth focus group and individual interview data in the present study. A diagram of this
Process of data analyses may be found in appendix L (ﬁgure 3).
The interview notes and full transcripts were duplicated several times and used in
a number of different ways to analytically review these data. The copies of transcripts
were color coded by participant in order to make it easier to identify participants once the
Writing began. Immediately following the interview, (prior to reviewing tapes and hand-

v"’i‘itten notes) general ideas about big themes and important interactions were recorded.

83

This timeliness is imperative, especially when the interview is to be reviewed, analyzed
and reported by one person working in isolation.

Following review of the interview tapes and hand-written notes, the data were
reviewed carefully multiple times in order to identify big categories of signiﬁcant
information (Vaughn, Schumm & Sinagub, 1996). The ﬁrst review of data included
looking for support of the identiﬁed big categories of analysis. Using codes for these
categories, I made notes in the margin of the transcript as to which category I felt items
belonged. A second similar review allowed for the inclusion of new categories, or the
alteration of original categories (Vaughn, Schumm & Sinagub, 1996).

Given the categories that had been identiﬁed in the margin, I then reviewed the
transcripts and selected units of data that would aid in making sense of the emergent
signiﬁcant issues. This step initially seemed simplistic, yet it was difﬁcult. It was at this
point that choices were made about the relevance of the accounts of participants. Again,
the purpose of the research had to guide this aspect of the analysis but so too did the
theoretical perspective of the investigator. This is precisely where my own politics,
history, social consciousness, and particular brand of academic training lead me to
identify certain patterns in the data, while ignoring others (F etterman, 1993; Weiss,
1994). One might think that unitizing the data can be done just as accurately in one’s
head, however, the actual task of pulling the transcript apart into units of data that tell
particular stories is transformative to say the least (Vaughn, Schumm, Sinagub, 1996).
The act of separating thematic categories into meaningful and cohesive units of data

brought me further into the data, and to some extent provided a bit of distance from my

84

 

own preconceived notions about women’s experiences in sport. This process yielded
new and/or transformed categories of unitized data.

The placement of unitized data was then reconsidered. At this point, units of data
were moved to other locations, new categories were created, and obsolete categories were
deleted. Ultimately, a set of rules/ guidelines for the inclusion of units of data into
identiﬁed categories was established and recorded. This step in the reduction of these
data resulted in the creation of the ﬁnal categories with related units of data under each
category.

Summm

In this chapter I have discussed the design, data collection and analyses that were
used to complete this research. An overview of the research design was provided ﬁrst,
followed by a description of the participants, instrumentation, setting, procedures for data
collection, and analyses of data. I have suggested that the questions guiding this research
were simply not going to be answered via paper and pencil surveys, nor could these data
be accurately evaluated through mathematical equations of signiﬁcance. In order to
answer these intellectual and analytical questions about experiences in the social
institution of sport I had to actually talk with Latinas. I have thoughtfully and thoroughly
described how these conversations actually came to be, and how they were molded into

an informative analysis about the experiences of a select group of Latinas in collegiate

softball.

 

 

 

 

Chapter Four
A Social Demographic Proﬁle
In this chapter I will provide a social proﬁle of the women who were interviewed

for the present research, and I will brieﬂy discuss the historical and social demographics

of Latinos/as in the United States. The provision of this proﬁle is important to these

analyses because it illustrates the diversity among Latinos/as as well as the signiﬁcance

of this diversity for their location within a racialized, classed, and gendered United

States society. Social demographic data on Latinos/as in United States society is

especially compelling given the history of intellectual accusations of pathological

Latino/a families. Social demographic data illustrate that women of Latino/a heritage

take up diverse social locations and that ongoing systemic inequalities shape their

opportunities for constructing their own adult lives (Gerson, 1985; Ortiz, 1988;

Rumbaut, 1995; US. Bureau of the Census, 1998).

Lndividgaljm Proﬁle of Pagieinants in the Present Reseagh

A demographic survey was administered regarding self-identiﬁed categories of

ethnicity, sexuality and class, as well as other relevant distributive data among
participants and parents of participants. These data provide a social proﬁle of the women
interviewed and thus aid in making sense of individual paths to collegiate softball. For
example, it is interesting to note the diversity among participants in ethnicity, sexuality,
ﬁnancial aid and scholarship awards and level of athletic competition. Many of these
factors will be discussed in the analyses chapters of this manuscript. Table 1 shows a

descriptive social proﬁle for each of the interview participants in the present research.

86

 

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87

 

 

Participant Bioggaphies

Carmen is in her early twenties, is of Mexican descent on her mother’s side, and
African American descent on her father’s side and identiﬁes as straight. Carmen plans to
pursue a career as a physical therapist and/or collegiate softball coach, thus is planning on
completing a master’s degree. In high school, Carmen was a multi-sport athlete, playing
softball, basketball, and volleyball on teams that were made up of Latinas and White
women. Currently, Carmen plays division I softball at a university in the southwest. On

this team, her teammates are predominantly white.

 

Micaela is in her early twenty’s, self-identiﬁes as Mexican and straight. She is
the ﬁrst in her family to attend and stay in a 4-year institution, and is currently in her
senior year at a prestigious, academically acclaimed school, where she studies history.
Micaela plans to continue her education, complete a doctoral degree and work as a
professor, high school teacher or at-risk youth coordinator. During high school, Micaela
played softball and soccer on predominantly white teams. She chose to play softball
rather than soccer in college in large part due to the ﬁnancial resources that were
available at the institution of her choice. Currently, at her division I institution, Micaela
competes with a predominantly white team.

Melissa is a straight, Mexican woman in her early twenties. Melissa works part-
time and earns less than 15 thousand dollars annually, but also receives a partial athletic
scholarship, which pays for her books, tuition and offers assistance with living expenses.
Melissa participated in high school softball, ASA travel softball and high school

volleyball on predominantly white teams. She began her collegiate career at a

88

community college, however, at the time of the interviews Melissa was competing in
division I softball where her team was predominantly white, but had several Latinas on it.

Lucy is in her early twenties, self-identiﬁes as straight and Mexican. She is in her
junior year at a division I institution and plans to pursue a master’s degree in speech and
language pathology or deaf education. Lucy currently works part time and earns less
than 10 thousand dollars annually, but also earns a partial athletic scholarship in the
amount of $2,250 annually. Lucy played softball in high school and in ASA travel
programs, primarily on teams that were predominantly white. Currently, Lucy competes
in division I softball on a team that is predominantly white, but shows about 30 percent
Latina representation.

Marie is a lesbian, Honduran/Caucasian woman in her early twenties. She is in
her sophomore year at a community college and hoping to transfer to a four-year college
next year. Marie plans to earn her bachelors degree in criminal justice and/or
photography. Currently, Marie lives with her parents, does not work, and earns no
athletics aid. In high school, Marie participated in softball on a team that was
predominantly white, and played ASA travel ball. Marie currently competes in softball at
a community college where her team is predominantly Latina.

Ise is in her mid-twenties, of Mexican descent and straight. Ise is in her fourth
year of college and earns a partial scholarship that amounts to approximately $500.00 per
year. She also holds a part-time job at which she earns less than $10,000 per year.
Additionally, Ise receives approximately $6,000 in ﬁnancial aid annually. Ise plans to
complete her bachelor’s degree and work toward a career as a probation ofﬁcer or

counselor. Ise played softball and basketball in high school on teams that were

89

 

 

predominantly white. She began her collegiate career at a community college where her
team was predominantly white, had a break in her education, and currently competes in
division 11 softball where her teammates are predominantly Latina.

Sydney is in her early twenties, Nicaraguan and straight. Sydney is in her junior
year at a division 11 college where she plans to complete a bachelor’s degree and work
toward a career as a law enforcement ofﬁcer or as an agent with the FBI. While in
school, Sydney earns a partial scholarship in the amount of $1,100 plus housing
assistance and she earns less than $10,000 annually from a part-time job. Sydney played
softball in high school and in ASA leagues on teams that were predominantly white. She
currently competes on a division 11 collegiate team that is predominantly Latina

Josie is a straight, Mexican woman in her early twenties. She is currently in her
sophomore year at a division 11 university where she earns a partial athletic scholarship
that provides books, tuition and a monthly stipend that total $1,500 annually. Josie’s
academic goals include earning a master’s degree and pursuing a career in business,
marketing or real estate. During high school Josie competed in softball on a team that
was predominantly Latina. On her current collegiate team, Josie’s teammates are equally
mixed white and Latina, and her head coach is a woman of Mexican heritage.

Ana is a straight, Mexican woman in her early twenties. Ana began her collegiate
career at a division 111 school and is now in her junior year at a division I university
where she is a “walk-on” on her softball team. She receives no athletic scholarship
money, but does take on approximately $2,500 annually in student loans to help her pay
for her education. Ana’s academic goals include completing a master’s degree and

eventually working as a strength and conditioning coach or exercise physiologist. During

90

 

 

 

high school Ana competed on softball, basketball and volleyball teams that were
predominantly white. Although her college team shows some diversity, it is also
predominantly white.

Connie is a straight, Venezuelan woman in her early twenties. Connie is
currently in her senior year and is a “walk-on” on her division I softball team. She earns
an athletic scholarship, which pays for her tuition, books and provides $400.00 each
month for living expenses. Connie’s academic goals include completing a master’s
degree and developing a career as a marriage and family consultant or counselor. During
high school, Connie competed in soccer, tennis and softball on predominantly white
teams. Connie is one of several Latinas of diverse ethnicities on her collegiate team, yet
the team remains predominantly white.

Marisol is a straight, Honduran woman in her early twenties. After beginning at
a community college, Marisol is now in her junior year at a division I university and is a
“walk-on” on the softball team. She works part-time and receives ﬁnancial aid (loans,
grants and EOP funds) to help pay for her education. Marisol plans to complete her
bachelor’s degree in Communications with an emphasis in Public Relations. During high
school Marisol competed in softball, basketball and volleyball on predominantly white
teams. Marisol is one of several ethnically diverse Latinas on her college team, yet the
team remains predominantly white.

Jane is a straight, Spanish woman in her early twenties. Jane is currently in her
sophomore year at a division 1 university and plans to become a doctor, perhaps
specializing in sports medicine. Jane receives no athletic scholarship money or ﬁnancial

aid. She works part-time earning less than $10,000 annually. During high school Jane

91

competed in softball and basketball on teams that were predominantly white. Jane is one
of several ethnically diverse Latinas on her predominantly white collegiate team.

Mickey is in her early twenties who self-identiﬁes as Mexican and straight.
Mickey is a senior at a division II university in the Southwest and earns approximately
$2,500 annually in athletic related scholarship money. She plans to earn her bachelor’s
degree and pursue a career in marketing research and possibly develop her own business.
During high school, Mickey competed in softball, volleyball and cheerleading on teams
that were predominantly white. She currently competes in softball at a division II
university where her team is predominantly Latina.

Gloria is a nineteen year old, straight, Mexican woman. Gloria is in her
sophomore year a community college and plans to eventually complete a doctoral degree
and pursue a career in politics or educational administration. She and her daughter live
with her parents and she earns ﬁnancial aid in the approximate amount of $3,400 per
year. Gloria competed in softball and soccer in high school on teams that were
predominantly white. She currently competes in softball at a community college in the
southwest on a team that is predominantly white.

Karin is in her early twenties, of Mexican descent and identiﬁes as straight. She
is a ﬁfth year senior on a full athletic scholarship from which she earns $350 per month
and has her books and tuition paid by the institution. Karin plans on completing her
bachelor’s degree and earning a teaching credential in order to pursue a career as an
elementary school educator. During high school Karin competed in softball, basketball
and volleyball on teams that were predominantly white. Karin currently competes on a

nationally ranked division I softball team that is also predominantly white.

92

Nicole is a straight, Mexican woman in her early twenties. She is currently a
sophomore at a division I university where she earns a full athletic scholarship that
provides books, tuition and $350.00 per month for living expenses. Her academic goals
include earning her bachelor’s degree and pursuing a career as a teacher or in some law
enforcement capacity. During high school Nicole competed in softball and volleyball on
teams that were predominantly white but also included several Latina and Paciﬁc Islander
women. Nicole’s collegiate team is quite elite in national competition and is made up of
mostly white women, however there are a few Latina athletes and two Latina coaches on
the roster.

Rita is in her mid to late twenties and is of African and Mexican American
heritage and identiﬁes as straight. Rita lives in her parent’s home while she is completing
her master’s degree in social work, and earns about $9,999 or less each year. Rita was a
multi-sport athlete in high school, participating in softball, basketball, and volleyball.

She went on to play division 11 softball for three years, prior to an injury that forced her
to re-think her educational and athletic goals. Rita’s teammates throughout her playing

years were predominantly white. Rita has not participated in any organized athletics in
the past year.

Julie is a third generation Mexican-American woman in her mid twenties who
identiﬁes as straight. She lives in her parents’ home, works as a elementary school
teacher and hitting coach in the Southwest. Julie’s income falls in the $30,000 and
$39,999 per year range. She has earned her bachelor’s degree from an elite division I
institution in the Southwest and is currently working on a master’s degree in educational

administration, with the possibility of going on for a doctoral degree. Softball is the only

93

sport Julie chose to play, playing as a youth, in high school, and in division I collegiate
athletics. On all of her teams, her teammates were predominantly white.

Alma is a bi-racial, Puerto Rican woman in her mid to late twenties, who
identiﬁes as gay. Alma earned a bachelor’s degree form a division I university, where
she also played softball. She currently works in sales, earning roughly $60,000 annually.
During high school, Alma competed in softball, basketball and volleyball on racially
mixed, but predominantly African American teams. Her division I collegiate softball
team was predominantly white, but also had several Latina athletes. Alma does not

currently compete in softball.

Yolanda is in her mid-twenties and self-identiﬁes as Mexican and lesbian.
Currently, Yolanda is a head coach at a division I university in the southwest. Yolanda
completed her bachelor’s degree while playing softball and currently earns approximately
$15,000 annually. During high school, Yolanda competed in softball, basketball and
volleyball on teams that were predominantly Aﬁican American. Yolanda also competed
in community college and division I softball, where her teams were racially mixed. She
does not currently compete in softball.

Miranda is a Mexican woman in her early twenties who identiﬁes as lesbian.
Miranda is currently completing her bachelor’s degree and works as a site director for a
youth day care facility. Miranda’s annual earnings are roughly $25,000. During high
school, Miranda competed in softball, basketball and volleyball on teams that were
predominantly Asian and white. Later, Miranda played division I softball on a
predominantly white team, except for her senior year, when there were several Latinas on

the team. Miranda currently competes in the Women’s Professional Fast-pitch League

94

 

and in highly competitive ranks of ASA softball. On each of these teams, her teammates
are predominantly white.

Bugs is a Mexican woman in her mid to late twenties who identiﬁes as lesbian.
Her individual annual income ranges between $40,000 and $49,999. Bugs holds both a
bachelors and masters degree in physical education, and she currently works as a junior
high school physical educator and as a collegiate softball coach. During high school,
Bugs played several sports including softball, basketball, volleyball, track, and soccer.
On these teams, her teammates were predominantly Latina. However, when Bugs went
on to play division 11 softball her teammates were predominantly white. Today, Bugs
participates in community recreation leagues in softball, soccer, and pool, again with

predominantly white teammates.

JJ is a Mexican woman in her mid twenties, who identiﬁes as bi-sexual. She
earned her bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Criminal Justice at a division 11 school in
the southwest, and currently works as a correctional officer. J J ’3 reported annual income
ranged between $30,000 and $39,999. JJ played division II softball after having played
in high school and as a young girl. Her high school and college teams were described as
predominantly white.

Kim is a Mexican woman in her mid-twenties, who identiﬁes as straight. She
holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and works as a cosmetic laser technician and
medical assistant in the Southwest. Her individual annual income ranges between
$15,000 and $19,999. During high school Kim was a multi-sport athlete including

softball, volleyball, and soccer. Kim played division 11 softball and continues to play

95

slow-pitch softball and adult women’s soccer. Of all the teams that Kim has played on,

her teammates have been predominantly white.

Rosalia is in her mid to late twenties, identiﬁes as Mexican-American and gay.
Rosalia is a head softball coach in a division 11 program in the southwest where she earns
roughly $18,000 annually. Rosalia played softball in high school among other Latinas,
and played both community college and division 11 softball on predominantly white
teams. Currently, Rosalia plays professional and amateur softball primarily with white
teammates.

Monica is in her early thirties, Mexican on her mother’s side and White on her
father’s and identiﬁes as bi-sexual. Monica earned a bachelor’s degree in physical
education and works full-time as a softball coach at a division I institution earning
approximately $45,000 per year. Softball and volleyball were Monica’s sports of choice
in high school, where she played on predominantly white teams. Monica’s college
softball team was 30 percent Latina, yet the elite amateur team on which she played most

recently was predominantly white.

Christina is a straight woman in her mid twenties, and is of Mexican and German
descent. Christina holds a bachelor’s degree and currently coaches softball at a division I
institution in the southwest earning between $25,000 to $29,999 annually. Her sport
experiences have been on predominantly white teams, however, on her college team
roughly one third of her teammates were Latina. Christina was a multi-sport athlete in
high school and had a chance to be a two-sport athlete in college, but chose to focus on
softball. Christina continues to compete in elite softball on both ASA and international

teams.

96

We Social Proﬁle of Participan_ts

Although the women interviewed are clearly individually distinct, it was also
helpful to understand how they came together as a group. Thus, the data that was
presented earlier in Table 1, was manipulated to show an aggregate proﬁle of the women
who were interviewed. These aggregate data are shown in Table 2 on page 95 of this
manuscript. Demographic data show that the large majority (63%) of the participants
were 20 to 24 years old, a typical age range for undergraduate college students.
Participants were also overwhelmingly of Mexican heritage, with 78 percent claiming a
Mexican Latino/a ethnicity. This is reﬂective of the numeric dominance of Latinos/as of
Mexican heritage in California. It is also interesting that 22 percent of participants were
from diverse Latino/a ethnic heritages.

Not surprisingly, the majority (44%) of the women I interviewed were at least
third generation born in the United States, however, a good number were also ﬁrst
generation (37%). Generational status is signiﬁcant in understanding access to resources,
interaction with various social institutions, language and general knowledge about US.
culture and social structures. Also not surprising was the fact that 70 percent of the
women interviewed identiﬁed as straight (heterosexual). There may be a link between
sexuality, age and generational status, but it is beyond the scope of this research to
quantify this relationship. It is interesting to note that nearly 30 percent of these women
identiﬁed as gay, lesbian or bi-sexual, a higher percentage than that believed to operate in
society at large.

Equally interesting was the fact that despite widely varied educational,

occupational and ﬁnancial situations most participants (89%) claimed a middle class

97

identity, while only 7 percent and 4 percent claimed either upper or lower class identities
respectively. This may be related to their situation as college students, more than it is to
their ﬁnancial situation. Educational status and attainment is related to income. At the
time of the interviews 56 percent of participants had not yet completed a bachelor’s
degree, 41 percent of respondents had earned a bachelor’s degree. While several of these
women were working toward graduate degrees, only one had completed a Master’s
degree at the time of the interviews.

These aggregate data also show that 30 percent of these women began their
collegiate careers at a community college and 44 percent of these women went directly
from high school to division I softball. A total of 59 percent of participants eventually
competed in division I softball, showing successful transitions for some ﬁom lower
divisions of competition. These are signiﬁcant experiences along the path to collegiate
softball that will be discussed in the analysis chapters of this manuscript. These data are
shown in Table 2 below.

Agggegate Socialjroﬁle of Parents

Demographic data regarding parents of former collegiate athletes were also
recorded. These distributive and categorical data include information on parents’
ethnicity, education and occupation. These data are important for understanding family
social locations among diverse Latino families, especially as they produce conditions that
shape women’s choices about their lives.

The most common Latino/a ethnicity among parents was Mexican, accounting for
74 percent of mothers and 69 percent of fathers. Interestingly, 19 percent of fathers were

White, while only one (4%) mother was not of Latino/a heritage. This is important in

98

Table 2. Aggregate of Demographic Data for Participants.

Characteristic Value Percent
17 63
30
4
78
7
4
11
l 37
19
3rd 1 44
70
or 6 22
Bi-sexual 2 7
4
89
7
63
4
7
19
52
48
37
22
15
7
7
11
19
37
41
4
30
4
22
44
7
33
59

—

Middle

N
A

Service
Professional
Yes

None

l-$9

10K-l9

20K-29
30K-39 999
40Kand more
1-2 Yrs

3-4

Master's
CC

DIII

DII

Dl

CC

DII

DI

 

gowﬁonw—:3mwnnaagazwmuzn

terms of racial constructions, cultural values and accessing power in a white dominated
society. In terms of educational attainment, 55 percent of mother’s had completed 12 or

fewer years of formal education, 26 percent had completed either a two or four-year

99

degree and 19 percent had completed more than four years of college. Among fathers 52
percent had completed 12 or fewer years of formal education, 44 percent had completed
either a two or four-year degree, and only one father completed more than four years of
college. These rates of educational attainment are relevant to later discussions of
educational dislocation among the women who were interviewed.

The occupations of mothers and fathers were varied with the majority (38%) of
mother’s working in technical, sales or administrative support type jobs and fathers
(3 5%) in service sector jobs. Twenty three percent of mothers were not in the paid labor
force, but worked in their own homes as unpaid household laborers. Nearly one third
(31%) of fathers worked in technical, sales or administrative support type jobs. These
data are shown in table 3 on page 97.

Srmial Demoggnhy of Latinos/as in the United States

While it is imperative that the women interviewed be seen as individuals who
made particular paths to collegiate softball, it is also important to understand the
disadvantaged location of Latinos/as in the United States. In this section I provide a brief
proﬁle of Latinos/as in the United States in order to aid the reader in making sense of the
particular conditions that inﬂuence both early expectations for adult lives and choices
along the pathways to adulthood.

Of the 267.6 million people estimated by the 1997 United States Statistical
Abstract, Hispanics accounted for 29.4 million, or 11 percent of the total population; up
32 percent from the 22.4 million counted in 1990. It is estimated that if this trend
continues, Latinos/as will account for 31.4 million and 36.1 million persons in the United

States in the years 2000 and 2005 respectively (U .8. Bureau of the Census, 1998).

100

Currently, in the United States, roughly 63 percent of Hispanics are Mexican, 15 percent
are Central and South Americans, 11 percent are Puerto Rican, four percent are Cuban,
and roughly seven percent are “Other Hispanics” (U .8. Bureau of the Census, 1998). The
Hispanic population in the United States is concentrated in ﬁve primary states, California,
Texas, New York, Florida and Illinois (U .8. Bureau of the Census, 1998).

Table 3. Aggregate of Demographic Data for Parents.

Characteristic Value Percent
. ' ' ‘ 20 74
2 7
Puerto Rican 1 4
4 15
16 59
Honduran l 4
Puerto 0 0
"' 5 of these are White 10 37
' <12 15 55
13-14 6 22
15-16 4
17 or more 19
<12 52
13—14 22
15-16 22
17 or more 4
Not 23
19
38
19
0
0
0
19
31
35
12
4

EM"

6
6
l
6
5

u—a
O

Service

F
' ‘ Not
" based on N=26 Professional

 

I-‘UJVOMMOCOM

Despite signiﬁcant growth in numbers among all Latinos, Latinas continue to face
lower college attendance and graduation rates, lower than average family annual income,
and higher than average rates of poverty (Rumbaut, 1995; US. Bureau of the Census,

1998). The 1997 census data reported that roughly 55 percent of Latinas (age 25 and

101

over) had completed high school and 10 percent had completed a college degree. In the
same year, 15 percent of all employed Hispanic women worked in lower blue collar
occupations (operators, fabricators, or laborers) and 19 percent worked in upper white
collar occupations (managerial, professional).

Differences also occur among different Hispanic ethnic groups. For example, in
1997 Mexican origin population showed the lowest rate of high school graduation, at 49
percent. Puerto Rican and Cuban women graduated from high school at rates of 61
percent and 65 percent respectively. Roughly 8 percent of Mexican women graduated
from college while 11 percent of Puerto Ricans and 20 percent of Cubans graduated.
Women of Latino heritage also work in various occupation sectors that cut across
ethnicity. When compared to Puerto Rican and Cuban women, Mexican women were
most likely to be employed in lower blue collar occupations and least likely to be
employed in upper white collar occupations. Additionally, while not only speciﬁc to
women, median household income and poverty status of families are signiﬁcant factors in
the opportunity structures for young women. Women growing up in Hispanic households
in 1997 were likely to experience lower than average household income and higher than
average family poverty rates (U .S. bureau of the Census, 1998). These data are shown in
Table 4 on page 99.

These data illustrate the social landscape from which many Latinas have come to
various United States social institutions, such as education and sport. They point to the
ethnic, national, historical, and regional diversity of Latinas in the United States. For
example, while Hispanic women face economic difficulties at higher rates than do White

women, Puerto Rican women seem to be most disadvantaged in terms of income and

102

poverty status (U .8. Bureau of the Census, 1998). Moreover, Cuban women fare better
than do Mexican and Puerto Rican women in educational attainment, labor force
participation, income and poverty status (U .8. Bureau of the Census, 1998).

Table 4: Socioeconomic Characteristics of Major Racial Groups and Hispanic Origin

Groups in the United States, 1997 - Female.l

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Racial Ethnic Total H.S. Coll. Lower Upper Median Below
Groups Persons Grad Grad Blue White Income Poverty
Collar Collar Hshld Family
All Races 51 82 22 7.4 31 37,005 10.3
Non-Hisp- White 73 83 22 6.0 34 40,577 6.3
Non-HiSP- Black 12 76 14 1 1 21 25,050 24
Hispanic Total 1 1 55 10 15 19 26,628 25
Mexican - 49 7.5 17 16 25,347 31
Puerto Rican - 61 l 1 10 26 23,646 36
Cuban - 65 20 7.0 24 35,616 17
M These data were abstracted from the Statistical Abstract of the United States, 1998.
- = no data available.
Summa_ry

The uncovering of such diversity suggests a need for comprehensive, rigorous
analyses of Latinas in sport who may have varied ethnic, national, historical, and regional
experiences in the United States. Any viable explanation for the disproportionate
underrepresentation of Latinas in United States collegiate athletics rests at least partly in
their social location within a web of structural inequalities (Baca Zinn & Dill, 1994;
1996; Collins, 1990). Where possible, demography of the participants in the present
research and social demography of Latinas in the United States will be interwoven
provide comprehensive analyses of the experiences of these women along their paths to

collegiate softball.

103

Chapter Five
Baselines and Shifting Social Conditions

In this chapter, I analyze how the women I interviewed came to be involved in
sport and how they made their own paths toward elite softball, including interactions in
families, organized sport structures and schools. The experiences of these women
illustrate both structural and cultural conditions that inﬂuenced individual expectations
for sport involvement. Varied and constantly shifting conditions came together to situate
these women in particular positions from which they made choices about involvement in
elite softball. Speciﬁcally, these analyses address the role of families, sports structures
and schools in the development of individual expectations for sport involvement. I
provide analyses in two broad categories, a) baselines and early expectations and b)
shifting conditions and maintaining expectations.
Baselines and Early Exmctations for Involvement in Organized Snort

Although it is true that Latinas, like other women face social constraints in their
choices about family life, school, athletics and employment, their fate is not a collective
one nor is it derived solely ﬁ'om a set of monolithic family values. Indeed young women
in Latino families receive encouragement for involvement in sport, athletics, the labor
force and other social institutions, however, this encouragement is shaped by particular
family and cultural values as well as structural inequalities (Acosta, 1999). Acosta
(1999) examined the experiences of three Latinas who made their way to athletics and
careers in physical education. Her case studies revealed that despite some shared family
traditions, each woman received support in ways that were speciﬁc to the social location

of the families. Acosta (1999) concluded that while all women struggle to gain

104

unconditional support for sport involvement, Latinas may face additional challenges due
to a) the absence of Latina role models, b) limited frnancial resources, and c) ambivalent
attitudes of family members toward higher education and sport. It has been suggested
that early socialization experiences may form what Gerson (1985) referred to as “baseline
orientations”. These baseline orientations set the stage for how women encounter and act
upon the available options in their lives.

Gerson (1985) suggests that women differ in their early expectations about the
goals they plan to pursue as adults. “Exposed to a diverse, complex set of experiences as
children, women, like men, develop a variety of conscious and unconscious aspirations
long before they are able to test these wishes as adults” (p. 20). For some women, early
expectations unfold as clearly deﬁned plans while for others, these goals are less clear,
more like ambiguous prospects that may or may not be fulﬁlled (Gerson, 1985, p. 20).
Gerson (1985) suggests that however murky or brilliant, these early expectations form the
baseline for adult life. Moreover, once established, these early orientations are subject to
the real constraints and opportunities encountered in adulthood. That is, the social
conditions adult women face can undermine or support their original goals. Unexpected
events can lead adults to reevaluate past assumptions and reorient themselves toward the
future. Thus, pathways through adulthood may either follow or diverge from one’s
baseline. In this section of chapter ﬁve, I will analyze how the women interviewed
developed baseline orientations for sport, which would inﬂuence later decisions about

collegiate softball.

105

m

The development of early expectations for involvement in sport seems to be
highly correlated with the messages young girls receive from their parents about the
value of sport involvement. Greendorfer (1993) suggested that unlike males who receive
strong, consistent inﬂuences from signiﬁcant socializing agents (e. g., parents, peers,
coaches, teachers) for sport involvement, females tend to “receive more general, diffuse
and subtle inﬂuences that socialize them into sport” (p. 12). Additionally, despite the fact
that most female athletes come from families where physical activity is valued, the
socialization of young women into sport may not be conscious or deliberate
(Greendorfer, 1993). Consistent with Greendorfer’s (1993) ﬁndings, the women I
interviewed came from families where sport was highly valued and parents were often
involved in organized leagues. Yet, in contrast to Greendorfer’s (1993) ﬁndings, many of
the women I interviewed seemed to receive direct encouragement from parents and
varied support from other socializing agents.

For example, Rita’s parents made it clear to each of their three daughters that they
supported their involvement in organized sport. Although Rita’s mother had not been an
“athlete”, she had been physically active as a young girl playing games with her brothers.
Rita’s father had competed in collegiate athletics, thus she received direct encouragement
for sport involvement from parents who had been physically active themselves. Rita
talked about how she perceived her parent’s encouragement. Her words also underscore
how she came to hold early expectations for her own involvement in sport.

We were encouraged ‘cause he was a college athlete and my mom - she was behind

it. She didn’t play sports but she had three brothers and she used to play outside a

106

lot with them. My father was supportive. He didn’t push or demand that we play or

anything like that. He was just supportive and encouraging and wanted us to do the

best we could. My ﬁrst couple of years of experience were okay but I had coaches
that were not the most knowledgeable about the game and he got frustrated. He
didn’t really like how they were handling my ability. He wanted them to progress,
so he decided he would become a coach. Then, that’s when he started the Dynasty
team. It initially started with one team and now it has 16 teams.

Like Rita’s experience, and indicative of Greendorfer’s (1993) ﬁnding that most
female athletes come from families where physical activity is valued, Alma also received
parental encouragement and athletic role modeling. Alma suggested that her extended
family was very sport oriented and she recalled getting her start by playing a variety of
sports at family gatherings. Despite this encouragement that guided Alma toward her
own expectations for involvement in sport, at the same time her opportunities were
constrained due to a lack of organized leagues for girls. Alma recalled her mother
playing a signiﬁcant role in the foundation of a softball league that later became the
avenue for her continued involvement in softball. Alma shared the following about the
role of sport in her young life.

My whole family was athletic. My grandfather coached and all of my uncles

played baseball. My mom played softball actually in the ﬁfties — in like the

Police Athletic League. So ever since I could walk I was always doing something

athletic. My father played football, so we were always playing. There was

always a ball in the house of some type. Anywhere we’d go, the family ﬁmction,

there was always some kind of activity. I was athletic so I was always out there

107

playing. I was always around the guys and since I could play they encouraged me

more. Then when I was eight years old they started a league. My mom helped

found the league so that I would get an opportunity to play.

Both Rita and Alma received direct messages from parents that sports ought to be
a part of their lives. Yet, even in the midst of this parental support, the structure of sport
was still not inviting to young girls. Title IX of the educational amendment act of 1972
was in place during this time, but was not yet enforced. Clearly Title D( represented an
important structural change and was a harbinger of cultural change, both of which
inﬂuenced women’ s decisions about sport involvement. In both cases above, however,
parents took on the responsibility of establishing quality organized youth sport leagues
for their daughters. It is also interesting to note that adult men and women collaborated
to advocate for these young girls to have opportunities in sports. These are direct, potent
messages about sports involvement that were internalized by these young women and
lead them to develop expectations for participation in sport.

In the midst of larger structural change, like Title IX and the consequential
increase in softball programs, it is curious that many women continued to face limited
opportunities for sport involvement. Yet, parents found ways to get their daughters
involved in organized youth sports. Families responded to the lack of youth sport
programs in various ways, but the signiﬁcant aspect was that these young women were
provided with options and opportunities to make choices about their involvement in
softball. For example, Monica received support from her parents, but especially from
her mother who drove to a neighboring town so that she would be able to play in an

organized league.

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When I was little I just, I mean I was active. I was always outdoors. I would say
probably ﬁfth or sixth grade I was just always in the streets with all the neighbors
and they were all guys, except for one, my ﬁiend Kelly. I always played with the
guys. We played football in the street, baseball in the street, anything in the
street. So that was my only sort of activity until we decided we kind of wanted to
play. But there was nothing for girls at that time. I’m from a small town and I
think it’s different - now they (girls in her town) have a lot more opportunity, but
they didn’t at that time. So, my mom used to drive me and my friend, Kelly and
all the local boys who wanted to, to go play baseball in the next town. I didn’t
start playing softball until like ninth grade. There was like a little recreation
league in my town, but then ninth grade I started playing on the high school team.

Monica’s comments above suggest that baseline orientations were not necessarily

developed around softball, but more likely around various sport activities. In fact,

various social conditions inﬂuenced choices for softball. Nevertheless, a baseline

orientation for sport was enough to get these women started on paths toward collegiate

softball. In fact, similar to Monica’s varied sport experiences, several of the women I

interviewed began their sport careers in Little League baseball rather than in organized

softball leagues due to the lack of league availability in their local communities. For

example, Nicole began her athletic involvement in Little league, and talked about how her

success in baseball caused her to think twice before moving to the “girls” softball league.

IstartedinLittleIeague. Itooktwoyearsinthatandlwasthe only girl onmy
team you know. First, my mom and dad didn't want to sign me in when I was 7,

because I really wanted to play. She was like, ‘Okay we'll sign you up the next

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year’. But I think the only reason she told me that, she didn't want to sign me up

because she didn't think I was good, she didn't want to embarrass herself and all that

stuff. And I was the only girl on the team, two years, 11 and 12. Imade all stars,
and I was the only girl on that team. Then after that I was too old to stay in little
league, and ﬁnally my coach on my team said to me, maybe I should try softball,
and go to girls softball. At the time I didn't want to because I'm like, ‘Girls? They

don't know how to play competitive and stuff .

Like Nicole, Ana also got started in Little League, however she did not enjoy the
same success. She talked about the limited availability of leagues for girls as the
underlying reason for initial involvement in baseball, rather than softball.

Um, I played, my dad was interested in us playing softball ‘cause he has three

girls so, and he played sports in high school, and - I lived in a little town mostly of

just pretty much Mexican people, you know, Hispanics and stuff, so, um, just
baseball for boys mostly. There was no sports for girls, so he went down there

and he signed me up and then I played on an all boys team (low level laughter) . .

. I just, um, I was the only girl. I was terrible! (emphatic) I didn’t know how to

play! And I just didn’t like it, you know? It was just too rough for me but um, I

just kept, I really, I was too young to say that I was gonna’ quit you know? So I

just kept playing and then from there once I turned 12, I think I joined a softball

team for the ﬁrst time, in a city close by.

Miranda was ﬁve years old when her parents signed her up to play in the same

Little League in which her brothers played. She was one of very few girls in the league

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and she played on a team with her younger brother. It was not until she was 13 years old
that she would begin playing softball.

I’m actually the third child in the family and I have three brothers and all of them

played sports. They played baseball and football. So, that’s how I got into

softball, well ﬁrst I played baseball. I played baseball for like eight years. Then I

went into softball.

It is also interesting that Miranda, while competing against her brother, hit a
homerun over his head. Even at her early age she knew that this display of superior
athletic skill set her out of bounds (Lenskyj, 1986) in terms of appropriate gendered
behavior. Perhaps her parents felt the same way and consequently moved her to the
softball league. For Nicole, Ana and Miranda playing baseball was a lead-up to
competing in elite organized softball. Despite their obvious talent, the protection of
baseball as “naturally” male space seemed to shape the perceptions of coaches, parents
and perhaps even these women as they continued beyond youth sports and into more
competitive high school and traveling team organizations. Despite developing a baseline
orientation for sport through initial involvement in baseball, various social conditions,
such as gender ideologies and league structures, would inﬂuence later decisions about
sport involvement. .

To be accurate, not all of the women I spoke to experienced direct early support
from parents for sports involvement. For some participation in athletics was default to
other extra curricular activities that their parents had directly encouraged. Although, their
early expectations may not have been focused on sport or speciﬁcally softball, once they

gave up other forms of recreation, softball became an option. There were of course

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various social conditions in ﬂux that opened softball up as an option to these women.
Gender ideologies and perhaps class ideologies may have also inﬂuenced parental
preferences for non-school activities. For example, Sydney talked about playing baseball
as an option to the piano lessons that her mother wanted her and her twin sister to take.

I got involved in sports because my mom wanted us to play the piano and I really

didn‘t. And, my dad didn't want us to either, and so my dad signed us up to play

baseball, so we played hardball for, probably like two or three years, we were seven.

My dad wanted us to play hardball, so we played hardball with the boys. And, we

were pretty good, actually, because we even got chosen for, like, MVPs for some

things.

Similarly, Karin talked about her involvement in organized sports as an outgrowth
of her parents’ interest in sports, but not until after she had tried other recreational
activities.

Since I’m the oldest my parents pushed me to do like gymnastics and ballet and

dance and tap and all that stuff. My attention span was like small, very small. I

was like ‘Next? What’s next?’ So, they put me into t-ball and that was my love-

just softball. Once I started that I just went off and then I started playing like
recreational basketball. And then, I didn’t start volleyball until I was in junior
high-and I love volleyball. So, I played basketball, softball and volleyball all four
years of high school.

Additionally, and perhaps more to Greendorfer’s (1993) point, some women
received less direct encouragement ﬁom parents, but developed expectations for their

own sport involvement through watching parents compete in sports events. For example,

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I] remembered going to her father’s recreation league softball games as a young girl, and
talked about knowing that she would play softball as soon as she was old enough.

My dad was always involved in slow pitch. When I was young I knew I wanted

to play. So as soon as I could play which was about age 9, I started playing

Bobby Sox softball. I played ‘till I couldn’t play anymore because I was too old.

Then I played in high school.

Clearly, among these women, the development of expectations for one’s own
involvement in sport was tied to direct encouragement from parents as well as to parental
involvement and value for physical activity. Of course for young boys and girls who
typically need to gain permission and ﬁnancial support ﬁom parents for involvement in
organized activities. Thus, parental values will shape opportunities for engagement in
most activities outside of the home, including sports. Nevertheless, the experiences of
these women contradict conventional notions about Latino/a values for both sport
involvement, as well as women’s roles within and outside of families. As indicated
earlier, parental messages about sport involvement make up a signiﬁcant component of
several factors that may contribute to whether or not young girls develop expectations for
sport involvement. Not all of the women interviewed here received direct support ﬁ'om
parents or came ﬁ'om families where parents had participated in sport. In some cases, as
we will discuss next, siblings played signiﬁcant roles in the development of expectations
for sport involvement.

Mam—Wm

For various reasons, including ﬁnancial constraints, limited access to sport

resources and gender ideologies, several of the women to whom I spoke came from

113

Des

inn

EllC

families where parents had not been physically active for purposes of exercise or sport.
Despite their own dislocation from sport, many parents passively supported sport
involvement for their children. In families where parents did not provide direct
encouragement, these women received encouragement and support from older siblings.
Through interactions with older siblings who were already involved in sport, many of the
women developed expectations for their own sport involvement. For example, Mickey
had both parental and sibling modeling of sport involvement, as her father and her older
sister were involved in organized sport.

I was introduced to sports at a young age. I think I was like ﬁve years old. My

father was a soccer coach and he also played in high school and played like adult

league soccer. So, our ﬁrst sport was soccer. Urn my sister-I have an older sister
that’s a year older than I am and she played, or a coach recruited her to play on
the Little League softball team. We had a park two blocks away from our house,
so she played and then, um she played that season and then I joined the next
season.

Mickey identiﬁes the signiﬁcant role of her father in socializing both her and her
sister into soccer, but also indicates that the experiences of her sister in softball provided
her with a model for sport involvement that went beyond her father’s experience.
Mickey’s comments also illustrate the signiﬁcance of having parks and playgrounds
nearby in order to maximize opportunities for involvement of youth in various physical
activities. Similar to Mickey’s experience, Marie also talked about receiving

encouragement from her parents and her older sister. Marie and her sister started playing

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organized sports at the same time; thus they were able to experience organized youth
sports together.
I was about 5 when I ﬁrst started playing soccer and softball. My older sister
played softball and it just kind of. . .we started playing when I was 5 and she was
11. My parents really liked for us to play sports. They encouraged us. I’ve been
playing softball ever since then.
For some young girls, older brothers serve as models for sport involvement.
While some research has suggested that same sex parents are most inﬂuential in
socializing young girls into particular roles, siblings may be able to cross the gender
divide in order to provide and receive encouragement for sport involvement. The women
I interviewed suggested that brothers may be inﬂuential in the development of
expectations for sport involvement. For example, Micaela recalled her support for
involvement in organized youth sports as a means to keep her and her brothers out of
trouble. Regardless of the reason, Micaela was the ﬁrst girl in her family to be enrolled in
organized youth sports.
I'm actually the ﬁrst of my family who has been brought up in the United States,
because I was the ﬁrst one born in the United States. [My brothers and sisters] were
born in Mexico. And, so, my two older sisters are the oldest and then I have a bunch
of brothers ahead of me, and then it was me. And, so, I kinda just ﬁt into that mode
where you just kinda follow your brothers. So, my dad put all of my brothers and
myself into sports so we could get away from the streets, and get involved in

something else. So, I started playing softball when I was four years old.

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Micaela’s experience as the ﬁrst of several siblings born in the United States
makes her experiences in US. sport even more complex than that of the other women
interviewed. As Grey (1996) has suggested school-based athletics in the United States do
very little to welcome, celebrate and signiﬁcantly include immigrant students. Rather,
sport works as an additional site for the socialization and acculturation of immigrant
students to middle class American values (Grey, 1996). Moreover, Grey’s (1996)
ethnographic research suggests that what little social status immigrant or minority
students may gain as student-athletes does not carry over into the larger community. In
effect, when students leave campus, they are faced with the same racist and ethnocentric
ideologies that their non-athletic peers face. Despite this reality of racial relations on and
off campus, Micaela also experienced increased opportunity for sport involvement
compared to that of her older sisters. Thus, the move to the United States provided both
structural and cultural changes in her family life that provided different options for sports
than those of her older sisters. The manifestation of this was that Micaela received the
same messages about sport involvement as did her brothers. Thus, in and indirect way,
they were signiﬁcant in her own development of expectations for sport involvement.

Kim’s older brother played a more direct role in encouraging her involvement in
sports. It was signiﬁcant that Kim had an older brother who played in an organized
soccer league. Not only did Kim often have opportunities to play soccer with him at
home but she also was able to watch him compete in organized soccer league games.
These interactions with her older brother inﬂuenced her expectations for her own
involvement in sport, and expanded into interest in a variety of sport activities. Kim

shared the following.

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My family was pretty sports oriented. I have an older brother so he got involved
before me and I got involved playing in the backyard and then eventually soccer
was the ﬁrst thing. I started playing when I was ﬁve or six. I think I started
softball the same year. Fairfax T-ball (laughter from other group members). I
kept playing all through high school and played volleyball in high school.

Jane also talked about her older brother being a signiﬁcant inﬂuence on her
decisions about involvement in softball. Similar to the way that JJ developed expectations
for her own sport involvement through watching her father compete in softball, Jane
realized after watching her brother that she too wanted to compete in sports.

I had an older brother, and he basically was always playing sports, and when I

was ﬁve, I decided that I wanted to play softball. He was a big baseball player,

and I decided that I had to play softball. So, it was my brother that kinda’
inﬂuenced me, and softball was my ﬁrst sport, and I really seemed to enjoy that.

Then, when I got into grade school, I went to a private grade school. So, we had

the chance to play, like, we had athletic teams, we had like, volleyball, basketball,

and so—and basketball was my next sport. I loved that too.

Unlike, Kim and her brother who participated in the same sport, I found it curious
that despite watching her brother compete in baseball and other sports available to him, Jane
chose to compete in softball. Why didn’t she choose baseball? Was baseball an option for
her? Perhaps Jane didn’t want to play baseball, but more than likely Jane’s choice was
constrained by distinct messages that support the notion that baseball is for boys and softball
is for girls. I will take this up in more detail later in this chapter. It is also curious to what

extent Jane had increased opportunities for sport involvement due to her presence in a

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private school. Structurally, a private school may be able to offer a wider variety of sport

activities, but culturally the value for sports could be downplayed in favor of other cultural
messages integral to the school’s mission (e.g., religious or elite academic missions). It is

hard to know how this played out for Jane given the limited information gleaned about her
particular grade school.

Contrary to popular notions about the role of same sex parents in socializing young
girls into particular roles (Greendorfer, 1993), siblings may be able to cross this gender
divide. This may explain how older brothers may aid younger sisters in the development of
expectations for sport involvement. Of course, this may be stating the obvious since boys
have more opportunities than do girls to participate in a variety of organized sports. Still, it
is signiﬁcant that in Latino/a families, both older brothers and sisters may be signiﬁcant
socializing agents in the development of expectations for sport involvement among young
girls.

When parents and siblings did not act as strong socializing forces for sport
involvement, there were other signiﬁcant adults and peers who encouraged these young
women to participate in organized youth sport leagues. The power of multiple socializing
agents for women has been documented (Gerson, 1985; Greendorfer, 1993), especially
for women of color in sport (Smith, 1995). In fact, it has been documented that during
the early teen years parents may fall behind peers and sometimes coaches as signiﬁcant
inﬂuences in the decisions their kids make about their lives. For example, Bugs recalled
getting started in organized softball after she watched her “white” ﬁiends play in a game.
Unlike most collegiate athletes today, Bugs’s involvement in organized softball did not

begin until the smnmer before she started high school. It is signiﬁcant in this passage

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that Bugs realized that few or no other Latinas were participating in the organized softball
league. It is also signiﬁcant that her older sister, who had not competed in sports was
inﬂuential in their father’s decision to allow Bugs to participate. Bugs recalled her initial
start in organized youth sport in this way.

I’m the youngest of ﬁve. My oldest brother is 44. We didn’t do anything. I didn’t

even know about Bobby Sox until I was about ready to go into high school -- my

eighth grade summer. My ﬁiends, my white (original emphasis) ﬁiends who were

involved in Bobby Sox told me ‘I got a game’ and I went to watch them and then . . .

I had played with my brother and neighborhood kids but nothing organized. So I got

the paperwork, asked my dad and he said ‘No’ at ﬁrst. My older sister talked him

into letting me play. At that time there was a fee and transportation was an issue.

But he let me do it. I went into high school and played, then to college and played

and never stopped.

While Bugs eventually received support from her older sister in the speciﬁc task
of gaining her father’s approval for participation in a softball league, her introduction to
organized sport came from her “white friends”. None of Bugs’s siblings had participated
in organized sports, nor had any of them gone to college. These are important family
structural conditions that surely inﬂuenced what by today’s standards seems to be a late
start for an elite athletic career.

Unlike Bugs, Yolanda had come from a family that valued physical activity. In
fact, both of her parents had competed in high school athletics. Still, for whatever
reasons, it was not her parents that provided the encouragement to get her involved in

organized sport, it was a childhood ﬁiend. Yolanda talked about her memories of playing

119

in the “hood” with make-shift equipment prior to getting involved in organized youth
sport leagues.

I started playing soccer ﬁrst ‘cause that was my main sport. That was the little

Mexican sport ‘cause my whole family loved soccer. And my best friend got me

to play Bobby Sox. I played anything and everything. Both my parents, my mom

played ﬁeld hockey in high school. She was a tomboy herself, kind of roughneck

I guess you could say. My dad was a basketball and baseball player. Being the

only child I didn’t have any brothers and sisters to play with. I used to just go out

in the street and just play. I just remember I was a little girl, I was about six or
seven playing baseball for the ﬁrst time in the projects. My best ﬁiend, [Karen

Kiley], was like ‘Come on, play softball’.

Despite the fact that Yolanda’s parents had participated in high school athletics,
they did not directly encourage her to become involved in organized sports. At the same
time, however, informal soccer and baseball were common activities among family and
ﬁiends. Like Bugs and Yolanda, Lucy remembered playing with ﬁiends in her
neighborhood and then one day watching her neighbor play in an organized league. It
was this experience of seeing her ﬁiend’s organized game that prompted Lucy to ask her
parents to enroll her in the league.

I was probably about um, I’d say ten and um a neighbor of mine um played

Bobby sox. And she was older than me, probably about three years older. And

um, I would always go to her house. One day, I just went and watched her at the

park. So, I came home and I told my mom that I wanted to play. So, the

following year when signups came, we just went and signed me up. And I’ve

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been playing ever since. That’s probably about it. And then my neighbor across
ﬁ'om me, he used to play catch with me when I was younger. And urn, he plays
slow pitch and he would always say, ‘[Lucy], you want to come out and play

catch?’ you know if he was doing something.

Lucy’s experience is different from that of Bugs and Yolanda in that she did not

recall the economic disparity that they did. Christina did not experience ﬁnancial

constraints to her sport involvement either. While she was physically active as a young

girl, it took a physical education instructor to guide her toward formal competitive youth

sports. Christina speciﬁcally recalled receiving early encouragement toward softball

from a physical education teacher who had noticed her athleticism.

When I got into seventh grade my P.E. coach saw me playing football with the
boys and saw me throw a football, so he decided that he wanted to show me how
to play softball and he basically taught me how to pitch. Then he introduced me
to a summer coach who introduced me to my pitching coach who I’m still with
today . . . that and I always watched my dad play fast pitch in his adult league.
Meanwhile I was playing basketball, volleyball, swimming, tennis, and softball. I
mean I did everything I could. My mom was picking me up from one practice
and taking me to another. They supported it all.

Although each of these women eventually were able to participate in organized

youth sport leagues, the social location of their families shaped their experiences of

gaining access. Their varied experiences also point to the signiﬁcance of multiple

socializing agents in the lives of young girls. Had these young women not seen their

friends play, known a neighbor who played or been identiﬁed by a physical educator they

12]

may never have become involved in organized sport, and may never have realized that
their parents would support them in this endeavor. These experiences may lend support
to Greendorfer’s (1993) ﬁnding that girls receive more diffuse, less direct encouragement
for sport involvement than do boys. Certainly, Christina’s experience of being identiﬁed
as a talented football athlete, but then ushered into softball reﬂects cultural constraints on
women’s sport opportunities. Like Jane, who played baseball originally, Christina was
simultaneously encouraged to participate in organized sport and discouraged from
choosing particular sports.
Summgy

The majority of the women who participated in the present research were born
after Title D( of the educational amendments act (1972) had legislated that any
educational institution receiving public money must provide equal opportunities for
educational success among it’s diverse students. Because athletics are considered part of
the educational mission of many schools, Title IX became the law through which women
began to assert their right to athletics related resources, including athletic scholarships for
college. As a cohort, the women interviewed for this research were structurally
privileged as compared to earlier cohorts of women. In real-life terms, despite the
slowness of compliance to Title IX, these women were among the ﬁrst cohort of
beneﬁciaries of this signiﬁcant social structural change. Thus, their chances for
developing orientations for sport may have been increased, although it is hard to know
for sure. Moreover, the encouragement and support received by these women from a
variety of socializing agents at relatively early ages was signiﬁcant to the development of

baselines for sport.

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Research and scholarship on the experiences of Aﬁican American and Hispanic
girls in sport have revealed structural barriers to full and varied participation (Abney &
Richey, 1992; Acosta, 1993; 1999; Corbett & Johnson, 1993; Green, et. al., 1981;
Jamieson & Baca Zinn, 1998). Different experiences of socialization into and through
sport were found for African American girls (Greendorfer & Ewing, 1981), and similar
ﬁndings hold true for the socialization of Latinas (Acosta, 1993). More to the point here,
twenty-seven years after Title IX became law Latinas show disproportionately lower
representation in collegiate athletics as compared to other women (Acosta & Carpenter,
1988; Jamieson, 1995; Jamieson & Baca Zinn, 1998). Moreover, socialization into
certain sports (and away ﬁom others) may actually be the manifestation of a combination
of structural and cultural factors, such as lack of opportunity, exclusionary practices,
ﬁnancial outlay, lack of role models, rural/suburban access to facilities, and variety of
programs offered (Abney & Richey, 1992; Acosta, 1993; Coakley, 1994).

i It is interesting to note the temporal variety in the development of baseline
orientations for sport. Current collegiate athletes as compared to former collegiate
athletes were more likely to have established a baseline for sport involvement at an early
age, typically by age seven. Although, more important than age, how parents, siblings
and signiﬁcant others interacted with these young women about sport was integral to the
development of baseline orientations for sport. It is paradoxical that the very gender
ideologies and structural constraints that limit women’s experiences in athletics are also
responsible for having directed these women’s choices about sport and eventually lead
them down a path toward collegiate softball (as opposed to a dead-end toward baseball

for instance). As Gerson (1985) suggested these baseline orientations are merely early

123

goals or expectations that will surely be tested as these young women move toward
adulthood and encounter a variety of social conditions. It is these shifting conditions and
the maintenance of paths toward collegiate softball that I will turn to next.
Shiftilrg Sociaﬂlonditions and Expecta_tipp§ for Sport Involvement

As Gerson’s (1985) developmental approach suggests, the constraints of real life
either enable women to stay on direct paths toward their goals or cause them to veer form
their paths and reassess their original goals. As we have seen in the previous section,
each of the women interviewed here had baseline orientations for sport, yet varied social
conditions inﬂuenced their ability to maintain paths toward collegiate softball. Not only
were there baseline orientations tested by virtue of entering adolescence and young
adulthood, they would also face social conditions that reﬂected their social locations
within a web of structural inequalities. That is, inequalities of race, class and sexuality
show up as social conditions that are both inherited and deﬁed by this select group of
women. In this section, I will analyze how shifting social conditions in families,
educational settings, and organized sport shaped expectations for sport involvement
among this select group of Latinas. Speciﬁcally, I will discuss social conditions in terms
of a) ambivalence about college and athletics, b) maintaining and remaking culture, 0)
discomfort in the classroom, and d) recruitment rookies.

Ambivalence @out Collagﬂnd Athletics

Baca Zinn (1990) emphasizes the importance of examining families as they are
situated by systems of inequality, and as these social locations impose consequences on
their members. Given that many Latino families experience disadvantaged social

locations it is curious how this selected group of Latinas made their paths to the elite

124

sphere of collegiate softball. The women I spoke to made many difﬁcult choices in order
to make their way to collegiate softball. Not only did they have to ﬁnd ways to access
the structure of collegiate softball, it was also incumbent upon them to gain support from
their working class families for involvement in both higher education and collegiate
softball.

Much of the literature on Latinas in higher education suggests that entry to
college is difﬁcult for a number of reasons (Cardoza, 1991; Nieves-Squires, 1991; Ortiz,
1988; Simoniello, 1981). Among the parents of Cardoza's (1991) subjects there was a
distinction made between aspirations and expectations for their daughters' educational
attainment. While parents may m to support their daughters' educational goals, they
often may not w to be able to do this due to ﬁnancial limitations (Cardoza, 1991).
Simoniello (1981) conducted interviews with eight Mexican women who were employed
in various professions. All but one of these women told Simoniello that despite receiving
genuine support and encouragement for educational attainment, parental expectations
changed after high school. Similarly, Yolanda, a former division one student athlete
offered her insights about the mixed messages that many Latinas receive from their
parents about college attendance. She comes to these insights from her own experiences
as an athlete and as a division one head softball coach.

It’s almost like [parents] don’t care if you go to college or not. There’s two

extremes. There’s one that says ‘All my hopes and dreams because we never

went to college, now you have to do it for the family.’ Then there’s the other
extreme that ‘We never went [to college], so what! Get a job somewhere. Work

at J .C. Penney’s and be happy. You don’t need college!’ So there’s no real

125

middle-man, either you gotta’ do it for the family or ‘No one else did it. Why the

hell should we spend all that money on you?’ There’s no importance. I’ve seen

enough young ladies affected by that.

Yolanda’s words underscore the real tensions between what Cardoza (1991)
referred to as aspirations and expectations. The structural realities facing many Latino/a
families make it difﬁcult for parents to hold expectations for their kids to attend and
graduate from college. Yet, the early messages received by the women I interviewed
suggested that their success in school was important to their parents. Clearly, the value
for education is a social condition that changes within families and across time, but it is
the interaction of this condition with the agency of each individual woman that evolves
into a life of one’s making (Gerson, 1985).

As we learned earlier, Bugs was able to convince her father to enroll her in the
local youth softball league, but it was when she began playing more often and getting
serious about elite softball that she had to regain the support of her family. When Bugs
was considering her opportunities to go to college she had to gain the support of her
father in particular.

When I decided I was gonna’ go to college and 1 showed [my dad] ‘this is what

tuition costs’. He was ﬁnally enlightened to the fact that higher education has a

price tag. Because all of us kids went to school because it was free [k-12], and I

really don’t think he knew the meaning of tuition or what it was. So, when I

showed him what it cost to go to college and then showed him that it was being

paid for, and on top of that I was gonna’ get ﬁnancial aid because of my

background. He went out and bought me a car! (Stated with great enthusiasm).

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Yet, once she started playing collegiate softball her family showed their support
by attending most if not all of her games. Bugs’s family was not anti-higher education.
They simply had not experienced it nor had they relied on it’s purported beneﬁts to make
a life for themselves and their chidren in the United States.

My mother and father never made it to one of my high school games. And that

wasn’t because they didn’t want to-they couldn’t. My father had to work and my

mother had to take care of the family. When I was in college I don’t think they
missed a game and that includes post-season when they were [in other towns and
states]. And I can say the same about their parents (indicating J .J . and Kim, the
other interview participants). 1 don’t think they ever missed a game.

While various structural inequalities interact with Latino families, they do not
mandate a particular Latino response. Many of the women I spoke to told me that at
some point they learned that their father’s didn’t really want them playing softball. Yet,
for varied reasons these women were able to continue playing and in many cases regain
the support of fathers for sport involvement. Micaela could not understand her father’s
disinterest in her desire to take advantage of an opportunity to earn an athletic scholarship
for college. After accepting a scholarship at a prestigious division one institution away
ﬁ'om home Micaela learned that her father’s cool attitude was due to failed attempts by
her older brothers to attend and graduate from college. Micaela described his
indifference in this way.

I'm the ﬁrst one. [My brothers] quit half way through, and my dad was working,

like, days and nights to kind of help them through, and pay for all their expenses,

and they kind of dr0pped out, so my dad, after that and those were the two oldest

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men, or boys, whatever you call it. So, after that there was, like, there was a gap of

six of us or something.
Micaela continued,

And, my dad had really, you know, he really didn't care if we went to college, he

kinda expected us not to go to college. He didn't want to push us, I guess, but he's

also very negative about it, you know, because he had been hurt really bad by my
two brothers. I had mentioned it to him before, like before I became a senior that

I wanted to go to college. And he had had a lot of problems, not discouraging me,

but telling me I’d be just like my brothers or, you know. So, in a way it was hard

to prove to him that, ‘No. I’m not going to be like my brothers.’ And he actually-
he would always tell me that he has no money to send me to college-he has no
money to send me to college. And so up until a week before I came to [school] to
move in [he told me]. . . . I mean, I hurt a lot, you know, I had a really hard time
kind of accepting that when he actually told me.

The experiences of both Bugs and Micaela point again to the difference between
aspirations and expectations among their parents. While both Bugs and Micaela found
ways to move through what seemed like indifference to higher education, they also
learned about their fathers’ particular experiences or lack thereof with higher education.
For Bugs, it was a matter of putting her educational aspirations into a ﬁamework that
reﬂected her father’s concern for the family’s ﬁnancial stability. Micaela came to realize
that the failure of her older brothers in college had forever jaded her father’s perspective

on the value of higher education. Thus, for both Bugs and Micaela a seeming

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ambivalence about higher education turned out to be related to their father’s concerns for
the economic stability of their families, rather than a distaste for education.

Not entirely unlike the experiences of Bugs and Micaela, Mickey had to get
beyond the ambivalence about softball that her mother seemed to have. Although
Mickey’s mother was gainfully employed, as a single parent of two daughters, she was
often concerned about ﬁnances. Mickey had been playing elite softball for several years,
despite the fact that her mother didn’t exactly approve of the time she had to put into it.
Mickey had worked part time throughout her high school years in order to be able to pay
for extracurricular activities, like cheerleading and softball. When it came time for her to
go to college her mother felt work and education were plenty to focus on, and that
softball was an unnecessary, however enjoyable, burden of time. This disregard for
softball changed when Mickey took her mom on a recruiting visit to the four-year
university and division two softball program that she would transfer to from her
community college.

It was really funny ‘cause my ﬁrst year at [community] college it was a battle and

then like once she came down to the recruiting trip with me and stuff, she goes

‘You know, you don’t have to work next year.’ I’ve always had a job. I’ve had a

job for the last six years and last year was the ﬁrst year I didn’t have a job. Like a

part time job - its not like I had a full time job. She goes, ‘You don’t have to

work. I have money.’ Now that my tuition’s paid for, my books are paid for and

I get a little extra, she goes ‘You don’t have to work now!’ And she was really

cute about it. So, now I mean she loves it that I play. She knows that it makes me

happy.

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Despite her strong feelings about the futility of softball, Mickey’s mother never
stopped her ﬁom competing. While this is certainly not a ringing endorsement for
involvement in sports, it was an Open door. Moreover, in the same way that the divorce
effected a signiﬁcant family structural change, so too did the increased availability of
scholarship ﬁmds and ﬁnancial aid resources effect a signiﬁcant structural change. These
structural changes interacted with and shaped Mickey’s mother’s beliefs about the
importance of collegiate athletic involvement.

Each of these examples illustrate the fact that Latinas may often have to work
within and against a complex blend of social conditions within families in order to gain
support and resources to attend college. The experiences of each of these women
underscore the reality that many social factors come together to shape family systems.
The fact that each of these women continued on her path to collegiate softball reveals
their individual agency in shaping their lives. They are at once products of particular
family environments, and change agents within them. Thus, seeing through the
ambivalence was an enabling condition for these women as they continued along their
paths toward collegiate softball. The skills of navigating multiple cultural settings would
continuously prove signiﬁcant in the maintenance of paths toward collegiate softball for
the majority of the women interviewed.

W

In an eloquent essay called “A letter to my mother”, Claudia Colindres (1993)
revealed the depth of what is likely a common bond among women in families.
Throughout her essay Colindres (1993) describes her experience in a predominantly

white college as masculinizing and isolating. Her rich description depicts the intersection

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of race, class and gender through her obvious struggle with being a woman and una
mujer in an extended family that historically denied the education of her own mother.

It was in my senior year of high school that I saw your true colors. You were my

ally, and you stood by me, when father tried to do to me what your father did to

you, he was trying to keep me home, because I am a woman, una mujer. It was
great to see you talk to him, scream to him that I had a right to pursue an
education. It was invigorating! You were strong and powerful. You urged me to
go away and continue my education even when you knew that I am a woman and

therefore in your eyes also mujer (Colindres, 1993, p. 78).

Colindres (1993) underscores the fact that Latina mothers, like all mothers are not
simply oppressed in families, they also “act to assert their own standards of mothering
and to attain the resources necessary to sustain their children’s lives” (Glenn, 1994, p.
18). According to the women with whom I spoke the work of their mothers went beyond
traditional gendered roles of mothers in families. Nearly all of the women I interviewed
suggested that their mothers provided strong messages about educational and professional
progress as a means to individual, familial and community enrichment. Concern for
individuals and communities is not uncommon among women of color. As Collins
(1994) argues, “For women of color, the subjective experience of mothering/motherhood
is inextricably linked to the sociocultural concern of racial-ethnic communities — one
does not exist without the other” (p. 47).

For example, Micaela described a very distinct message that she received from

her mother about her role as a member of larger community.

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A lot of it stems from my mom. She’s the one that said, ‘Do for the rest of us.’

You know? And the rest of us didn’t mean like my family, it was just like the

other women in my whole family. . .. And so when I was growing up, my mom

would kind of encourage all of us to look ahead, and look ahead, ‘Don’t quit
here.’- and stuff. And, ‘Do it for the rest of us who didn’t have this opportunity to
go on.’

Micaela provides an example of how women of color often teach their children to
value not only individual achievement but also collective achievement. Moreover, her
example refutes conventional claims that Latinas do not socialize their daughters to
achieve in dominant social institutions, thus placing them in conﬂict between family
values and individual goals for education and professional development. Collins (1994)
argues that “conﬂict actually lies outside of the households as women and their families
engage in collective enterprise to create and maintain family life in the face of forces that
undermine family integrity” (Collins, 1994, p. 47). Micaela’s example suggests that she
is at once entrusted with representing Latinas who went before her, yet her status as a
collegiate student-athlete separates her from her community of origin. By virtue of doing
what others were denied, she is distinct from the very women who have propelled her
toward higher education and athletics.

Nicole talked about receiving support from both of her parents, but also receiving
signiﬁcant messages from her mother about making choices in her life.

Oh, my parents, they pushed me. They wanted the best for me and my sister.

They were always giving me little talks, how important it was for me to go to

college, and when I got out of college to get a good job, and stuff like that. My

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mom was, ‘I don’t want you to be in the place where I was, you know, a
housewife. I want you to have something better for yourself, not for you to
depend on [someone else].’ She was right.

Nicole reﬂects on her mother’s message about independence and personal
progress not only as individual achievement but also as part of her duty to her sister.
Nicole and her twin sister were both going to be in college at the same time thus, Nicole’s
academic and athletic achievements were not only about her, but also about increasing
the family’s ability to support two daughters in college. Even more complex, Nicole was
aware that she possessed more of the requisite skills to earn a scholarship and to succeed
in college, so she took her role and her mother’s message seriously. Nicole and others
point to the very real fact that mothers and their children come to understand each otlrer’s
position and rely on each others strengths to become empowered (Collins, 1994).

Although Karin’s father went to college and was an athlete at a division one
institution, he still had difficulty “letting go” of his oldest of three daughters as she made
decisions about her own collegiate career. Karin, now a ﬁfth year senior at a division one
institution reﬂected on her interactions with her parents regarding these big decisions.

He didn’t really want me to go ‘cause he didn’t want me to be that far away. Still

to this day he wants me to get my credentials at [California] State because that’s

so close to home. But, my mom told him ‘You’ve gotta’ let her do what she
wants to do. If she wants to live down there, let her do it, because if you make her

come back here she will resent you if she doesn’t like it.’ And I feel mom’s see

that easier than the dad’s do.

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Karin’s remarks reﬂect the reality of women’s experiences as oppressed and
subordinated persons in various social institutions. At the same time, her mother’s ﬁrm
belief in enhancing Karin’s choices about higher education illustrates the power of
women to affect each other’s circumstance. It is possible that Karin’s mother felt
constrained by her parents as a young woman, and now has a chance to renegotiate such
patterns of interaction in her own family. Whatever her reason, she exempliﬁes what
Collins (1994, p. 47) refers to as “collective enterprise” among women and their children.

In a similar vein, Lucy shared the following about the social signiﬁcance of her
presence in collegiate softball, especially as it is a stark contrast to her mother’s
opportunities for post-secondary education.

I think it’s a big step. It kind of can break the stereotypes that there’s not a lot of

Latinas out there doing much or that they’re home, you know working or

whatever, helping the family. You know, stuck at home. That’s, I think it breaks

that, ‘cause my mom went through that. I mean her dad wouldn’t let her go and
she had a scholarship to go to San Diego State. He didn’t want her to ‘cause it
was too far. She had to drive everyday to UC Santa Cruz because he didn’t want
her to live in the dorms.

The support for involvement in softball was perhaps an avenue for mothers to
encourage their daughters to create their own independent lives. Nicole’s mother
admonished her to go on to college, make her own way and not become dependent
presumably on a man. For each of these women, their experiences in softball may have
provided their mothers with a glimpse into the lives they may have chosen for themselves

given the opportunity.

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At the same time, these women were becoming aware of the risks of entering a
pervasively white, middle class context of education and sport. For example, in his study
of Native American college scholarship athletes, Simpson (1996), found that various
structural and cultural conditions contributed to typically abbreviated collegiate careers.
Billy Mills, an Olympic gold medallist and product of the Pine Ridge Reservation shared
the following with Simpson about venturing out from his home.

There’s no way to return to the old way, spiritually and economically . . . If you

go too far into society, there’s a fear of losing your Indian-ness. There’s a

spiritual factor that comes into play. To become part of white society you give up

half your soul (p. 294).

The experiences of these women represent a larger experience that most Latinas
share. That is one of wanting to excel, but at the same time wanting to preserve one’s
Latina self in the midst of a middle class higher education context. It is these struggles
between escape and return that make middle class notions of upward mobility
inapplicable to the experience of women of color. Families are links to culture, and they
are support systems for accessing middle class social institutions. Latinas who venture
into higher education and collegiate athletics are faced with the complexity of what
Zavella (1994) refers to as “culture in process”. The concept of “culture in process”
articulates the “dialectics of how the social structure and culture provide a context for the
ways that Chicanas construct their identities” (Zavella, 1994, p. 207). Zavella’s (1994)
focus was on diversity among Chicanas, but I contend that her scholarship applies to
diversity among Latinas of varied ethnicities, generational statuses, regions of settlement,

social classes and sexualities. The seeming incongruity of moving on and remaining an

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active member of one’s family was not only about physical presence, but also about
political and social connections as Alma expressed below.

After I went to school, it was ‘Oh here comes the educated one’. I think when my

mom used to say it, it was because I had come out of the traditional Latina

thinking and I had broadened my horizons. And that was very difﬁcult because

her thinking was just her mother’s thinking and for me to have my own mind

compared to the family mind was very hard for her to accept. . . But it was funny

too. When I went to school my pride in my family and being Puerto Rican was

only enhanced and it made me more political. And the political side was

something she was proud of.

Miranda talked about how playing softball on teams that were predominantly
white lead to a separation from the culture that she had grown up with.

I think my separation [ﬁom family culture] began before college. I think it really

began when I started playing softball because I didn’t really hang around Latinos.

I hung around mostly white people. So, I kind of basically did my own thing. I

mean when I went home it was different, but we really didn’t talk about it.

At the time of our small group interview Yolanda had recently lost her grandfather.
She was thinking about what she stood to lose in his death and she talked about how her
own Mexican identity is tied up in who her grandparents are, and that somehow this
connects to her more “Americanized” life today.

Both my grandparents, both sets don’t speak a word of English. So when I walk in

thereIamforced—l arnaskedto speak Spanish. llove speaking Spanish. Ispeak

Spanglish. I understand everything. But, it’s a presence — I don’t have to go outside

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and have somebody ask me ‘Are you Mexican?’, or whatever. My family knows. I
walk in [to my grandparents’ home] — it’s the neatest smell. It’s the neatest
atmosphere in the world. And now he’s gone. And I go into my house and my
house is very Americanized, which is ﬁne. I still speak Spanish with my parents, but
its not the same without my grandparents and that bothers me.

Alma talked about how going to college led to a separation of her beliefs and those
of her family of origin.

My opinion was very different from my family’s, especially my mother’s. She was

very traditional, grew up in the ﬁfties, Latina, be quiet, don’t say nothing, just be

happy that you’re in America. And for me to have my goals in a career, it was just
like night and day. To this day we are not allowed to speak politics in the house.

We are not allowed to speak religion because when I went to school — I mean

growing up Latina, religion is like your life line -— every Sunday, you’re there. And

when I started questioning my religion when I went to college, that was a big
separation too.

Julie illuminated the process of creating culture and moving in and out of diﬁ‘erent
cultural contexts. For her, the experience of being “Hispanic enough” changed over time
her interactions with her peers in her neighborhood reﬂected their changing lives. Her
education at an elite predominantly white university was a signiﬁcant inﬂuence on her
interactions with folks in her home community. Julie’s comments underscore the constant
work of maintaining ties to one’s family of origin, neighborhood and culture despite the
social consequences that often accompany any embrace of values that fall outside of white

middle class values. Moreover, Julie illustrates that fact that culture is lost and remade all

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the time (Zavella, 1994). As a US. born Latina, elite softball athlete, graduate student and
educator Julie’s values and ways of life continue to change and get further and further from
those of her parents and perhaps further from many of her peers in the old neighborhood.

When I was in school I felt like my Hispanic friends were always trying to be white.

I always felt like because I came from a very traditional Mexican family that they

kind of would look at me back then kind of connote that ‘Oh you’re Mexican’ or

whatever. But now those people — now that I’ve been mainstrearned through a

primarily White institution — you know at school and everything, I do feel

sometimes that I’ve left my roots. I really do. I feel like I’ve lost part of my culture.

Now those people who used to kind of act white and make fun of me because of my

ethnicity are, in fact they just teased me the other day because I didn’t know

something in Spanish. They were like, ‘What are you? Mexican or White?’ I do
wish I knew more about my culture and I wish, I really wish I could speak Spanish.

I don’t even know how to speak Spanish.

Clearly, Julie is situated “inside in an outside way” (Cuadraz, 1992). Despite her
entrance to the predominantly white, middle class world of collegiate softball, she is still
only a marginal member. Likewise, her changing sense of herself as a middle class
Mexican woman, especially one who does not speak a distinguishing language situates
her outside the margins of her home community. She is constantly having to display
credentials in the white, middle class context of elite softball and the working class,
Mexican identiﬁed community in which she grew up. Sometimes the push and pull of
foundation and mobility was centered on friends who were not necessarily leaving the

neighborhood, but moving toward different extra curricular activities. For example, Josie

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spoke about the experience of moving between particularly situated ﬁiend groups and
teammates. Her experiences also cut across race and class as she maintained ties to her
home community as well as her athletic teams.

See, my friends were all cheerleaders. I was the only athlete, in high school.

They used say, ‘You know [Josie], you can’t play softball forever.’ And they

never understood, ‘cause I’m a - you see, nobody really gets scholarships where I

live. They’d be like ‘[Josie], what are you gonna’ do with it?’ And I’d just be

like ‘I know what I’m doing. I know what I’m doing.’ They used to be like,

‘[Josie], why don’t you do other things? Why don’t you get a job after school?

Why don’t you do that?’ I’m like because if I get money here, its just like, ﬁfteen

hundred dollars that I’m getting is like having a part time job and helping me pay

for school. I think it was just-I didn’t really have a problem ﬁtting in, but I was
just really different from my ﬁiends. I couldn’t relate to them (pause) in a lot of
aspects. I always felt closer to my friends on the weekends than I did to the girls
that I grew up with the entire time and went to all the basketball games with and
all the dances with. That was hard.

J osie’s comments above illustrate yet again this work that many women do to
bridge ﬁiendship groups, but this is especially important work among women of color as
they are often singled out as racial-ethnic minorities in sport settings. Lucy talked about
how much she enjoyed high school, but also how softball separated her out from her
ﬁiends as they became less and less interested in school.

I liked high school. It was fun. A lot of my um-It kind of got weird after a while

‘cause after like my sophomore year, a lot of my friends who were Latina were

139

the

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H’lt

(10'.

ll‘(

(pensive pause) in trouble. You know, they stopped going to class. They just
didn’t want to and I was like the straight and narrow one. You know, always
telling them ‘Come on lets go. We gotta’ go to class.’ And they just you know,
they decided to do different. And so they would go on to like the secondary high
school, or the continuation high school. . . It was kind of weird, but um there was
still a big core of ﬁiends that we used to hang outwith. Most of ‘em were the
guys, but they were just always there for me, you know? And I had a ﬁiend. You
know, I had plenty of friends, but those that I had grown up with, you know
middle school, were you know, gone.

The experiences of these women as members of multiple communities illustrate
the struggles between valuing home communities and venturing out into new
communities. Anzaldua (1987; 1990b) talks about the varied ways in which Latinas ﬁnd
themselves crossing borders in their lives. Pesquera and de la Torre (1995) also have
talked about the struggles of working class Chicanas in higher education who wish to
retain their Chicana working class identities, and yet to progress in the largely white
middle class world of academia. Similar struggles exist for Latinas who choose to
compete in the white middle class world of collegiate athletics. In fact, many of the
women interviewed in the present research were constantly moving between cultures,
structures and identities.

This ﬂuidity of identities, valuing of multiple cultures and ability to cross borders
both enabled and constrained these women as they made their paths to collegiate softball.
For example, messages from mothers seem to fortify these women in their quest for

various types of achievement through softball. Yet entry into the elite, pervasively white,

140

middle class context of softball also distanced these women ﬁ'om the very communities
that “lifted them up” to begin with. In the next section, I will illustrate that school
settings were no easier than family settings for these women to navigate.

Discomfort in the Classroom

A study commissioned by the Women’s Sports Foundation (1989) suggested that
participation in high school athletics was signiﬁcantly and positively associated with high
school retention, lower dropout rates, higher achievement test scores, self-reported
popularity, college attendance, and progress toward a bachelor’s degree for rural
Hispanic females. In fact, all Hispanic female athletes from rural schools were two to
four times more likely than their non-athletic peers to attend and stay in college. These
data did not hold true for Hispanic students in urban settings, where the majority of
Latinas reside (Rumbaut, 1995). Despite what seems to be a declining signiﬁcance of
school softball programs for gaining entry to collegiate softball, educational success and
preparation is key to making the transition from high school to college.

Picou, McCarter and Howell (1985) examined student achievement beyond high
school and found that white men beneﬁted most form athletic involvement in terms of
educational attainment and eventual employment opportunities. They also found a
striking negative effect for sport involvement in the educational attainment and eventual
employment opportunities among black women. These data suggest that educational and
athletic achievements have different consequences for different people. Women of color
may be socially and structurally situated in such a way that sport participation may
actually hamper their attempts at educational and employment progress. Much of this

may be seen among the women in the present study as they struggled to balance

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achievement in academic and athletic realms while navigating an elitist educational
system that questioned their presence in various ways. For this select group of women,
the relationship between softball and academic goals may be a symbiotic one, in that their
success in both arenas depends on a certain level of success in the other.

Several of my informants suggested that they did not enjoy being in school and
yet for varied reasons, often for softball, they kept going and maintained the required
grade point average. For example, unlike her academically inclined brother, JJ did not
enjoy being at school and did not posses conﬁdence in herself as a student.

I knew that for me to go to college that would be the way to go because I wasn’t

the smartest person in high school. I wasn’t even there half the time (laughter

from group). My family had all these expectations because my brother had
graduated and he went to [a university] and got this degree and that degree. He
was “all that!”

Kim also struggled in high school. She suggested that her desire to continue
playing softball kept her involved in school and motivated her to at least earn the
mandatory “C” average.

I hated school! I hated it! So, softball was one thing that kept me going. I knew I

had to keep a “C” average to be able to play. Since I played sports year ‘round I

had to really stay focused year ‘round, and that was hard!

Carmen shared the following about her change in grade point average ﬁom high
school to college, and what that meant for her chosen career ﬁeld.

My grades are average. Softball kinda got too important for me. And, I always

made sure. I never failed a class, and wouldn't get “D's”, probably got “D's” in two

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classes, because I didn't want the class. But I never, an “A” and a “B” was never a
goal of mine. It was, I wanted to get “A's”, but I never really worked as hard as I—
in high school I had straight “A's”. I could stay up and study until 2:00 and it was
important because I had to get to college and things like that, and here it was like, I
know in the back of my head I need “A's” and “B's” to get into PT school, but I just
didn't. And now I'm kinda regretting it, because now I have to do extra stats to try
and get to that goal, and it's just not, it's not a matter of me not being able to do it, I
still believe. Nobody has proven to me yet that I can't do it, it's just a matter of
softball was always more important.
Connie talked about the symbiotic relationship between athletics and academics.
She admonishes herself for placing softball ahead of academics, and yet softball kept her
involved in school. Thus, despite having a tough time in the classroom, Connie received
conﬁdence through her ability on the softball ﬁeld.
I have never been a strong academic student. I just loved sports. Sports came
ﬁrst, before my academics. And I just, I was always just ﬁ'ustrated with school.
But the thing is, is when I want something and work at it then I’m, I’m ﬁne. But
its just, academics was just very difﬁcult for me. I wasn’t like the worst student,
but I, I know I didn’t-I didn’t put all my energy into my academics. It was more
into my awards in sports, and this and that. People used to say ‘Well that’s not
gonna’ get you anywhere.’ But that’s what’s paying for my education now. I
mean, all that, all that work did pay off. And I had to learn that my academics

does come ﬁrst. And I’ve had to learn the hard way, but. But, I’m getting my

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college education and understand what its worth. That’s why I want to continue

to go on.

Sydney also suggested that the academic requirements were difﬁcult for her. She
describes her experience as a student as ﬁ'ustrating and ﬁlled with remedial work.
Although she did not say it directly, it seems that softball was the reason that she
persevered and is now close to completing her bachelor’s degree.

Just to have a 2.0 was tough. Even here. I didn't even think I'm going to be eligible

this season. It was like, I was constantly calling Julie our compliance lady, you

know, ‘What do I need? What do I need?’ I'm going to winter session, and I went
to [the] JC to try to get units and grades transferred. I was just running over trying
to get units and grades and get everything together so I can play.

Lucy recalled early academic struggles and distaste for standardized tests. Lucy
also talked about how she went to summer school every summer and how she and her
mom worked to increase her test scores.

I think my ﬁeshman year, I was just kind of average. Just getting’ by you know?

And after that its just everything was going really well. I was doing really well in

classes. I don’t like taking big tests like SAT, or the ACT. I didn’t like those.

They weren’t for me. That wasn’t my style of you know that thing. So, I

struggled with those. I just kept doing-my mom bought me the ﬂashcards, all that

SAT prep stuff, you know? And, summer got by and I got my scores high enough

so the clearinghouse would accept it. Um, so yeah, my high school grades were

always good.

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The many examples above illustrate the need for increased support and guidance
of Latina student athletes. Clearly, these women who have made it to collegiate athletics
are the exception to the rule. Despite constraining conditions, including lack of
knowledge about higher education, lack of educational guidance and feelings of
marginality in the classroom these women made it to collegiate athletics, and many of
them continue to contribute their talents to this social arena. In some ways softball
exacerbated their struggles within educational settings and in other ways softball became
a much-needed link to the academic institution enhancing chances for success.

It is important to understand how Latinas have fared in educational settings as
these experiences may directly inﬂuence opportunities, perceived and real, to participate
in collegiate sport. Segura (1993) argues that multiple structural and cultural conditions
shape the experiences and success of Latinas in educational settings. Segura (1993)
examined the educational experiences of 20 Chicanas who had not graduated from high
school, nor been prepared to enter a job of choice. Among Segura’s (1993) ﬁndings
about constraints to educational attainment were a) reluctance of family members to
“interfere” with the work of educational professionals, b) channeling of Latina students
into non-academic programs offering a lower quality of instruction, c) lack of
encouragement or preparation from teachers and counselors for college attendance, and
d) lack of clearly safe, anti-racist learning environments. Segura (1993) also identiﬁed
the following conditions that enhanced educational attainment of her interview
participants: a) consistent encouragement from parents for educational achievement, b)
teacher innovation, c) multicultural curriculum, (1) teacher “caring” and involvement, and

e) formalized expectations for achievement.

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Segura’s (1993) ﬁndings provide a framework for understanding the experiences
of the women in the present research, who for various reasons struggled through
educational settings. Whatever the individual academic goals of the women interviewed
in the present research, their desire for participation in collegiate softball was directly tied
to academic success. Moreover, their ability to stay on paths toward collegiate softball
was directly tied to their ability to perform in the classroom. Despite baseline
orientations for sport, particular social conditions within schools may threaten one’s
opportunity to achieve their collegiate athletic goals. On the ﬂip side, those women who
are able to persevere in the face of educational adversity seem likely to stay on paths
toward their early goals.

Recruitment ROOM

“Learning as We Went” is a phrase that Cuadraz (1992) used to describe how she
experienced graduate school as a “scholarship girl” (p. 31). Cuadraz (1992) analyzed the
challenges that many Latinas face when they choose to enter the middle class, white
context of higher education. One of those challenges was learning how to gain access to
higher education and collegiate athletics. Many of these women were the ﬁrst in their
families to attend a four-year university, as well as the ﬁrst in their families to compete in
collegiate athletics. While their athletic talent was often enough to catch a coach’s eye,
they also had to show that they could be socially and academically successful. Given that
many of these women had no previous connections with the system of higher education
in the United States, many of them were disadvantaged throughout the recruitment

process.

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Bugs, a former division II softball athlete and currently a division 11 coach who is
also a full-time middle school physical educator suggested that Latinas and their families
are not being educated about how to access higher education and collegiate athletics. She
knows this from her own experience as the ﬁrst in family to attend college. She also
continues to have insight to this dilemma as a collegiate coach and k-12 educator.

Preparedness for college is the big problem for Latinas! They have no knowledge

of ﬁnancial aid or athletic scholarships!

Indeed, examples of educational dislocation were numerous among my interview
participants. Rosalia suggested that she had no idea what collegiate softball was all
about, how it worked, how one accessed the most elite level. Her mother completed high
school and works for a county library, while her father completed eight years of formal
education and works as a welder. Rosalia told about her experience demanding a try-out
for a division one team.

Even when I got into [the division one school] the only reason that I went there

was because at that time I didn’t know anything about collegiate softball. [A

division two school] had been recruiting me but I said, ‘If I’m gonna’ go on I

wanna’ go for the best.’ At that time [the division one school] was at the top of

their conference. So, I enrolled (note this is contrary to her high school
counselor’s prediction) and walked on. I didn’t know at that time no walk-ons
made it (typically). I didn’t know at that time that that wasn’t the way you got
into division one. I had no clue. I just walked into [the coach’s] ofﬁce and said,

‘I want to play. I play third base and short stop. I want to play!’ And she gave

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me a ten-minute try-out — me and one other girl. We got three cuts, three

grounders and three pop ﬂies.

This experience of educational dislocation held true for several of the women I
interviewed. Monica reﬂected on the limited role of higher education in the lives of her
parents.

I played on my high school team and at that time I had no clue about college ball.

I didn’t know anything. My mom went to two years of business school and my

dad went to J C for a year or two. But, no they weren’t familiar with the whole

college thing and I wasn’t either. And it was just ﬁiends or hearsay that ‘Hey,
there’s a good coach at this J C. So, I moved to [a particular city] and played on
the J C team for a year. That was my ﬁrst experience with travel ball. . . That’s
when people started saying ‘You know, you’re pretty good. Maybe you could get

a scholarship.’ . . . My parents were real supportive, but they weren’t familiar and

I wasn’t familiar, so I did it on my own with the help of my coach. He was really

unfamiliar too. All we did was make some type of video, send it in and they said

‘Come to our clinic or camp.’

Kim’s parents each earned high school diplomas and completed one or two years
of college. Kim talked about her lack of understanding and/or connection with colleges
and universities.

I never knew how to pursue. No one ever told me and I never knew what I had to

do. Luckily coach [helped out] or I don’t know what would have happened. I

probably would have never gone to university. Deﬁnitely [Bugs] told me about

the Educational Opportunity Program or else I never would have gotten into

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college. I did not score high on my SATs at all, so I had to go through the BOP

for one year prior to softball. So, I had to keep my “C” average one year in

college. I could not have anything to do with the team until that year was over.

Connie’s parents had been collegiate athletes and had completed undergraduate
and graduate studies in the United States. Yet, when Connie was preparing for her
transition from high school to college it was clear that her parents were dislocated from
the US. high school to college transition.

Well, my parents-their thing-it was different because my parents came here from

Venezuela, and they transferred from colleges out there to come here. My mother

just went out to try-out for the volleyball team and she made it. In Venezuela she

was a scholarship athlete. She had everything out there. And then she made it
here which she already had a kid. You know, she had me, and it was just
different. They never had the letter process. They didn’t know about scouts and
that kind of stuff. And then - they were just used to being walk-ons. I guess
that’s what I was. I went out into college doing the same thing.

Despite being somewhat heavily recruited, Connie began her collegiate softball
career as a “walk-on”. She earned no athletic related aid, even after earning honors as the
defensive player of the year. Connie transferred to her current university where she also
“walked-on” to the softball team. While it is wonderful that Connie has bad choices in
her collegiate career, many of these were actually coerced choices. The combination of
her parents’ divorce, her academic struggles and her emotional turbulence during the
transition from high school to college resulted in particular conditions that shaped her

decisions about collegiate softball.

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Gloria also faced coerced choices about collegiate softball. As a young mother
still living with her parents and struggling ﬁnancially, Gloria saw college as a means of
enhancing her daughter’s opportunities in the future. Yet, precisely because Gloria was
pregnant during high school, she fell shore of the requirements to graduate with her class.
She did complete her General Education Degree (GED) and then was able to enroll in the
local community college. Gloria’s less than stellar transcripts may have predisposed her
academic counselors to assume that she was not “college material”. Her experience is
reminiscent of Segura’s (1993) ﬁndings that suggested that Latinas are often guided into
non-academic educational foci and receive little or no encouragement from teachers and
counselors to attend college. Speculation aside, her experience with high school
counselors did not enhance her ability to access the system of higher education. Gloria
reﬂected on the guidance she received during high school to prepare her for college.

My [high school] counselors, they never once even asked me ifI wanted to go to

college. They never once ever told me about college. I never knew about RCC.

My mom told me ‘cause she took a class here. I didn’t know nothing about it.

Nothing when I came here, I didn’t know nothing. They never mentioned

anything. The counselor never even asked me what I wanted to be, you know,

what I’m thinking of going into - never once asked me anything.

Even when students came out of high school having received useful academic and
professional guidance, this guidance was limited to what academic counselors knew
about athletic recruitment policies. For example, Lucy suggested that her high school
provided effective academic advisement, although they were not quite up to date on the

athletic “clearing house” materials that student athletes needed to complete.

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They had the applications there or they had certain schools’ urn representatives

come out and talk to us. If they were gonna’ be there. If you wanted to miss a

class, whatever, they were gonna’, you know. So, I’m sure I would have been

able to get the applications and stuff. I’m sure um, academically they didn’t have
the proper stuff for like the clearinghouse (NCAA forms). My counselor was like

‘What’s the clearing house?’ I mean they had forms but it was like years

previous. It wasn’t the updated form.

Clearly the existing recruitment system could have been accessed by Connie and a
few others but at the same time the system exists to work best for those who have the
resources to work within it. In part due to a history of limited interaction with higher
education, and in some cases with the United States secondary educational system,
parents and athletes may be ill prepared to access the collegiate recruitment system. One
of the ways that some Latinas get beyond their status as recruitment rookies and continue
on paths toward a four-year college is to use community college as an intermediate step
in the process.

Communig Colleges: A Secmd Option

Several of the women I spoke to had begun their collegiate careers at Community
Colleges but held out hopes of transferring to a four-year, division one or two program.
In 1996, nearly 40 percent of 18 to 19 year old Latinas who were enrolled in school were
enrolled below college, twice as many as the national average for all women (U. S.
Bureau of the Census, 1998). Thirty one percent of the 233,000 Latinas (18 to 19 years
old) that were enrolled in school were enrolled in a two-year college and 30 percent were

enrolled in a 4-year college, almost a one-to-one ratio of two-year to four-year college

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enrollment. The data for women of all races show a one-to-two ratio for the two-year to
four-year college enrollment. Latinas, more than any other groups of women are likely to
be enrolled in a two-year college.

Nora and RendOn (1994) reviewed selected literature about access, retention and
transfer rates of Latino students in community colleges. They found that among
approximately 75% of students who enter a community college do so with the desire to
transfer to a four-year institution, yet only about 25% of students execute this transfer
successfully. Nora and Rendon (1994) caution their readers that access to community
colleges does not necessarily translate into academic achievement for Latinos. Many
two-year colleges offer excellent career and/or academic curricula, and they clearly
provide educational access for many persons who might otherwise not enroll in college at
all. Yet, for Latinas, two-year colleges may simply become a holding pattern leading to
nowhere in particular (Nora & Rendon, 1994). Interestingly, among the women I
interviewed 30% began their careers at community college, but only 7% remained there,
and these women were in their second year Of community college, so may be likely to
transfer successfully also.

Marie told me how she decided to begin her studies and softball career at city
college, and how she feels about having started at a community college rather than at a
four year university.

Actually my sister had a four-year scholarship to Quincy College in Illinois, and

she gave that up after two years, and came home and she was helping our coach,

coach Huntsey. That’s kind of how I got towards City instead of like West Valley

. . . I also look at going to a community college almost like a second option ‘cause

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ofg

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if you go to a community college you get more time to prepare yourself to go on

to a four year. And you possibly can get more offers when it comes to

scholarships or whatever. So, I kind of look at going to city as a beneﬁt, rather
than a negative thing.

Rosalia recalled a conversation with a high school counselor that reﬂected a type
of gatekeeping that many women of color experience. She shared the following.

I was not in any honors classes, so she told me that I wouldn’t make it into Cal

(CSU system) — that I would deﬁnitely not make into UC (U C system), that I

wouldn’t make it into Cal State. My best bet was to go to a junior college and I

might be able to do good there (emphasis in original).

As Gloria made plans for her eventual transfer from community college to a four-
year university, she went to “walk-up” counseling and received discouragement,
speciﬁcally regarding her desire to transfer to the University of California system.

I had told her I need this class and she asked, ‘What kind of college are you

interested in?’ I said well maybe UCR She goes ‘Are you sure you want to head

that way?’ and I say ‘yeah, I seen it and it looks nice’. And she said, ‘How do
you think your grades are?’ I said, ‘I think they’re good’. She’s all, ‘Well maybe
you should check on it because UCR likes to take students with very good
grades’. But she doesn’t know me; she didn’t have my educational plan there so
she didn’t know what my grades were.

I asked Nicole if she would be at the school she is currently enrolled in if she had not

earned the athletics scholarship. She suggested the following:

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Would I come to school here? I think, no. Because the only way I would get to
college is by a scholarship. Because I have a twin sister, and we graduated the
same year and right now my parents, you know, couldn't afford it. . . .I might be
able to go to Junior College or something, but I don’t think so.

The experiences these women shared illustrate how academic and career
counselors who attempt to redirect Latinas to “more suitable” academic and career goals
play a signiﬁcant role as institutional gatekeepers. These data also suggest that often
Latinas begin their collegiate careers in community colleges, and as Marie suggested use
this as a “second option” for preparing for a four-year university. Although research
suggests that community colleges may simply act as holding grounds for Latinas (Nora &
Rendon, 1994), several of the women I interviewed used their athletic connections to
make a successful transition from community college to division I or II softball, and a
four-year university. Thus, in the face of structural and cultural constraints to academic
success, Latinas exercise their own agency, and make choices from the options available
to them.

Summg

In this chapter I have shown how shifting social conditions within families,
organized sport, and schools interact to produce viable options from which women make
choices and carve out lives. Clearly several signiﬁcant persons inﬂuenced the
development of baseline orientations for sport involvement among the women in the
present research. While parents were most often the leading socializing agents, siblings,
friends and neighbors also contributed the socialization of these young women into sport.

Additionally, shifts in cultural beliefs about women’s participation in sport were

154

underway due to Title IX of the educational amendment act of 1972. Although these
women represent a privileged few who were eventually able to access collegiate softball,
they struggled to create paths through family, school and communities to collegiate
softball.

l have also shown that Latinas are often disadvantaged in educational settings.
The combination of historical dislocation from higher education, lack of resources for
higher education, ambivalence of parents and poor guidance ﬁ'om counselors relegate
Latinas to academically disadvantaged status. Thus, many Latinas take longer routes to
collegiate athletics, beginning at community college and hoping to earn a scholarship to a
four-year university.

Additionally, these data indicate that continued involvement in softball required
that these women see through ambivalent messages about college, and continue to
construct their own paths toward collegiate softball. Moreover, Latinas make their way
out of particular family systems, equipped with strong commitments to larger
communities as well as to their own educational and employment progress. For many
college educated Latinas going home is not easy precisely because, as one informant put
it, “[We] have been mainstrearned through our educational institutions”. At the same
time, staying away from home is simply not an option for many Latinas as they continue
to feel the push and pull of foundation and mobility. A model of baseline orientations is
shown in appendix M. A model of paths toward collegiate softball is shown in appendix

N.

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Chapter Six
Navigating Inequalities and Marginality in Collegiate Softball

In this chapter the analytic focus is on the social conditions that this select group
of women encountered in collegiate softball. Throughout these analyses, I zero in on
how these women encountered and resisted constructions of race, class and sexuality, and
how these conditions shaped their paths through the structure of collegiate softball.
Although, the chapter is organized in a way that highlights the inﬂuence of class, race
and sexuality as separate entities, where possible I illustrate the simultaneity of these
inﬂuences in the lives of the women interviewed. That is, I will talk about particular
social conditions faced by these women and will show that race, class and sexuality
interconnect to inﬂuence the paths of Latinas in collegiate softball. The chapter is
organized around three analytic sections, a) class-based hierarchies, b) racial
constructions, and c) homophobia and compulsory heterosexuality.
gags-BM Hierarchies in Collegiate Softball

Collegiate softball is fast becoming a member of the corporate sport
conglomeration. It is becoming increasingly privatized and rigidly organized. In fact, a
recent article in the NCAA News (Abell, 1999) reported that 80% of all division one
softball student-athletes came out of Amateur Softball Association (ASA) programs.
This direct path from ASA to division one softball is deﬁnitely the fast lane to collegiate
softball. Yet, many women never make it to this part of the path. Intentionally or not,
ASA softball ﬁlters athletes by skill and a highly correlated visibility (the best teams will
play more games in a tournament and have increased opportunity of visibility, especially

during championship rounds). ASA works as a type of talent broker due to its singular

156

hold on the softball market. A small body of literature suggests that coaches and
recruiting scouts “learn” to look for a particular type of athlete for particular sports and
particular positions (Abney & Richey, 1992; Corbett & Johnson, 1993, Eitzen & Furst,
1993; Gonzalez, 1996). In the case of collegiate softball, the elite structure of ASA
summer tournaments has become the primary recnriting venue. Access to ASA softball
tournaments and teams is not available to all young girls, thus, it becomes a major factor
inﬂuencing the decisions that young women make about collegiate softball. Moreover,
the social demography of Latinas in the United States suggests that opportunities for
involvement in organized sport will be constrained for many Latinas. Furthermore,
dislocation from higher education may place Latinas at risk for being exploited in current
systems of recruitment and distribution of athletic related ﬁnancial aid. In this section I
will examine the social conditions associated with class inequalities that were manifested
in terms of a) gaining access to elite sport structures, and b) accessing ﬁnancial resources.

Gaining Access to Elite Snort Structures

ASA magazine recently printed an article about the proﬁtability of hosting their
tournaments (McCall, 1999). Girls fast pitch tournaments were the most numerous and
most proﬁtable for host cities. Relying on the ntunbers reported by ASA, it is estimated
that the cost per individual for a two-day tournament was $250.00. This is a rough
estimate that includes travel while in town, two-night stay in town, meals, and
sightseeing. My sense is that this is a minimum cost, especially for elite teams that may
travel across the nation to compete in tournaments. Moreover, many of these elite teams
compete in tournaments every weekend throughout the summer; thus if they participated

in eight tournaments the minimum cost for each athlete would be $1,000.00 for the

157

smnmer. Clearly, this organizational structure works as a gatekeeper channeling only the
most athletically talented and ﬁnancially resourced young women into their organization.

Now, the higher up you go in travel ball the more these coaches know about

college, recruiting and getting those girls out there. A lot of recruiting comes

through [the travel ball coaches] writing letters, not from high school coaches.

As Rosalia indicated in the statement above, ASA softball has become the
premier site for the promotion and recruitment of potential collegiate softball athletes.
ASA softball is a sophisticated, nationwide organization of softball teams ranging in age
from about ten to adult. Connie also suggested that playing travel ball is not so much an
option as it is a requirement for softball athletes who hope to play collegiate ball. When I
asked her if she had played travel ball she responded,

Yeah! You have to! ASA, and I also played travel soccer. You have to in order

to make it to this level.

Connie’s emphatic response underscores the salience of travel ball for those young
women who desire to make it onto the roster of one of the nation’s top ranked softball
teams. In fact, more than two thirds (67%) of the women interviewed reported regular
participation in ASA summer softball leagues throughout their high school years.
Among the remaining 33 percent, half of these women reported some participation in
ASA summer softball, and despite having breaks in the action these women beneﬁted
from increased visibility on elite teams, increased competitive level of play, and
association with other women who were making their way to collegiate softball. In all,
nearly 80 percent of the women interviewed had some level of involvement with ASA

summer softball prior to, during and/or after their collegiate careers.

158

Marisol talked about her experiences playing travel ball after having played one
year at a junior college. Her experience of travel ball is unique compared to the rest of
the women interviewed, who for the most part had played travel ball as teenagers and up
to their collegiate careers. Marisol did not participate in ASA travel ball until after one
year at a community college. The coach of a rival team in her collegiate conference
invited Marisol to play on his women’s open travel ball team for the summer season. She
talked about the impact this experience had on her.

That’s what totally opened my eyes. Here I am playing with these girls and

they’re all going to school. All of ‘em are playing somewhere [in college]. I got

to see a girl that I went to high school with — I played with. Right now she goes
to UNLV. At the time she was going to Iowa. And we played against each other!

And we went to high school together. So seeing that, you know I thought ‘I can

go on’ (emphasis in original conversation).

Marisol was at one point along her path to collegiate softball constrained by the
inaccessibility of travel ball, but following her ﬁrst year in community college, this changed
dramatically. As Gerson’s (1985) model would suggest, signiﬁcant changes occur
throughout women’s lives, thus creating new options and decisions. For Marisol, attending
community college translated into new opportunities for involvement in and understanding
of the world of collegiate softball at a four-year university. This was signiﬁcant in her
eventual opportunity to “walk-on” to a Division H nationally ranked team. Nicole’s
experiences with ASA travel softball began much earlier than did Marisol’s. At about the
age of 13, Nicole was invited to try out for an ASA team. It is signiﬁcant that this occurred

shortly after her switch from organized baseball to organized softball, a coerced choice that

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had its origins in gendered notions about particular sports. In spite of Nicole’s doused
opportunities in baseball, ASA softball became a signiﬁcant trajectory toward collegiate
softball.

I heard about these traveling teams and all-stars. I heard about them and I got a

letter in the mail asking me to come out and try out, so I went out and tried out and I

made the team, 14 and under. The cost was a lot, you know, but my mom, my

parents got the money, you know, even though they sacriﬁced a lot, they, my sister
was always the last person, it was always me that came ﬁrst, but it paid out in the
end, I guess.

Nicole was acutely aware of her family’s commitment to her participation in ASA
softball. Her words almost describe an early knowledge about the potential beneﬁts of elite
softball in her future. Nicole knew that her ability to access ASA softball had consequences
for the rest of her family. Thus, she seemed to see this a path to a future economic ad
educational payoﬁ. The fact that she was privileged by this opportunity became even
clearer as Nicole entered high school and was faced with a mediocre program in a poorly
funded school. Nicole chose to play both ASA and high school ball, but she found herself
having to adjust her play to the skill level of those around her. By far, ASA was the more
challenging team for Nicole, thus she probably developed more elite skills, and surely
gained visibility in elite tournament play.

At my school, there wasn't a lot of publicity, you know. We didn't really have

good coaching. That's another thing where I didn't really get a lot of exposure to

college. They're different. My school was not the athletic school. They had people

on varsity that didn't know how to catch a ball, you know. But, that's why I stood

160

out in high school, is because, you know, these people didn't want to play. They

weren't committed, they weren't dedicated, they were just there to look pretty. You

know, just to be popular, or you know, whatever, ‘I'm on varsity’, you know. But,

[ASA] is a lot different, people are a lot more dedicated. They know what they're

doing. At some point you play at that level and then you go back to travel ball, and

then you have to learn it over again to play at that level. That's the bad part of
playing at high school. My head coach said, 'if I had the money, I'd send you to St.

Lucy's or—that's up where the big time softball players were. They knew.

Nicole and her high school coaches knew that the athletes at St. Lucy’s were
better positioned to gain entry to collegiate softball. Thus, in one sense the elitism and
visibility of ASA softball may aid those student-athletes who otherwise would develop
only within a mediocre school-based program. Yet, in another way, some women are
relegated watch from beyond the fence as others take advantage of multiple opportunities
to access collegiate softball structures. In the absence of resources for attending St.
Lucy’s, Nicole’s parents did the next best thing - committed family resources to her
involvement in ASA softball.

A similar example of family resources inﬂuencing opportunities for participation
in elite softball was provided by Mickey. The divorce of Mickey’s parents resulted in
particular concerns and constraints that affected her decisions about work, school and
softball.

I wasn’t, well, in ASA ball, I wasn’t really involved because of the money

situation. I wanted to work in the summer and earn money so I could, money was

so [necessary] in high school, just because of cheerleading. And so I worked all

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summer long so I could pay for cheerleading and I never really, I would go to

tournaments and stuff, but I never really was like one of those people who would

go every single weekend. I was only involved in ASA ball like three seasons, you
know three summers where every weekend it was something. But I never got too
much involved in tournament play because of money.

Mickey’s example connects the experiences of both Marisol and Nicole. Like
Marisol, Mickey experienced a signiﬁcant change in her life when her parents divorced.
This altered her options for sport involvement at a critical point in her athletic career.
Similar to Nicole, Mickey was acutely aware of the sacriﬁces her family would make for
her to stay involved in the varied extracurricular activities that she enjoyed. For these
reasons, summer travel softball was not a priority for Mickey during her high school
years. This may have inﬂuenced her decision to begin her collegiate career at a
community college, from which she transferred to a four-year university and division 11
softball program.

This is not uncommon among the women I interviewed. Thirty percent of these
27 women began their collegiate softball careers at a community college. Among those,
23 percent successfully transferred to either division one or two programs. The
remaining seven percent are now in their second year of community college and may
indeed construct viable paths to a four-year university and division one or two softball
program. It should also be noted that 44 percent of these women made direct paths from
high school to division one softball, 22 percent went directly to division two, and four
percent went do division three. Clearly these women are elite athletes who were able to

create viable paths to collegiate softball. It is also clear that in the transition from high

162

school to college, one signiﬁcant distinguishing characteristic between the community
college athletes and the others was regular participation in ASA softball.

Of course, a class-based hierarchy in collegiate softball is not solely based on
ﬁnancial resources, but on the opportunity to access a variety of resources. A class-based
hierarchy in collegiate softball interacts with race to situate some women further outside
of the lines in a marginalized location from which only those with the most material
value may recover. Josie’s experiences in ASA travel ball clearly illustrate how race
intersects with class to situate Latinas in disadvantaged locations from which to make
choices and decisions about their lives. Speciﬁcally, Josie’s description of her travel ball
experiences show how race and class intersected to stratify the athletes who continued in
elite softball.

There were always Mexicans on every team I’ve played on. In [travel ball] the

majority was White, but there was always like three or four of us Mexicans. So I

never had to deal with that, ‘cause back home 89% of my community are

Hispanic-actually Mexican . . . Like when I was young, playing rec. ball when I

was nine. It was like. There were two good teams. There was us. We were all

Hispanic. And then there was a white team, from like all the rich neighborhoods

at the time. And we were the better team always. For them it was like a privilege

to come play us, and we’d bring like three of them on the team at the end of the
season.

Noticeably, it is the recreation leagues where Josie’s teammates were
predominantly Mexican, but as she moved into ASA travel ball, her teams became

predominantly white. What happened to all the Mexican girls who consistently out-

163

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played the rich, white girls? Where were J osie’s hermanas (Latina sisters) as she
continued on her path to collegiate softball? One explanation for this change in the
make-up of Josie’s teammates is the high cost of participation in ASA travel ball.
Another explanation is the existence of systemic racially discriminatory practices such as
those documented in the experiences of Latinos in major league baseball (Gonzalez,
1996). Gonzalez (1996) concluded that manager’s and scouts may often make decisions
from preconceived notions based on their own knowledge and beliefs about biology,
culture and organizational needs (p. 155). This practice leads to discrimination in
opportunities to occupy particular positions on the ﬁeld, and after retirement, in the front
ofﬁce (Gonzalez, 1996). These same inﬂuences may be operating as coaches and parents
identify young athletes to whom invitations may be extended for team try-out sessions.

J osie’s example illustrates that only those perceived to hold material value for the
existing power structure will have opportunities to gain entree to the middle class context
of collegiate softball.

Moreover, while involvement in ASA softball leagues guarantees increased
visibility for athletes, those women who can afford to join the most skilled, the most
active, and best equipped teams have an even greater chance of being seen during
recruitment periods. Sydney was able to shop around for teams when coaching was not
up to her standards or teams were disbanded. Despite her moving around, she always had
a competitive traveling team with which to compete and ﬁ'om which to receive more than
adequate visibility during recruitment periods.

We weren’t winning with the old Dynasty team or Perfection. We weren’t

winning, practices were sloppy, and he — I mean we were pretty good. It’s like

164

you’re good at ﬁrst and then you kind of just die, and I don’t like to die. I like to

be good, like our Silver Bullets team. We were really good. Then our Silver

Bullets team merged with the Southeastern Rebels — so then we were on the

Rebels. I was just on a hundred different teams. After the Rebels — we were

really good on the Rebels too. We went to Nationals. I went to Nationals with

the Silver Bullets, the Rebels, and my freshman year in college I went back to

Dynasty and I went to Nationals again.

Marisol provided a personal example of how the class hierarchy inﬂuences the
availability of Opportunities for participation in collegiate sport. In the following passage
Marisol provided a bit of her own structural analysis.

Perfect example! Perfect example! [player’s name]. Here she is, full ride
scholarship to UCLA. We grew up in the same city, okay? If you have money
and you wanna’ play sports you go to the private schools. You go to St. Lucy’s
all girls’ school or you go to Damien, all boys school. If you don’t have money
and you can’t afford to go to-you go to Bonita. That’s where I went. [She] had
all year-her parents had money, okay? She went to the [team name], okay?

They’re the most expensive team and the hardest team to get on, under 18 and

under 16, and she’s played for it, for them since she’s in Little League-‘cause I

played Little League with her. That’s it, and I never saw her again, ‘cause after

that she went to the private school or she went to the travel teams and then . . . I’m

watching ESPN-she’s on freakin’ TV, playing for the US. junior Olympic team.

And then I saw her in the summertime playing women’s open and I’m like ‘So,

165

where are you going?’ She’s like ‘Oh, I’m going to UCLA.’ She’s a perfect

example of what money can do!

Marisol’s example highlights the disparate opportunity structure that all women
attempt to navigate in order to achieve their goals. Marisol focuses on money as the pivotal
resource, but money is just one manifestation of power. The woman described above
seemed to have access to many forms of power that shaped her direct path to division one
softball. Marisol, in contrast did not have links to US. higher education, nor did she have
money to “buy” those links. Thus, her opportunity to access elite softball came through a
much longer and more curvy route than that of the woman she describes above. Josie spoke
about “being noticed” through her participation on an all-star team that had some wealthy
young women on them. This team had the resources to compete in many highly visible
tournaments.

I would always get MVP at every nationals we’d ever go to and little by little like

a lot of the urn, one of the ASA coaches was there and he was trying to recruit me.

And then a couple other coaches tried to recruit me, and there was this, my

teammate, she was urn, she was very wealthy. Her parents are the owners of [a

particular manufacturing industry], and her mom was like, ‘You gotta’ come play

for [our traveling team]’. That’s the team I’ve always played for in travel ball.

Sydney, Marisol and Josie each describe the power of access to ASA softball, and
other elite softball networks (e.g., private high school’s with strong programs). Their
experiences suggest that while participation in ASA softball may offer Opportunities for
collegiate softball involvement, these opportunities are disparate. That is, young women

ﬁom ﬁnancially elite families are better situated to take advantage of all the ASA softball

166

has to offer. Latinas ﬁom middle class families, like Sydney, are able to “work the
system” making their paths to collegiate softball more direct. Moreover, the opportunity
to participate on a team with middle and upper class teammates may also increase the
opportunities for continuing on one’s path toward collegiate softball. This may have
been the case in Josie’s experiences. Whatever the individual experience, Marisol’s
description of the inequalities in access to elite softball make it clear that Latinas often
experience marginal status among their teammates, despite having gained access to this
elite social structure.

Accessing Financial Resources: F in_ancial Aidécholarships and “Free-loaders”

Latinas come to college and collegiate athletics with varied resources and support
structures. Many students of Latina heritage may qualify for need-based ﬁnancial aid,
but many do not. Athletic scholarships, in reality, are awarded to very few female
athletes, and data show that many of these are doled out to students whose families would
be able to pay for their education (Coakley & Pacey, 1984). Coakley & Pacey (1984)
found that athletic scholarships were not awarded to women in division I and II collegiate
programs based on ﬁnancial need. In fact, when father’s level of employment was
controlled, there were no signiﬁcant differences in the distribution of scholarships. What
did shift with father’s employment level was how students ﬁnanced those aspects of their
education not covered by the scholarship. For example, students may work in the
summer, take on educational loans, or apply for need-based ﬁnancial aid. Despite
increases in the quantity of athletic scholarships available to women, the number of
student athletes receiving full-ride scholarships is diminishing across racial and gender

lines (Eitzen, 1999). These are signiﬁcant trends in terms of how women make decisions

167

about sport involvement. These harsh realities may actually undermine some women’s
opportunities to achieve their athletic goals, while leaving the door wide open for women
who are able access collegiate ranks without hardship to themselves or their families.

Cuadraz (1992) interviewed ten Chicana “scholarship women” about their
experiences in graduate school. Cuadraz (1992) argued that educational institutions do
not reduce inequalities, but accentuate them, especially as socialization into and through
higher education may simply be a continuance of the socialization received by youth in
their middle and upper class homes (p.32). Both Cuadraz (1992) and Cuadraz & Pierce
(1994) found that Latinas experience both privilege and penalty as “scholarship”
students, and are often viewed as institutional tokens in collegiate settings. Although
scholarship women were “pushed to the margins, they were really insiders to the very
social structure that reproduced such inequalities” (Cuadraz, 1992, p. 32). In fact,
scholarship women were in a unique position to experience the contradictions of being
“inside in an outside way” (Cuadraz, 1992, p. 32).

Some Latina collegiate athletes may experience similar marginalization due to
their varied statuses as “scholarship athletes”. This marginalization may be manifested in
tensions about the distribution of frnancial aid and athletic scholarship money. For
example, Bugs described the tension that developed between Mexican and White athletes
due to differential ﬁnancial aid and athletics aid awards.

There was animosity for us when we played on these teams that are mostly white

and we were getting paid just because our skin’s brown and we got a ‘rrrrr’ in our

last name. And that was hard! And I feel strongly about this! I have no regrets

nor do I feel badly because I really think there was a mistake in society and there

168

was discrimination. And it didn’t affect me at all and it may not have affected my

parents directly but somewhere down the line there was. And my father was

called Henry when his name was Alfred damn it! And that’s what bothers me.

But I don’t feel bad - because none of my brothers and sisters had the opportunity,

and if I had I was gonna’ take it.

Although the animosity that Bugs spoke of above was manifested in jealousy
about disparate ﬁnancial support, the example actually uncovers deeply held beliefs about
who has a “right” to higher education, and reveals a primarily white, middle class fear of
being displaced by racial-ethnic others. Moreover, Bugs found herself having to perform
academically and athletically in a social setting that did not necessarily welcome her
presence. Despite this experience and a history of mistreatment in American society,
Bugs contends above that she was not affected by discrimination. Yet in an almost
contrary point of view, she acknowledges the sting of discrimination among her family
members and her desire to access college in spite of historically rampant anti-Latino
sentiment. It is paradoxical that lack of ﬁnancial resources may be the primary factor that
many Latinas never get involved in sport and yet the same ﬁnancial need provokes
animosity from their white teammates. Clearly, legislating access does not address the
entire problem of racial-ethnic divisions on collegiate campuses or in collegiate athletics.

Micaela, a student-athlete at an elite, private division one university was Often the
target of questioning about ﬁnancial aid and scholarship moneys. Some of her teammates
and roommates expressed jealousy about what seemed to be a disproportionately larger
amount of ﬁnancial aid as compared to their own awards. She speciﬁcally recalled a

roommate asking her how many loans she had out and how much she received in

169

ﬁnancial aid. After Micaela told the roommate what she wanted to know, the roommate
responded in a derogatory manner by saying, “Must be nice”. Micaela described how
this interaction with her roommate made her feel.

She knew that I’m not the wealthiest person, you know. And I am considered one

of the poor ones here, well, I am the poor one. But I don’t think she understood

exactly what it meant not to have the family, the money and all that is needed, you
know? She doesn’t understand that its harder on me just because we don’t have
any resources to pay for school and schools cost a lot more money than my dad
makes, you know? And she doesn’t understand what I had to do to earn that
money, to earn whatever, because I earned everything I got. I’m not freeloading
here. I’m not. I had to work to pay for my ASA. I pay my own rent, my own
groceries. And I don’t think she understands all that - all that comes with it, all
that I worked for. She just sees the end product of what I have. I don’t think she
understands and sometimes that’s tense between us.

Bugs and Micaela provide rich examples of the tensions that may develop around
the distribution of ﬁnancial aid. In the example Bugs provided, there are clear connections
between racial ancestry and class privilege. Both Bugs and Micaela are in a position to
experience the legacy of exclusion from higher education that many Latinos/as have
experienced, and at the same time their presence on campus is contested through
constructions of them as “free-loaders”, or drains on ﬁnancial resources. They are, as
Cuadraz (1992) put it “inside in an outside way” (p. 32). They are inside the institution, but

are outside of the middle class culture that envelops the institution. It is this location

170

perhaps, that offers them a vantage point from which to see that their “accusers” simply
“don’t understand” the conditions under which they made their way to collegiate softball.

It is instructional to examine the actual receipt of ﬁnancial aid and scholarship
money that the women interviewed received. Just over half of them (52%) received some
form of ﬁnancial aid to attend college. Among those receiving no ﬁnancial aid, 37
percent were former athletes for whom past ﬁnancial aid award were not recorded as part
of this research. Athletic related awards ranged from partial scholarships, which covered
the cost of textbooks to full scholarships, which provided textbooks, tuition and a
monthly stipend (typically between $250 and $400). Need-based ﬁnancial aid is also
wide-ranging and may not completely match a student’s need. Among the 52 percent
(n=16) who received some form of ﬁnancial aid, 19 percent held full scholarships, 31
percent held partial scholarships, 19 percent received need-based ﬁnancial aid only,
another 19 percent received a combination of need-based and athletic related aid, and 13
percent received no ﬁnancial aid. Coaldey and Pacey (1984) found that White women
received the majority of full scholarships and tended to receive some form of partial aid
or tuition waiver more Often than other women in division I and 11 programs. They also
suggested that “other minority” women (not including Black women) received less partial
aid and were most likely to be participating in division I and II women’s athletics without
any form of aid (Coakley & Pacey, 1984). Given the demography of the participants in
the present study and the research by Coakley and Pacey (1984), the animosity directed
toward some of the women interviewed seems to be based in a false belief about Latinas

taking unfair shares of ﬁnancial resources on campuses.

l7l

Micaela also talked about how the availability of athletic related aid shaped her
choice to participate in softball. Despite gaining entree to an academically elite, division
one program, Micaela’s choices were constrained by her family’s limited ﬁnancial
resources, as well as the elitist structure of collegiate athletics.

At the time, I didn't hear a lot about soccer scholarships. There wasn't a lot of

money into soccer. It wasn't it's day yet. So, I kinda had to make the decision what

will pay my way through college and how to make [the most of it] and I kinda
realized that my senior year. I didn't want to realize it and accept it, because I loved
soccer so much, but my senior year [I realized] ‘I got to go through softball’.

Micaela’s experience with her roommate is reminiscent of the experience Bugs
shared earlier, and not uncommon for women of color who often are stereotyped as
“quotas” on campus. Many Latinas are the ﬁrst in their families to go to a four-year
educational institution if not the ﬁrst to go at all. Potentially more important here is the
fact that many of these ﬁrst time college enrollees may also be ﬁrst generation born in the
United States. Thus, their families are still working on gaining access to major American
social institutions and are often looked upon as foreigners taking away opportunities for
the more deserving off-spring of “Americans”. It is also interesting to note the ways that
women continue to move through conditions that might constrain opportunity. Bugs and
Micaela offered examples of Latina perseverance in the face of racial and class
inequalities. Not only were they members of a system that had historically denied them
access, they were also subject to the cultural baggage of their teammates and classmates.
This adversity seemed to fortify some women in their efforts to continue on their

pathways through collegiate softball.

172

 

 

 

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Ana also talked about feeling marginalized based on ﬁnancial issues, but her
experiences as a middle class Latina was different than that of Bugs and Micaela. She
reveals a somewhat common experience of Latino/a collegiate students being caught
between ﬁnancial resources and ﬁnancial need. Her words describe what is commonly
being referred to as the “middle class squeeze” in the US. economy. That is middle class
families are often caught between the cost of higher education and qualiﬁcation for need-
based aid. Thus, many middle class families accrue debt in order to pay for higher
education. Ana’s words below underscore the particular location of her family, and
describe her feelings about being caught in between need and resources.

Money is deﬁnitely an issue. You know, my mom’s a budget clerk. My dad’s a

teacher. You know, that’s not a lot of income, and I think. . .having my [younger]

sister get a scholarship, you know, that is a big lift off my parents’ shoulders, you
know. And, me here, it’s closer, so we’re not having to pay for plane tickets
home and stuff like that. But, I had a scholarship at the other school. [My
parents] weren’t having to pay, so they’ve only really had to pay for one semester
of school and then, this year. And, I don’t know. I tell my mom all the time, you
know I want to pay you guys back, ‘cause I think that that’s not fair that you guys
are trying to-I’m not helping you out you know. The scholarship was supposed to
be - that was my part of the deal, you know. But [my mom’s] you know, ‘Don’t
worry about it, we’ll make it’, and if we can’t then I’ll just transfer to Fresno State
or something and commute home.

Ana went on to describe the type of ﬁnancial assistance she was able to acquire.

She also describes what is a common legacy of economic disadvantage among Latino/a

173

 

families. Her words illustrate the fact that despite experiencing upward mobility, a
legacy of ﬁnancial disadvantage is close behind.

I get the loan (Stafford), but I can’t get any grants. I can’t get anything like that

because [my parents] do make enough, and they don’t realize, I mean they really

don’t realize that just because you’re not low class, you know that you don’t need
it. Because, yeah, both my sister and I will be in school, but what if she hadn’t
gotten a scholarship, you know? And I mean some people have their
grandparents that, you know they can inherit money from them, but both mine
worked in the ﬁeld, so, you know their not gonna’ see any money there.

This experience of not being “needy enough” may be especially debilitating for
Latinas who tend to come from lower class families and have a legacy of poverty rather
than a legacy of ﬁnancial stability.

Although elite softball skill has offered some Latinas access to power, their
location within a social structure that is organized around multiple inequalities actually
situates them in varied proximity to power. Eitzen (1996b) suggests that in sport, just as
in the larger society, the poor pay more than their fair share for the maintenance and
growth of sport programs. The exploitation of big-time college athletes serves the needs
of capitalists and maintains a system controlled by dominant ideology (Eitzen, 1996b;
Sage, 1996). Ironically Latinas and other women who qualify for ﬁnancial aid are now
assets to those teams whose rosters have been bloated due to misguided attempts at
compliance to Title IX of the Educational Amendments Act (1972). Monica and

Christina, both division one softball coaches explained how this would work on a team

174

 

that was required to expand it’s roster to 22 or more student athletes. Monica explained it
this way.

So, if you wanted to give twelve full rides (full scholarships) then that means that

over ten in those particular organizations get no money. And that’s tough! You

can’t keep good athletes like that. You gotta’ spread it out, try to help everyone
out. And what’s been fortunate is the people that do qualify for ﬁnancial aid.

You draw that money out so they can get that. So, you’ve got more money left

over to give other people. And um, it seems like the Latinas seem to qualify more

than any of the others. It’s a high percentage.

This is an interesting twist on the Title IX legislation. In order to come into
compliance, some schools are expanding rosters in women’s sports rather than adding
new women’s sports to their total offering. It may be too early to tell, but this seemingly
relegates Latinas and other women of color, who experience poverty at higher rates than
do white women, to institutionalized subordinate positions. In this case, Latinas may
bear a disproportionate amount of the burden of ﬁnancing the expansion of women’s
collegiate athletics. Rosalia, currently a division two head coach expressed concern
about the messages that may be sent to ‘minority athletes’ through increased use of
various ﬁnancial aid funds rather than offering athletics related scholarships to minority
athletes. She made the following impassioned argument:

We just had a meeting today about EOP and ﬁnancial aid. Instead of ‘Let’s go

ﬁnd some athletes and give them a scholarship, let’s see if we can get them in

through EOP or ﬁnancial aid, and let’s work that way.’ I don’t think we’re fully

175

 

 

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being educated in certain areas. Instead of going in and showing these athletes
and their families how things should be done we’re pushing EOP.
She went on to say:
These kids are intelligent human beings who have athletic ability! Let’s give
them what they deserve! They’re not looking for a handout, nor are they looking
to play at division II. But if we are lucky enough to get them in our program let’s
treat them like they have just earned something, not like they’re second rate and
now they’ve gotta’ do all this other stuff so they can get out on the ﬁeld. They’ve
worked hard to be out there on the ﬁeld, let’s let them be there. Instead of, ‘I’m
gonna’ be late for practice because I’ve got to go to my meeting.’ That’s sad!
The discourse about the appropriate use of EOP funds to assist and encourage
student athletes to attend particular schools seems to be a recent and regional one. It is
difﬁcult to say with any accuracy, due to the limited availability of data on women of
color in collegiate sport, how the use of such funds has inﬂuenced the experiences of
women in collegiate athletics. Rosalia’s comments underscore the power of the social
institution of sport to construct and maintain a hierarchy of women in collegiate athletics
(Birrell, 1990). It is also signiﬁcant that Rosalia’s experience as a former division two
athlete and current division two coach empowers her to cast a critical “view from below”
(Gorelick, 1991) while the experiences of Monica and Christina as former division one
athletes and current division one coaches may situate them differently. They may in fact
frnd it difficult to see the multiple experiences of women in elite softball settings, let

alone offer a critical analysis of them (Gorelick, 1991).

176

Summm

In this section I have analyzed power relationships in collegiate softball. The
experiences of the women interviewed for the present research illustrate differential
access to power in collegiate softball. Getting into collegiate softball not only requires
elite athletic skill, but also connections within the ASA network. Participation in ASA is
itself a privileged experience, as doing so requires ﬁnancial resources. Latinas who make
it to collegiate softball are able to access resources to pay for their involvement in ASA
softball. Additionally, those women who cannot afford to pay their own way have to
demonstrate superior skill in order to gain access to ASA networks. Thus, many Latinas
must perform better than their white and middle class teammates. Many Latinas need
ﬁnancial aid in order to attend college and compete in softball, they have no other way to
ﬁnance their education. This of course situates them in opposition to teammates who
receive differential amounts of institutional aid for college. Latinas who continue in
collegiate athletics have surely had to move through cultural constructions of themselves
as tokens. Finally, Latinas are at risk for being exploited by the institution of softball
precisely because they do show ﬁnancial need. They are often powerless in their
dealings with coaches and, as student-athletes who qualify for need-based ﬁnancial aid,
may soon bear the burden of expanding rosters in collegiate softball (Eitzen, 1996a).
MConguctiona in Colleggtaﬁm

In 1997, Latinas accounted for six percent of all female students on NCAA
campuses, and only three percent of all female student athletes (NCAA, 1997). These
numbers alone indicate that Latinas will be perceived as racially distinct from their

collegiate peers. Latinas are also more likely than their white counterparts to have come

177

to college from ﬁnancially and academically disadvantaged backgrounds, making them
less-prepared for the transition to college, but also situating them as ideal targets for
currents of backlash against racial minorities (Eitzen, 1999). While research has
indicated that inter-racial contact through participation in sport has resulted in friendship
and building of community across race and ethnicity, sport remains a structure that
stratiﬁes participants not only on skill, but also across racial lines (Abney & Richey,
1992; Eitzen, 1999). The women interviewed in the present research were acutely aware
of their position as “outsiders within” (Collins, 1991) among their collegiate softball
teammates. Their experiences reveal a ﬂuid type of identiﬁcation and resistance of racial
constructions. As “outsiders within” (Collins, 1991) or women who are “inside in an
outside way” (Cuadraz, 1992) the women interviewed are situated in ways that offer a
critical examination of the social structure from which they emerge to create their lives.

Racial and ethnic inequalities are yet additional social conditions that inﬂuence
women’s choices about sport involvement. In this section I will analyze the racialized
experiences of the women interviewed in terms of a) outsiders in the dugout and b)
drawing on difference.

OutsLidersgin the Dugo_ut_

Rita eloquently described her experiences on her predominantly white collegiate
softball team. Her experience was also shaped by the fact that she received little
opportunity to play and prove her skill, thus limiting her chances to feel like a
contributing member of her softball team. Her head coach was Aﬁican American and her
assistant coach was Latina but this didn’t seem to make her presence as a bi-racial Latina

any easier for her. She described her experience this way:

178

 

 

aim

em

“.0.

You go through your life being the one girl of color in every class, elementary
school through high school. Then you go into college and it’s the same
experience. Then I go to this softball team and I’m still that one of so many.

Then, when you’re not included in the team aspect (e.g., no playing time) it

impacts and it can make you feel more isolated, and it didn’t ever have to be

about race, but it impacted it.

Rita’s words illustrate the pervasiveness of white, middle class values in her
educational and athletic experiences. As she suggests, actual events in her collegiate softball
experiences may not have been overtly about race, but race constantly situated her on the
margins. It is this experience of marginalization that offers Rita a perspective on the
structure of collegiate softball that reveals its ﬂaws. Clearly race is always present in
women’s lives, and messages about race are conveyed in various ways. More to the point,
racial constructions in collegiate softball contexts work to maintain the centrality and
naturalization of whiteness, while simultaneously relegating Latinas and other women of
color to the margins. This type of positioning of women as racial subjects occurs in many
forms. For example, Micaela’s experiences competing in both high school athletics and
traveling teams in soccer and softball illustrate a similar racialized location among her
teammates. Her high school teams were racially mixed, but her traveling teams were
typically all white except for her self. She talked about how heriattendance at a known
“ghetto” school set her apart from her traveling teammates.

. . . ‘Cause they knew my school was considered a ghetto school, so when I played
on that soccer team they would joke around with me and kinda set you straight you

know, just say things like ‘So, any shootings lately? Any guns lately?’ just stuff like

179

that, really stupid. And, I would, like, return the joke or whatever, and I would say,

‘What are you talking about?’ you know or ‘I got one in my bag’ you know, just

stupid things like that, so that way they realized that I was from that gang school.

But one of my good ﬁiends is really a good soccer player, and she's the one that

really integrated with, you know, my family and kinda understood the whole thing,

and she's white. So I just felt—I didn't feel like—I just felt not welcome, but it

wasn't a big change for me, because I love the sport so much that I didn't care who I

played with, because all I had to do was play with them.

Clearly, Micaela’s predominantly white teammates feel comfortable “joking”
with her about her experiences in an inner city, gang-afﬁliated school. This is an
excellent example of the power of Micaela’s white teammates to construct her and her
school in particular ways that situate Micaela on the margins within their shared sport
context. Moreover, racially loaded jokes and comments make it incumbent upon Micaela
to prove her allegiance to the middle class white context in which she chooses to compete
athletically. At times, she accomplishes this by joking with her teammates. Yet as she
refuses to take their comments seriously, she also exercises power to resist any real
construction of her self or her school as marginal compared to others. A common thread
in Rita and Micaela’s experiences is the comparison of their experiences to a white,
middle class model. It is this white middle class model around which collegiate softball
is organized, and within which Latinas may either ﬁnd support or lose ground in
formulating a collegiate softball career.

The racializing of student-athletes also continued away from the softball ﬁeld when

Micaela began attending her predominantly white, upper middle class, academically

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prestigious university. Micaela talked about how difficult it was for her to move from her

working class roots into an upper middle class collegiate environment. Not unlike how she
had to negotiate race relations among her teammates, she was also aware of how she would
have to change to be successful at the academically elite university that she chose to attend.

Oh, yeah. It was really was hard for me and I cried and cried, because I am

different, and I have changed according to their way, they couldn't change different

to my way, I had to change according to their way. It was kinda like, culture shock,
you know. I get into a lot of arguments about things that students say about
minorities and scholarships — that they shouldn’t get scholarships.

Jokes about gang-afﬁliated schools and comments about the distribution of
scholarships were just a couple of examples of the manifestation of racial constructions in
collegiate softball. In fact, there were many varied examples of racial difference and
inequalities in the experiences of these women in collegiate softball. For example, Julie
talked about feeling marginalized in terms of racialized standards of beauty among her
teammates. While Julie suggested that the beauty issue was unrelated to race, it may be
one of the most obvious examples of an existing hierarchy of desirable people based on
socially constructed beliefs about particular types of physical appearance. Julie talked
about it this way.

I felt like those who were really pretty on the team were favored. And this has

nothing to do with race but it is about appearances. I’ve never shared this with

anyone, but I always thought that because it just seemed like it was that way. As
the team evolved into this pretty team, good looking team I just felt like those

who were the prettiest on the team — like if you look at a picture of our team,

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they’re all like white blonde hair, not blonde, but white blonde hair and blue eyes.

They’re just cute and pretty and boyﬁiends. If anything, I felt more tension there

than of my color.

Carmen experienced tension between herself and two former coaches on her
division one team. She came to realize that some of their conﬂicts may have arisen from
stereotyped images of Aﬁican Americans. This racial construction, like that discussed by
Julie above, was manifested in stereotypes about bodies and appearance.

Now that I look back at it, I would describe it as, she kinda, I believe she stereotyped

me, and judged me. Because I had a hard time with, not just my body language, my

appearance, my—the way I played. The way I moved was kind of, I guess, it was
not slow - they thought it was slow. I thought I was moving, you know, fast, but
they thought it was slow. And I think she kinda prejudged me, and would get
irritated by me right away. . . . Yeah, we have stereotypes to go against, and then we
have to prove them wrong. And for me, I don't think I have any more of an attitude
than any other real aggressive athlete out there but because, like, I have a look, an
eyebrow look, and you know, they think I'm being mean, or something.

A growing number of studies show that collegiate athletics are organized around
racial inequalities (Anderson & South, 1993; Green, 1993). Anderson and South (1993)
examined the experiences of Aﬁican American males in collegiate athletics and found
that the purported educational and status enhancement opportunities found in sport were
not accrued equally across race. Green (1993) reviewed the status of Aﬁican American
women in various levels of sport activity. In terms of collegiate athletic participation,

Green (1993) argued that unless academic performance improves drastically in urban

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schools, NCAA policies and guidelines that increase academic standards will have a
disproportionately negative impact on the number of Aﬁican American women in
division one universities (p. 216). The research by Anderson and South (1993) and
Green (1993) suggest that gaining entry to collegiate athletics is not the only hurdle these
women must clear. Once inside the institution, these women experienced challenges to
their right to be there and heard overt, racially charged messages about Latinas on their
campuses.

Despite the marginalization of many Latinas, many also found community and
enjoyment among other Latinas in softball contexts. The ability to maintain one’s own
sense of racial, ethnic and cultural identity was signiﬁcant for these women. Both Ise and
Rita provide examples below as to how one may preserve one’s self in the often
antagonistic, pervasively white context of collegiate softball. For Ise, this was especially
signiﬁcant when she returned to her alma mater to coach the softball team. Ise talked
speciﬁcally about a history of exclusion of Latinas from her high school softball team and
consequently, what it meant to the Mexican girls in her neighborhood when she became the
head coach.

When I coached at my Old alma mater it was very big, because when I played, it was

all white. When my sisters played it was predominately all white. When I came

back to coach then, there was a lot of talk, why is she coaching, and dah, dah, dah,
dah. I felt—I live in a little small town called [name of town], and that's all there is
there is just Mexicans. Well we go to [the high school] which is in [a different
town] and that's all white. So, any Mexicans that we had in that school were ﬁ'om

[my hometown]. When I went and coached there I knew a lot of the girls from my

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community that were going to high school, and I felt it was encouragement, maybe

even some hope. I was just coaching over there at [high school], you know, ‘let's go

out and play for her’, and I got a lot of minorities that wouldn't normally go out and
play there because they're intimidated. SO, they see one of their own kind in there,
they feel a little more at ease, and you know, a little more . . . self respect.

Ise seems to identify with being the only Latina on the softball team. She knows
what it would have meant for her to have other Mexicanas on the team. Thus, she expresses
pride as she describes the signiﬁcance of her racial identity in connecting with the Mexican
students that she feels have been institutionally and culturally excluded ﬁom softball. Thus,
her own experiences as an “outsider within” (Collins, 1991) may have made her more
sensitive to both the legacy of exclusion and need for meaningful inclusion of Latinas in
elite softball. Similarly, Rita talked about the importance of bringing racial and ethnic
difference into sport contexts.

I think maybe what happens when you are of color — and it’s good that you don’t see

color and that you feel comfortable in this world that is predominantly white. At the

same time, it can make you — ‘cause I feel it is important that you embrace your —
people who are like you. They may have had some of your experiences and they
can understand. A white person can sympathize, but they can’t be you and they
can’t experience who you are. I think that’s important that if you are of color that
you bring that in.

While several of the women interviewed were lucky enough to have at least one
other Latina on their team, across the country this is atypical. Rita refused to leave her racial

and ethnic identity “at the door”, rather she found support in student groups on campus.

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Rita went outside of softball and became involved in African American and Latino/a student
groups in order to preserve her sense of self. Others, like Jane may not have been compelled
to do the same if they had teammates ﬁom diverse racial and ethnic heritages. Jane was
fortunate to have several Latinas on her collegiate team with whom she could speak Spanish
and simply relate about similar cultural values. She felt there was power in numbers.

It helps to understand it helps with understanding you and you know, and just you

ethnically, you know, who you are. There's more than one and then there's ﬁve of

you saying, you know, “No, this is how we are, and this is the things we believe
in. These are our beliefs. These are the things we hold, you know, and cheris .”

So, more people, I think, will take it to heart then, than when it is one person.

The mere presence of Latina athletes or coaches of color, however, is seldom
enough to erase racial inequalities in collegiate softball contexts. Despite the fact that some
of the women interviewed had teammates who were Latina or coaches whom were racial
ethnic minorities, this did not challenge the structure of collegiate softball, which naturalizes
white middle class ways of life and universalizes Latina identities and cultural heritages.

Drawing on Difference

Latinas are diverse in country of origin, class background, primary language,
regional settlement, and race and ethnic identities. For these reasons, Latina experiences
of the social world defy any simple, culturally based explanation. Latinas then may
experience the same social event in very different ways. Theoretically, some would
argue that in current social arrangements race is more salient than ethnicity for situating
Latinas in subordinate social positions because for the most part people do not know what

ethnicity someone is or what cultural values go with a particular ethnic group (Omi &

185

Winant, 1994). Despite the fact that ethnic heritage may not elicit the same magnitude of
social response as do racial constructions, it is a signiﬁcant factor shaping Opportunities
in women’s lives. Moreover, census data clearly show that ethnicity has real
consequences in the lives of diverse women, as women Of different Latina ethnicities are
situated in varied positions of privilege and penalty (see chapter four).

The women interviewed here illustrate this in varied accounts of the signiﬁcance
of race and ethnicity in their collegiate softball experiences. For example, Carmen
experienced varied attempts by her teammates to construct her as a racialized or ethnic
other. Her bi-racial status, however, made her interactions with teammates even more
complex. She experienced collegiate softball not only differently than did her white
teammates, but also as a distinctly racialized Latina.

I think Latinas can ﬁt into the sports world a lot easier than Blacks. Because the

girls on my team that are Latina, they have close relationships with the white

players on the team. I think its that added, that extra, me being black. That’s why

I can tell the difference. ‘Cause I even tease them. They’ll say something about

blacks and I’ll say ‘I’m Mexican today. I’m not Black today. You’re not

bothering me.’

In the quote above Carmen illustrates her power to resist the attempts of her
teammates to construct her as a singular racialized or ethnic subject. Yet she went on to
provide an example of how despite her clever resistance, she is always a positioned
subject within her softball community. On this she stated the following:

They expect me to be [ethnic]. They approach me. They ask me about things,

you know things like that. I would say the Latino players would talk to me more

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differently than they would to a white player-just be more comfortable, more

themselves. We have more in common than the white players do. And then the

white players will watch what they say around you or not tell you certain jokes.

Because I’m black and Mexican they don’t know which way to go.

Historically, Aﬁican American women have been carefully constructed, by the
media, as marginal women, who are sexually deviant and possess “natural” physical
ability (Cahn, 1994; Corbett & Johnson; 1993; Green, Oglesby, Alexander & Franke,
1981; Smith, 1992; Williams, 1994). It has been suggested that "the silence surrounding
Aﬁican American athletes reﬂects the power of these stereotypes to restrict Aﬁican
American women to the margins of cultural life, occupying a status of distant 'Others'"
(Cahn, 1994; p. 127). Similarly, Latinas have often occupied positions on the periphery
in various social institutions. For Carmen and Rita, these two racial and ethnic legacies
of inequality come together to situate them in subordinate positions relevant to their
teammates.

Rita talked about the make-up of her division two team and the limited power of the
racial diversity among her teammates. She suggested that the culture of softball outweighs
any other cultural elements that might also be present in the sport context.

There were three Latinas on the team when I played. One was White and Mexican,

the other was just Mexican and then there was me (African American and Mexican).

And, the one that was Irish, she tended to talk to me because she dated Black people

and that was the bond between her and I. But the rest ofthe team, as far as on a

social level or them even trying to get to know me, they never did it. It was okay.

The team aspects overshadowed the cultural I think — so they were able to get along

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with me on those terms. But anything else — I know they watched what they said

around me and then the other Latina girls were more or less assimilated into the —

‘cause I would say there’s a whole softball culture. There’s a way we talk and a

whole little world of softball. And color a lot Of times doesn’t play a factor into it

because you’re an athlete, just a softball player. So, you’re able to get past that. But
if you go deeper, like into a personal level then its different. For me, it was different.

Rita also reﬂected on the power of the softball culture to constrain relationships
between women of color in softball settings.

I don’t think [coaches of color] cross over that and embrace those girls [of color]

and try to ﬁnd out what the issues are for them. Because this [softball] world is so

‘You’re a softball athlete’ they don’t want to go into that because it could

ostracize the other girls. But I think there can be a balance. I think it can help the

other teammates. Like I said, I don’t think they knew anything about me as a

person. I am different and I think the way I was raised, who I was around, my

parents and how they brought me up —I could’ve brought something to them. I

learned so much about their world just being a part of it, just being in it.

Rita describes a culture of softball that may be organized around particular
principles that systematically subordinate Latinas and other women of color. Moreover,
the culture of softball itself may perpetuate a hierarchy among student athletes that
situates women differently based on race, ethnicity, class, sexuality and gender. Rita’s
experience suggests that coaches of color are just as vulnerable to the myth of
meritocracy in collegiate athletics as are other coaches. Clearly, what all coaches do and

perhaps more importantly what they fail to do in terms of addressing the needs of all of

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their athletes fortiﬁes racial, ethnic, class, sexual and gender divisions among their
student athletes.

Moreover, women in collegiate softball may come to see themselves as part of a
softball culture in which race really does not matter. This may be one way to ease
cultural conﬂict that may occur for Latinas in this pervasively white setting. It is clear
that race does matter in the experiences of Latinas in collegiate softball, especially as the
pervasiveness of whiteness deraces all women and acts as a veil over real issues of
unequal power relationships. One way to continue moving along one’s path in collegiate
softball is to accept all that goes with it, including a white, middle class perspective on
coach-athlete relations. Having grown up Latina and knowing the kind of work she put in to
get to division one softball, Monica talked about how her experiences shaped her thinking
about recruits.

I have a thing against people who are either black or Mexican that think people owe

them something and if they are just doing things thinking you know, I won’t take

them. Ifthey have the same work ethic, ‘Come right on! ’ But if they think someone
owes something to them, and don’t have the same work ethic, I’ll take the person

with the work ethic any day. And they’ll say it’s discrimination, but I think that’s a

problem.

Monica’s comments intimate that race has no bearing on her recruitment decisions,
but clearly the particular work ethic that she describes is based in a White, European and
Protestant belief system. In fact, Monica doesn’t name or describe the particular work ethic
that she values. Perhaps, Monica has been involved in the pervasively white context of

collegiate softball so long that she has adopted particular softball cultural values. This is not

189

 

uncommon, especially when one wants to succeed in a particular arena. Her commitment to
holding athletes of color to an unnamed ‘Vvhite work ethic” may also be a way to gain
credentials as a Latina among white leaders in her career ﬁeld.

Julie suggested that she tries to move around or beyond color lines in her own
interactions with people. Rather than seeing people as racially distinct and judging them on
a racial basis, Julie wants to see people as “people”. She stated it this way,

I don’t like to look at it in terms of color. I’ve always just put myself sort of as a

person. Really, I mean I can’t remember — I’ve probably only been discriminated

upon maybe a few times. I don’t know, I’ve always — I’m aware that we are looked
upon differently, but I just try to carry on like I’m me, like I’m Julie.

Julie’s words underscore her desire to avoid be racialized by others, more than does
it reveal any power to racialize others. Whether or not she has been subjected to it overtly,
Julie holds more of an obligation than do her white peers to navigate racial relations in
collegiate softball. Finally, Kim talked about how her own sense of being Latina may be
different ﬁom Latinas who grew up with an extended family close by. Her experiences
reﬂect an institutional value for assimilation over racial-ethnic afﬁliation. Kim’s family life
and cultural values reﬂect a somewhat distant connection with her Latino/a roots, and
unquestioned support for assimilation.

I think it’s different for me because my family was basically my mom, my brother. I

mean 90 percent of the time it was just us. My mom didn’t really have a big family

so I didn’t really get to see a lot of the culture part. My dad had the big, huge
family. They were the ones that had the parties and family-get-togethers and stuff.

My dad never really wanted us to be around them. He wasn’t real close with them.

190

 

So it was pretty much just us, so we were real assimilated to, well, the area the
school I went to was pretty much white dominated. Well, I had a couple of ﬁiends
who were Hispanic, but they were more with the white ﬁiends. I didn’t see myself
as being different or ever discriminated against.

It is curious that a few of the women interviewed suggested that they had never been
discriminated against or had only experienced discrimination a few times in their young
lives. I’m not sure how they would deﬁne an experience of direct discrimination, but it
seems to me that each of the women I interviewed, even the most middle class and most
light complected had experienced at least covert acts of discrimination along their paths to
collegiate softball. Drawing on difference and rewarding assimilation in contexts of
collegiate softball serves to further separate Latinas from their culture of origin, as well as
ﬁ'om each other. While Latinas may also connect across other inequalities, as we will see in
the next section, the construction of binary racial categories among teammates serves to
divide Latinas in terms of proximity to whiteness. This type of division works to enhance
the attractiveness of assirnilating to the white middle class culture that seems to operate in
most collegiate softball settings. In fact, a term that many of the women I interviewed used
to describe their proximity to dominant middle class culture was “Americanized”. To be
Americanized, seemingly a verb, meant to be more assimilated to white middle class culture
than were one’s parents or family of origin. Sometimes it was spoken as a positive attribute
and other times the same word was used to describe some sort of “loss” of one’s heritage.
Nonetheless, these women had to learn to navigate the racial hierarchy that existed in their
particular softball contexts in order to stay on their paths toward a successful collegiate

softball career.

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Summgy

In the preceding section of chapter six, I have analyzed the varied ways that racial
inequalities are manifested in the experiences of Latinas in collegiate softball. I began with
a discussion of Latinas as outsiders in the dugout, where I suggested that teammates and
coaches Often hold racial ideologies, and that these ideologies situate Latinas on the margin
in softball contexts. I then turned my analytic focus on the ways that racial and ethnic
difference among Latinas is drawn in relation to whiteness. The varied experiences of these
27 women suggest that bi-racial Latinas who are White and Latina hold more power among
their peers than do Latinas who are African American and Latina In fact, it is signiﬁcant
that two women who are both Latina and Aﬁican American provided the most in depth
discussions about the salience of race in collegiate athletics. Others were less inclined to
discuss the signiﬁcance of race in their collegiate experiences. It is clear that paths toward
collegiate softball as well as decisions about staying involved are shaped by experiences of
racial inequalities, and it is incumbent upon Latinas to develop strategies for preserving their
racial and ethnic identities.
Homophobia and Compulsory Heterosexum

Clearly, sport has emerged as one of the most appropriate sites for monitoring the
maintenance of the current gender system especially as increasingly direct and public acts
of homophobia and compulsory heterosexuality have become the “glue” that holds this
system together (Grifﬁn, 1996; 1998; Lenskyj, 1994). Latina experiences of collegiate
softball, regardless of individual sexual identities, will be shaped by current social
constructions of sexualities. For example, Grifﬁn (1998) found that while all lesbian

women face signiﬁcant consequences in choosing to come out, white women are

192

privileged in the sense that they may ﬁnd a home among other white lesbian women. It is
imperative to discuss sexuality in the lives of all women, but especially in the lives of
Latinas as their sexualities have been constrained in ways that are different from that of
white women. The sport of softball is an especially salient symbol of ideological contests
as it has been observed as a site for both acceptance and resistance of the traditional
“male model” of sport (Birrell & Richter, 1994; Grifﬁn, 1998; Lenskyj, 1994).

In this section I will illustrate the power of ideologies of sexuality to constrain
women in sport. It is important to keep in mind that these 27 women were not “stopped”
by ideologies of gender or sexuality, yet their experiences are ﬁlled with examples of
heterosexism and homophobia in their daily interactions with families, fellow students,
teammates and coaches. A variety of constraints to athletic accomplishments were
present for these women, such as removal of ﬁnancial support, constant questions about
sexuality, and accusations of lesbianism. It is also clear that many of the women
interviewed here seemed to prioritize connections with other Latinas over disassociating
with lesbian teammates. Thus, Latinas seemed to bridge typical divisions of sexuality.

Managing Sexualities

Among the women with whom I spoke 22 percent identiﬁed as gay or lesbian,
seven percent as bi-sexual, and 70 percent as straight. Among those who identiﬁed as
gay, lesbian or bi-sexual, only one was not part former collegiate athlete group. This may
be an age effect, which suggests that current athletes who range in age from 19 to 24
years may not be as sexually self-aware as are older women. A less likely explanation
would be that this younger cohort is actually predominantly heterosexual. Whatever the

explanation for the age effect on sexuality in the present study, it may be a moot point as

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heterosexism and homophobia are directed at all women in particular contexts not just
those who are actually gay, lesbian or bi-sexual. Regardless of individual sexualities,
each of these women experienced a heterosexist and homophobic world of collegiate
softball. In fact, compulsory heterosexuality shaped their interactions with teammates,
parents and coaches, and at times threatened opportunities for continued involvement in
collegiate softball.

For example, Rosalia, a third generation Mexican woman who identiﬁed as gay
described how her sexuality exacerbated ﬁnancial difﬁculties and created gaps in her
softball and academic careers just after she started attending junior college.

Yeah, money was a challenge, especially after my mom found out about my

girlfriend, and me being gay. I was cut off for about six months, which is another

reason that I had to quit school. When I went back to the J C they were not happy
about that (the time off) and said ‘We’re not paying for your education anymore.’

So, I was working full time, playing softball and carrying a full load. Thank god I

got the scholarship to [the division two school]. And I got a full ride plus some.

Rosalia’s experience of being “cutoff” ﬁnancially due to her gay identity and her
mother’s homophobic response underscores Grifﬁn’s (1998) argument that “There are
real risks in revealing one’s lesbian identity in athletics, and signiﬁcant social pressures
support the hostility and conditional tolerance most lesbians in sport face” (p. 134).
While it was her mother’s response to her sexuality that jeopardized Rosalia’s career in
softball and opportunity to stay in college, it was the socially constructed sexual
ideologies that gave meaning to the homophobic response (Grifﬁn, 1998). Thus, even

when women receive ﬁnancial and moral support from parents for sport involvement that

194

 

support may be at risk when one’s lesbian identity is revealed or in this case discovered.
Marie the youngest of my interviewees who identiﬁed as lesbian talked about how her
lesbian identity inﬂuenced her relationship with her family.
[My mom] sort of in a round about way asked me about it (her mom about her
sexuality). And every time, she’ll mention it and say-every time she’ll say, ‘I
didn’t raise you that way! I didn’t raise you that way.’ And its like ‘It doesn’t
matter how you raised me. I am what I am.’ You know? So, with my mom I

kind of feel like she would look at it like that, like I was kind of-I guess in a sense

 

degrading her. Yeah. Yeah. It’s more like her and how she was raised and I
think she might feel that she failed me or whatever. . . Last year my sister started
to kind of suspect me-she was very negative and very harsh about it. So, I know-
and I think now she’s more willing to you know look at it like an accepting thing,
but last year I thin kit was like more of new thing to my family. And I think my
family knows, but its kind of ‘Don’t bring it up’ kind of thing.

Marie also alluded to the fact that her more Americanized view of life would
continue to make it difficult for her to talk with her mother about her sexuality. At one
point she suggested “I’m not like her. I’m very americanized.” Marie’s reference to her
more American as opposed to Honduran view of the world is the only direct reference to
the intersection of race, ethnicity and sexuality among these interviewees. Marie, like
several other bi-racial Latinas who spoke with me is light complected, speaks English
without an accent and in this interviewer’s opinion could easily pass as white. Thus, she
has no doubt gained entree to places her mother has not. She realizes she is different

from her family already, by virtue of her “Americanized” status, thus a lesbian identity

195

may further remove her from her family identity, or it may be seen as part and parcel of
her “Americanized” ways.

Rosalia reﬂected on how her current athletes, at the division two university where
she is head coach, deal with the lesbian stigma associated with softball.

I think we lose athletes because of [the gay stereotype]. I think that my girls

struggle with it. I think that sometimes they go out of their way to prove they are

not gay. You can’t hide it —- if you’re a softball player -- I don’t care if you’re
straight or not, you can’t hide it. I don’t know if they know about me or not, but
its something that’s not discussed. They’re very quiet about it. They don’t seem
to have a problem with [Stacy], and [Melissa] is the other [gay] girl on the team
and she’s pretty open. They don’t seem to have a problem but its not discussed.

One of our pitchers has made some remarks, just stupid stuff — but other than that

its not discussed.

Although sexuality of individual athletes may not be discussed in mixed
company, the management of sexualities and protection of heterosexual space was a
signiﬁcant issue for at least one of Rosalia’s current athletes. Sydney, a straight woman,
who claims Nicaraguan, German, Mexican and French heritage, and is ﬁrst generation
born in the United States talked about her culture shock when as a freshman on her
collegiate team she found herself surrounded by lesbian teammates. She suggested that
of fourteen teammates, ﬁve of them were straight and the others were lesbian. This was
clearly a stressor for Sydney especially when she might have to interact with her

teammates away from the softball ﬁeld.

196

Yeah, coming to college I knew. But you know what? They were pretty cool. I

mean they wouldn’t talk about it, I mean openly. I’m sure they’re Open about it if

you ask them about it, but they were pretty cool. And our room assignments - I

was really, really scared about road trips, like ‘Oh my God, what if I’m going to

room with her?’ What about - ‘No, no. I’m not going to be in her room’. Coach
put all the straight people together. There were like four of us, me and my sister
and these two other girls, and we all have boyﬁiends. And they put the other
straight girl with the trainer. So, I mean they were pretty good about that.

Although Sydney was able to compete in softball among lesbian and straight
women, her softball relationships did not extend far beyond the diamond’s boundaries.
In fact, in this example her interactions with teammates who are lesbian is something she
feels a need to control and manage. Sydney seems satisﬁed with this homophobic
manner of “handling” the diverse sexualities among her teammates. Grifﬁn (1998)
argues that the growing popularity of women’s athletics has been one reason for an
increased backlash against lesbians in sport. Beyond simple accusations, rumors and
jokes systematic and institutional attacks on lesbians in sport have become common in
collegiate athletic settings (Grifﬁn, 1998; Lenskyj, 1994).

For some Latinas, connecting across sexualities and deﬂecting accusations of
lesbianism are not easily accomplished. In collegiate sport settings, Grifﬁn (1998) found
that sexuality was something to be strategically managed by women throughout their
athletic careers. Various strategies employed by collegiate athletes included aspects of
denial, shame & self-hating, secrecy, cautious pride and liberated pride (Grifﬁn, 1998).

Moreover, Grifﬁn (1998) argues that the growing popularity of women’s athletics has

197

been one reason for an increased backlash against lesbians in sport. Beyond simple
accusations, nnnors and jokes systematic and institutional attacks on lesbians in sport
have become common in collegiate athletic settings (Grifﬁn, 1998; Lenskyj, 1994).

Marisol described her current teammates as extremely homophobic toward their
openly lesbian coaches. It is likely that she and her teammates may be accused of being
lesbian if their coaches are openly lesbian, thus Marisol’s teammates may be trying to
avoid the accusations.

The team doesn’t accept so well how the coaches are. I don’t care. I mean I just-

‘cause I don’t care ‘cause that’s not my problem if they have a problem with it.

‘Cause I’m like lets talk about it [unclear]. So, I called the coaches girlﬁiend-she

has two daughters-and I called them coach’s daughters. And they’re like-we’re at

a party ‘[Marisol], shut up!’ And I’m like, ‘But it is! Why are you guys trying to

hide it?’ Let me tell you I got in an argument with like ﬁve girls. ‘Cause they’re

open about it. They bring their girlfriends here. Why should I hide it? The
team’s the only one with the problem. The coaches don’t have a problem. They
have a girlﬁiend and they bring ‘em. They don’t have a problem. And so I got in

a discussion with two girls and we got really into it.

Marisol’s teammates underscore the several forms of “apology” for athletic
prowess identiﬁed by Griffm (1998). These include a) silence, b) denial, c) promotion of
both heterosexual and heterosexy images, (1) preference for heterosexual space, e)
preference for male coaches, f) attacks on lesbians, and g) acknowledgement but

disassociation from lesbians (p. 66). Ironically, proponents of athletics for women who

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engage in this type of divisive political framing of sport buttress male hegemony in sport
thus further constraining sporting experiences for all women (Lenskyj, 1994).

Jane spoke of how lesbian stereotypes of softball athletes affected her own gender
and sexual identities. Although she was straight, she felt playing softball lead to
assumptions that she was gay. Her experience uncovers the work that many female
athletes do to prove their credentials (Grifﬁn, 1996; 1998; Lenskyj, 1994) as heterosexual
women.

You're the one who has to go around and say, ‘ it's not true’. You're the one that has

to make the effort to prove to people that it's not true. And people aren't going to

automatically be like, ‘Okay’ just because you say so, you know. It's not just you
saying, ‘NO, I'm not’, you know. It's you going up and proving, almost, that you can
be like anyone else, you can wear a dress, you can look very different, be straight,
and you could still play softball. Sometimes I want to dress up for school just to
prove that, hey, here I am, look at me.

This is especially interesting given that Jane is a Spanish and Irish woman in her
early twenties who in appearance could certainly pass for White. Thus, she probably does
not have to work as hard at dealing with ideologies of race or ethnicity. That is not to say
that her own particular bi-racial, bi-cultural identity isn’t contested on a daily basis, but it is
not as ‘Wisible” as her softball identity. As she alluded to above, the way she dresses for
classes and for social events is a visible sexual marker for her and for others. Often athletes
juggle tight schedules for practice, class and games thus, they are typically in athletic attire.

I asked Karin if people assume that she is lesbian due to her status as a softball

athlete. She shared the following:

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Um, I’ve only been asked that once and I was... [trailed off]. They questioned

my sexuality and it came from a very close ﬁiend so that experience was very

rough for me. It was really hard and I had a hard time dealing with it. ‘Cause I

didn’t think I, like carried myself in that, you know. I thought that was really

weird ‘cause back where I live I knew maybe one person [who was gay] and that
wasn’t even someone [close to me]. I just knew of them, and when I came here

[to college] that was a big wake up call for me and then for someone to insinuate

that about myself I was like, it was like a ton of bricks dropped on me. That was

when I was younger. Now that I’m older, I’d just say ‘No’ and it would just be
water Off my back. But dealing with it at a younger age, it was quite a shock to
me.

Although for some the sexualizing of female collegiate softball players is painful,
Karin’s experience seems to have been somewhat liberating. Her immersion into the
collegiate softball world seemed to offer a new cultural setting where women were of
diverse sexualities. While Karin expressed pain when ﬁrst conﬁonted with the potential
for others to think she was lesbian, she has now seemingly come to accept this
phenomenon as part of the softball community she chooses to belong to.

Chavez Leyva (1996) suggested that ethnicity itself may have become a form of
sexual control. In much the same way that suspicions about female athletes may scare
some women away from sport involvement (Grifﬁn, 1996; 1998), constructions of
lesbianism as a pathology contracted from American culture may constrain the sexuality
of Latinas. Trujillo (1994) has argued that the mere existence of sexual identity conﬁnes

Latinas and other women. For example, Ana suggested that one’s athletic performance

200

may be compromised due to social pressures on women not to be too aggressive or

manly.

You didn’t want to be too aggressive because people might think that you’re too
much like a boy. You still wanted to, and that’s another thing, playing sports you
don’t get to be a girl really. You know, you have to - what you wear most is
sweats and a sweatshirt. How can you? You know, really you live out of your
practice clothes so you don’t really get to be the dressed up girl or whatever, you
know? And being on the ﬁeld, if you’re too aggressive, people are like, ‘Whoa,
look at that man out there’. There’s a lot of different issues you have to deal with
when you play.

Ana’s comments reveal the power of ideologies of both gender and sexuality in

controlling women’s bodies and effectively limiting perceived choices about sport

involvement. Moreover, her experiences illustrate the role of sport structures in

maintaining heterosexual privilege and men’s control over women’s bodies (Grifﬁn,

1998; Lenskyj, 1994). Connie was also quite articulate about the stereotyping of athletes

and the need for women to “move through” those messages.

I ﬁnd that the stereotype “Oh, you’re an athlete, this is the way you’re supposed
to be. This is the way you’re supposed to look.” you know. . .and it’s NOT that, its
like, ‘Okay I’m an athlete, but I’m also a person.’ I’m different. I’m different than
certain people on my team and this and that. And there is just all these stereotypes
that you constantly come through and you just got to challenge it and you just got
to break that wall down and that barrier and . . . See the way I look at it is that

when I’m on the ﬁeld I’m an athlete. I’m not saying I’m a girl, I’m not saying

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I’m a boy, I’m an athlete. I have the ability, God gave me the ability to be good at
what I do. The mannerism-it’s an athletic mannerism. It’s not a boy thing. It’s
not a girl thing. Its just that’s the way my body does it. Um when I come off of
that ﬁeld I’m [Connie].

The experiences of these women suggest that in collegiate athletics all women
learn to manage their own sexualities as well as those of their teammates and coaches.
Regardless of one’s actual sexuality, the management of public sexualities in the context
of women’s collegiate softball is institutionalized and buttresses a cultural belief in the
deviance of lesbians. Homophobia, heterosexism and compulsory heterosexuality work
together in collegiate softball contexts to inﬂuence how women display their public
selves and interact with others. The result is another form of dividing women in the
project of maintaining the current structure of collegiate softball. Yet, in the next section
I will illustrate how Latinas may ﬁnd ways to bridge sexual divides.

Mtg Across Sexualities

Within any group there exists diversity on many fronts, sport teams are no
exception. Common athletic goals may aid in the bridging of all kinds of cultural gaps.
Latinas may be especially situated to connect across difference due to their experiences
of multiple marginalization (Cuadraz, 1992) in various social institutions. Interacting
across difference may be one aspect of building community in collegiate softball, but it
may also offer connections with other Latinas on predominantly white teams. For
example, throughout Mickey’s ﬁrst year on a somewhat lesbian identiﬁed team, Mickey
moved from ignorance and fear to curiosity about her teammate’s choices to be with

other women in sexual relationships. /

202

I remember last year, we would just sit in hotel rooms and just talk about it. And
people would get embarrassed and we’d laugh about it and stuff. But then I was
curious so I would be like, ‘Well, just shut up. I want to know [unclear
statement], really tell me’. So it was really funny. We just got along really, really

well last year, and I think it was due to the maturity level we had on our team. I

think it was like, we weren’t immature about it. Although some of the girls on the

team probably think I was immature about it last year, in the fall. But that’s
because I didn’t know any better. And I didn’t know it because I wasn’t exposed
to it.

Later during her junior year at a four-year university, Mickey’s relationships with
other Latina teammates may have also been a bridge crossing a sexual divide. More
speciﬁcally, the fact that Mickey was able to communicate with a teammate in Spanish
provided a connection between them that differences in sexualities did not break.

[Cynthia] she’s an outﬁelder, she speaks Spanish, and so her and I speak Spanish

on the ﬁeld. Or say we’re around a group and I want to say something and I don’t

want anyone else to hear and I’ll tell her (Spanish presumably). You know, just
little things like that, so her and I have grown close. And then also she was the
one that talked to me about the gay issue and like I asked her questions about

‘Well, why would you want to be that. . .why do people want to be like that?’ And

‘Why, what attracts them to that lifestyle?’ And then I got to thinking last year in

the spring, ‘Well, they’re my teammates. They’re ﬁiends. They’re normal

people.

203

Perhaps being able to relate to [Cynthia] as a Latina sister made her seem all the
more human to Mickey. Rather than treat [Cynthia] as an outsider, Mickey connected
with her across language, culture and ethnicity. The existence of softball leagues that
provide somewhat “safe havens” for lesbian identiﬁed social interaction has been
documented (Birrell & Richter, 1994; Grifﬁn, 1998; Lenskyj, 1994), although not in
collegiate softball. Although Mickey talked about the protective respect of the personal
business of teammates that developed around issues of sexuality.

There were some issues in the beginning of this year, with other athletes. ‘Cause

here, we don’t really, the other athletes, the other teams-they really have a bad - I

guess we have a bad reputation of that. And I would tell the other athletes who

were curious about who was gay and stuff. I was like, ‘It doesn’t matter. Why do
you want to know?’ Its like ‘If they’re gay, they’re not gonna’ pick up on you, so
don’t worry about it.’ Its just like-to other-we’re really open like within our team,
but with anybody else, I don’t tell anybody’s business. And I hope that nobody
does because that’s our team. Whatever we speak about and talk about and say
our opinions and know about other people it should be within the team. And if
they wanted other people to know then they’d go tell them. So, we try to keep it
among the team and then the other athletes at school, they-we have a bad rep, and

so whenever we meet someone and they know we play softball, its like, and I

have to tell them ‘No, I’m straight.’

For many women, interactions with softball teammates became avenues to
explore their beliefs about sexuality, perhaps even examine their own sexualities in

relation to their teammates. Despite the continued presence of homophobia, these were

204

liberating experiences for them as straight women and seemingly for their teammates
who were lesbian. Sometimes, women of diverse sexualities, race and class status would
collude to resist heterosexist and homophobic constructions of their teammates or
themselves.

For example, in a small group interview that included Bugs, JJ, Kim, Terry and
myself, we shared several hearty laughs about the jokes athletes and one coach played
regarding sexuality. On one occasion Kim was a baserunner and Bugs was the base
coach. In an attempt to distract the nearby inﬁelder, Bugs said to Kim “So, are we
gonna’ get together after the game for ...” (trailed Off, but clearly an invitation for sexual
activity). Not only was this public discussion of sexual interaction funny and probably
distracting to those that heard it, it also was a form of collaboration between a straight
athlete and her openly lesbian coach to undermine conventional beliefs about sexuality
and about sport as a site for the expression of the sexual and erotic self (Lenskyj, 1994).
This same group of women agreed that sexuality was never a divisive issue on their team,
but rather the ability of most teammates to be Open about their sexuality was simply an
example of the respect and care they shared on that particular team.

Marisol provided another example of the power of playfully resisting hegemonic
forms of sexuality. Her respect for and acceptance of lesbian identiﬁed teammates was
related to her own experiences of marginalization as a woman of color.

Oh, God! All, my whole team [was gay]. I was like the only one that wasn’t on

my other team. No, there was like about three of us that weren’t. One time I told

one of the girls, I said ‘Stop it! My boyﬁiend’s gonna’ think you’re ﬂirting with

me.’ (laughter) ‘He’s gonna’ get mad.’ ‘Cause she was! (laughter). I don’t care!

205

Because, being - and this is the worst - I don’t care who you are. A minority is a

minority. If your black, your gay, your handicapped, anything, you’re a minority.

And being a minority, why should I be prejudiced of another minority? I know

how it is.

It is much too essentialist to suggest that Latinas as a group are better able to cross
sexual divides. While some women suggest that being a minority situates them to better
understand and show compassion for other minorities, this is a slippery explanation that
borders on equating oppressive forces in women’s lives. In my own experience, I have
known many Latinas who have no issues with sexualities, but I know just as many who
are homophobic. What may be operating among Latinas in collegiate softball is a
combination of factors including a) previous knowledge of the lesbian and softball
connection, b) desire to connect with other Latinas in pervasively white contexts, and c)
possession of a non-dominant perspective on femininities and sexualities. In the same
way that many Latinas have fallen outside of conventional norms of womanhood, Latinas
may also have their own varied, unconventional perspectives on sexualities. This unique
perspective may enhance opportunities to connect with other Latinas across sexualities,
and may also decrease their feelings of conﬂict as accusations of lesbianism abound.
Summary

Throughout this chapter I have analyzed class, race and sexuality in the
experiences of Latinas in collegiate softball. I have suggested that women take up varied
social locations in a web of inequalities and sport is no haven ﬁ‘om such stratiﬁcation.
The experiences of the women in the present study illustrate the power of sport structures

as well as cultural beliefs to inﬂuence women’s opportunities for making choices about

206

.‘IHH-u'. Again-_- -- _

elite sport involvement. Moreover, interactions with person about race, class and
sexuality inﬂuence whether or not women will choose to stay involved in collegiate
softball. Additionally, the structure of collegiate softball, which privileges white, middle
class, heterosexual women, works to ﬁlter out and marginalize working class Latinas.

I have argued that Latinas who qualify for need-based ﬁnancial aid are at risk for
being exploited by the institution of softball precisely because they do show ﬁnancial
need. They are often powerless in their dealings with coaches and as “needy” student-
athletes may soon bear the burden of expanding rosters in collegiate softball (Eitzen,
1996a). I have also examined how constructions of sexualities and the structural and
cultural conditions from which they emerge inﬂuence the experiences of Latinas in
collegiate softball. For some women diverse sexualities are part of a liberating
experience in sport, while for others accusations of lesbianism are threatening. To be
sure, Latinas who make their way to collegiate softball are privileged, but they remain

“outsiders within” (Collins, 1991) this unequal athletic structure.

207

Chapter Seven
Conclusions

In the introduction to this manuscript I suggested that a signiﬁcant purpose of this
research was to examine how a selected group of women made paths to collegiate
softball. I also examined how particular social conditions either fortiﬁed or undermined
the original goals that these women had developed for themselves. In this chapter I
reconsider my original queries about the social conditions that shape women’s decisions
about sport involvement. I begin with a discussion of the frameworks that guided these
analyses, a developmental analysis (Gerson, 1985) and multiracial feminism (Baca Zinn
and Dill, 1994; 1996). I also lay out the social conditions that seemed to sustain and
those that threatened to undermine paths to collegiate softball. The chapter concludes
with recommendations for making collegiate softball a more equitable avenue for all
women.
A Multiracial and Developmental Feminist Framework

The recent success of the so-called “Title IX babies”, like Mia Harnm, Julie Foudy,
and other twenty-something elite female athletes have reinvented an image of collegiate
athletics as a meritocratic organization in which its participants harmoniously compete
for the good of the game. Yet, one look at the US. women’s world cup soccer team
reveals the pervasive whiteness of expanded opportunities for “women” in sport. It is
curious that Mexico’s team in the same tournament featured several US. women who
were of Mexican heritage, yet there were no visible Latinas on the starting squad of the
US. team (Hispanic Magazine, 1999). Moreover, despite the recent prominence of

Olympic pitcher, Lisa Fernandez, collegiate softball, like soccer, is pervasively white. In

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fact white women make up a disproportionately high number of student athletes across
the nation (NCAA, 1997), receive more athletic related ﬁnancial aid than do women of
color (Coakley & Pacey, 1984), and reap more beneﬁts from participation in sport as
compared to African American girls and women (Picou & Hwang, 1982; Picou,
McCarter, & Howell, 1985).

It is precisely these social realities that come together to shape the paths of the
women interviewed for the present research. Applying both a multiracial feminist
analysis (Baca Zinn and Dill, 1994; 1996) and developmental analysis (Gerson, 1985) has
provided a broad lens through which to see how this particular group of Latinas navigated
the various social conditions that they each inherited. Throughout these analyses I have
consistently articulated the developmental analysis of paths. For example, relying on
Gerson’s (1985) concept of “baseline orientations”, I have shown that the majority of the
women interviewed had early orientations toward sport. These early orientations, again
following Gerson’s (1985) framework, were later subjected to a variety of social
conditions that either supported or undermined opportrmities for goal attainment. For
instance, despite holding early expectations for involvement in elite softball, each of
these women had to respond to and navigate a host of social conditions particular to her
own social location. The application of Gerson’s (1985) analytic logic to the experiences
of this select group of women made it possible to illustrate the inﬂuence of varied social
conditions in the lives of women.

In order to get at the multiplicity of social inequalities in the lives of the women
interviewed, a multiracial feminist ﬁamework (Baca Zinn & Dill, 1994; 1996) was

applied in concert with the developmental framework (Gerson, 1985). While the focus of

209

these analyses has been on paths toward collegiate softball, a signiﬁcant piece of these
analyses lay in how these women experienced their individual paths as racialized, classed
and sexualized subjects. Multiracial feminism (Baca Zinn Dill, 1994; 1996) provided
the lens through which to analyze experiences of overt and covert racial hierarchies, class
stratiﬁcation, and heterosexist practices that occurred along paths toward collegiate
softball. This brand of feminism suggests that a) gender equity has limitations for these
women precisely because their gender identities are constantly mediated by racial, ethnic,
class and sexual identities, and b) intersecting fomrs of inequality produce both
oppression and opportunity for these women as they navigate the elite world of collegiate
softball. Moreover, it has become increasingly clear that the most direct paths to division
one softball require participation in the ﬁnancially elite ranks of organized youth softball.
As this structure becomes increasingly rigid and elitist, it is imperative that we come to
understand it from individuals who enter and experience it from marginalized locations.
Multiracial feminism recognizes the signiﬁcance of marginalized vantage points and
suggests that these are locations from which new, more comprehensive knowledge may
be gleaned (Baca Zinn & Dill, 1996).

Ultimately, these two analytic ﬁameworks come together in this work via their
commitment to analyzing women’s lives as diverse lives. It is seemingly ﬁom diﬂerent
Commitments, but both of these ﬁameworks suggest that the category “women” can not
be universalized. Multiracial feminism suggests that women are diverse and continually
involved in a process of testing, reﬁning and reshaping broader categories of race, class,
gender and sexuality in their own image (Baca Zinn & Dill, 1996, p. 327). Similarly,

Gerson (1985) suggests that all women encounter a variety of social conditions that may

210

either constrain or augment their opportunities to strive for a particular goal. Perhaps,
most important to the intermingling of these analytic framework is their recognition of
women’s agency. Despite encountering multiple forms of inequality, each of these
women exercised agency and created viable paths toward collegiate softball. Through
the application of multiracial feminism (Baca Zinn and Dill, 1996) and a developmental
analysis (Gerson, 1985), this diversity is acknowledged and relied upon to clarify
commonalties and differences in the experiences of this select group of women.

Soaial Condition§_t_h_at Sustained P@ To Collegi_zae 30%

What are the social conditions that sustained these women as they made paths
toward collegiate softball? Clearly, each of them faced shifting social conditions and
structural inequalities along the way, and yet they did not stray far from their paths. It
seems that several conditions worked to sustain these women along their paths. The
signiﬁcant sustaining social conditions identiﬁed here are a) developing a baseline
orientation for sport, b) accessing elite organized sport structures, and c) Obtaining
familial support. I will discuss each of these sustaining social conditions in the following
section.

Basaline Orientaﬁons_fpr_Spo_rt

In considering baseline orientations, it is important to note that the majority of the
women who participated in the present research were born after Title IX of the
Educational Amendments Act (1972) had legislated that any educational institution
receiving public money must provide equal opportunities for educational success among
it’s diverse students. Because athletics are considered part of the educational mission of

many schools, Title DI became the law through which women began to assert their right

211

 

to athletics related resources, including athletic scholarships for college. As a cohort, the
women interviewed for this research were structurally privileged as compared to earlier
cohorts of women. In real-life terms, despite the slowness of compliance to Title IX,
these women were among the ﬁrst cohort of beneﬁciaries of this signiﬁcant social
structural change. Thus, their chances for developing baseline orientations for sport may
have been increased, although it is hard to know for sure. Moreover, the encouragement
and support received by these women from a variety of socializing agents at relatively
early ages was signiﬁcant to the development of baselines for sport.

It is also interesting to note the temporal variety in the development of baseline
orientations for sport. Current collegiate athletes as compared to former collegiate
athletes were more likely to have established a baseline for sport involvement at an early
age, typically by age seven, while some reported not getting started until their early teen
years. Although, more important than age, how parents, siblings and signiﬁcant others
interacted with these young women about sport was integral to the development of
baseline orientations for sport. As Gerson (1985) suggested these baseline orientations
are merely early goals or expectations that will surely be tested as women move toward
adulthood and encounter a variety of social conditions. A model of baseline orientations
is shown in appendix M.

W

ASA softball has become the premier site for the promotion and recruitment of
potential collegiate softball athletes. ASA softball is a sophisticated, nationwide
organization of softball teams ranging in age from about ten to adult. ASA softball

tournaments and teams are not easily accessed by all young girls, thus, it becomes a

212

major factor inﬂuencing the decisions that young women make about collegiate softball.
A division one athlete interviewed for this study suggested that playing travel ball is not
so much an option as it is a requirement for softball athletes who hope to play collegiate
ball. When I asked her if she had played travel ball she responded,

Yeah! You have to! ASA, and I also played travel soccer. You have to in order

to make it to this level.

Connie’s emphatic response underscores the salience of travel ball for those
young women who desire to make it onto the roster of one of the nation’s top ranked
softball teams. In fact, more than two thirds (67%) of the women interviewed reported
regular participation in ASA summer softball leagues throughout their high school years.
Among the remaining 33 percent, half of these women reported some participation in
ASA summer softball, and despite having breaks in the action these women beneﬁted
from increased visibility on elite teams, increased competitive level of play, and
association with other women who were making their way to collegiate softball. In all,
nearly 80 percent of the women interviewed had some level of involvement with ASA
summer softball prior to, during and/or after their collegiate careers.

The prominence of ASA softball in the collegiate recruitment process may make
it difﬁcult for any athlete to move directly to collegiate softball without having competed
in ASA summer softball tournaments. In fact, a recent report from ASA boasted that 80
percent of the 1999 pool of division one softball athletes were recruited from ASA
Venues (Abell, 1999). Participation in ASA is itself a privileged experience, as doing so

requires ﬁnancial resources. In some cases, those women who were unable to pay the

fees and travel costs associated with ASA softball either played intermittently or were

213

“sponsored” due to their superior skill. Thus, in many instances Latinas who experience
ﬁnancial disadvantage must perform better than their white, middle class peers in order to
earn a spot on the roster of an ASA traveling team. Moreover, until getting involved in
elite ASA softball, many of these women had participated on teams that were
predominantly Latina, but ASA teams were often predominantly white.

Obtaining Familial Support

Among the 27 women who participated in the present study, many recalled
having to gain parental support for initial and continued involvement in sport. Yet,
contrary to conventional wisdom, Latino/a families did not generally hold negative
sentiment for sport. More accurately, the ambivalence that many women experienced in
their families came out of a history of exclusion from middle class structures of organized
sport and higher education. Thus, all women had to make the case for initial
involvement, some more vehemently than others. But, even after initial consent was
gained, those women who came from working class families especially had to make the
case for continued involvement. Bugs talked about her experience educating her father
about the ﬁnancial beneﬁts of playing softball in college. Mickey discussed how her
mother’s ﬁnancial concerns were assuaged when she learned about Mickey’s softball-
related ﬁnancial resources for attending college.

Perhaps more to the point, once these women gained the support of their families
they had it in full. Parents were at games: home and away. Parents made vacation and
travel plans to accommodate summer softball tournaments. Parents located youth sport
leagues when none were available nearby. Parents, especially mothers even practiced

softball skills with their daughters. One interviewee told about her struggles with

214

standardized tests. Realizing that her score on the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) would
inﬂuence her choices for higher education and collegiate softball, she and her mother
developed a routine for studying. There are several examples of parental support
received by these 27 women. What is most signiﬁcant is not that they sometimes had to
request support for sport involvement, but that each of these women enjoyed varied types
of support from a parent or other signiﬁcant adult. This support seemed to sustain them
along their paths.

Soeial Condition_ﬂlat Rerouted Paths To Collegi_ate Softba_ll_

Several social conditions nearly pushed these women away from their paths. It is
difﬁcult to analyze conditions that rerouted paths when each of the women interviewed
here eventually made their way to some level of collegiate softball. Yet, these women
alluded to many social conditions that were constraining forces in their decision-making
and in their experiences of collegiate softball. It is imperative to begin to identify those
conditions that may negatively impact women’s decisions about sport involvement.
Among the women interviewed here, the social conditions that caused the most
signiﬁcant constraint or detours were a) multiple inequalities, b) educational dislocation
and gatekeeping, and c) exploitation of ﬁnancial need.

Win Sport Contests.

Beliefs about race held by coaches and teammates often marginalize Latinas in
softball contexts and inﬂuence decisions about continued involvement in collegiate
softball. For example, conversations among teammates in predominantly white team
contexts often included constructions of neighborhoods, schools and or people as racial

outsiders. In Micaela’s case, her teammates joked about her enrollment in a “gang school”.

215

While such comments seem like idle banter, they are powerful statements that draw racial
lines between the one or two Latinas and their typically white teammates and coaches. Such
statements take on even more power as they are often uttered in the safety of middle class
white neighborhoods to which the women I interviewed often had to travel in order to
compete at an elite level.

Data also suggested that bi-racial Latinas who are white and Latina hold more
power among their peers than do Latinas who are African American and Latina. In fact,
it is signiﬁcant that two women who are both Latina and Aﬁican American provided the
most in depth discussions about the salience of race in collegiate athletics. In describing
their own experiences they suggested that a) they relate better with Latina teammates as
compared to white teammates, b) they sense that white teammates are careful about what
they say around them, and c) they have at times felt racially stereotyped by coaches.
Feelings of difference in terms of physical appearance, style of interaction, coach
behavior and interpersonal contact outside of softball were experienced by several of the
women interviewed. Several women suggested that coaches did not make any effort to
address the obvious issues that stratiﬁed student athletes.

Heterosexist structures and pervasive messages about appropriate sexualities also
had varied inﬂuences on these women as they made decisions about collegiate softball.
For some women diverse sexualities were part of a liberating experience in sport, while
for others accusations of lesbianism were threatening. For several of the women
interviewed interactions with lesbian identiﬁed Latina teammates became avenues to
explore their beliefs about sexuality, perhaps even examine their own sexualities in

relation to their teammates. Precisely because Latinas have been presumed to fall outside

216

of conventional norms of womanhood, Latinas may also have their own varied,
unconventional perspectives on sexualities. This unique perspective may have enhanced
opportunities to connect with other Latinas across sexualities, and may also have
decreased their feelings of conﬂict as accusations of lesbianism abounded.

As Cuadraz (1992) argued, “Educational institutions do not reduce inequalities,
but accentuate them, especially as socialization into and through higher education may
simply be a continuance of the socialization received by youth in their middle and upper
class homes” (p.32). Cuadraz (1992) argued that although scholarship women were
“pushed to the margins, they were really insiders to the very social structure that
reproduced such inequalities. In fact, these women were in a unique position to
experience the contradictions of being inside in an outside way” (p. 32). These data
illustrate how paths toward collegiate softball are shaped by experiences of multiple
inequalities. It is also apparent that in the absence of any commitment to social equity in
collegiate softball, it remained wholly incumbent upon this selected group of Latinas to
develop strategies for safely interacting across class, sexual, racial and ethnic divides.

WW

Several of the women interviewed expressed feelings of marginality in the
classroom and suggested that softball was the only thing that kept them going to school.
In some ways softball exacerbated their struggles within educational settings and in other
ways softball became a much-needed link to the academic institution enhancing chances
for success. This discomfort in school settings resulted in poor attendance and poor
academic records for some women, effectively reducing their chances of acceptance to

many colleges. Picou, McCarter and Howell (1985) examined student achievement

217

beyond high school and found that white men beneﬁted most from athletic involvement
in terms of educational attainment and eventual employment opportunities. They also
found a striking negative effect for sport involvement in the educational attainment and
eventual employment opportunities among black women. These data suggest that
educational and athletic achievements have different consequences for different people.
Women of color may be socially and structurally situated in such a way that sport
participation may actually hamper their attempts at educational and employment
progress. Much of this may be seen among the women in the present study as they
struggled to balance achievement in academic and athletic realms while navigating an
elitist educational system that contested their presence in various ways.

One way that the presence of Latinas was contested was by academic counselors
who seemed to assume that these young women were not interested in college. While
there were varied reasons why many of these women did not access the typical collegiate
and athletic recruitment structures, academic counseling was a signiﬁcant one. One
woman suggested that her high school counselors never asked her about college or about
her career goals. She felt that they had made faulty assumptions about her desire and
ability to go on to college. Even those young women who received useful information
ﬁom academic counselors were at a loss when it came to learning about and completing
the required NCAA eligibility forms. For example, Lucy performed well in school and
had clear collegiate goals, but her academic counselor’s knew very little about collegiate
athletic eligibility. She had to research the process herself to make sure she was eligible
to compete in NCAA athletics. For several of these women, disinterested and incomplete

academic counseling resulted in yet another detour in their paths to collegiate softball.

218

A related detour for some of the women interviewed was enrollment in
community college. Some of the women interviewed suggested that low or no SAT
scores, ﬁnancial constraints and previous positive contact with community college
coaches lead them to enroll in a local commrmity college following graduation from high
school. Thus, while not the direct path that many women wish to take to division one or
two collegiate softball, many of the women interviewed successfully transferred to a
four-year university in their junior year. This runs contrary to research that suggests that
community colleges often act as holding grounds for Latinas rather than springboards to
four-year universities (Nora & Rendon, 1994). Despite this unusually high transfer rate
among Latinas, the fact remains that community college was a detour to a more direct
route toward division one and two collegiate softball.

Explmon of Financial Need

The limited availability of athletics related ﬁnancial aid creates tension among
teammates and predisposes Latinas to exploitation in an athletic system where most
student-athletes expect to receive payment for their athletic participation. Latinas who
receive both athletics related aid and “need-based” aid often experience a backlash ﬁom
teammates who receive less institutional ﬁnancial support. One woman described her
experiences as having to prove that she was not at college to “free load”, that indeed she
paid every bit of her living expenses and college costs with the small amount of ﬁnancial
aid that she received. Additionally, Latinas are at risk for being exploited by the
institution of softball precisely because they do show ﬁnancial need. At many schools,
compliance to gender equity legislation has resulted in the expansion of team rosters

without an equal expansion in scholarship moneys. Thus, Latinas who qualify for need-

219

based aid may automatically receive only need-based aid, leaving more athletics dollars
to be spread out among their teammates who do not qualify for need-based aid. The
hidden consequences of such practices are a) Latinas will be disproportionately enrolled
in need-based, remedial type ﬁnancial aid programs in which they are subjected to
monitoring of their social and academic adjustment to college, b) Latinas will receive
little or no ﬁnancial recognition for the athletic talent that they bring to their respective
programs, and c) competition among Latinas for limited spots in collegiate softball will
increase.

Summa_ry

In the preceding discussion I have laid out what I see as the social conditions that
may sustain and those that may reroute paths to collegiate softball. I have suggested that
a) developing a baseline orientation for sport, b) accessing elite organized sport
structures, and c) obtaining familial support were each signiﬁcant sustaining social
conditions. In contrast, I have suggested that a) multiple inequalities, b) educational
dislocation and gatekeeping, and c) exploitation of ﬁnancial need may undermine paths
to collegiate softball. I will now turn to an emerging typology of paths to collegiate
softball.
A Typ_ology of Paths to CollejLate Softbﬂ

It ought to be clear by now that even among this abbreviated and select group of
women, paths to collegiate softball were divergent. Relevant to the sustaining and
undermining social conditions discussed earlier, a typology of paths has emerged from
these data. It is with respect to the previously discussed social conditions as overarching

conditions that I now illustrate a more discreet typology of paths. I have identiﬁed three

220

 

 

 

distinguishable paths that were traveled by the women who made up this select group of
athletes. The typology includes a) direct paths to division one, b) direct paths to division
two, and c) detours through community college. I suggested earlier that these paths are
“discreet”, however, the more I attempt to articulate them as discreet paths to collegiate
softball, the more clear it is that while particular social conditions may shape all paths,
individuals navigate their own paths. Thus, they are really quite unique in shape. At the
same time, my goal here is to illustrate the social conditions that manifest themselves in
particular direct or indirect paths to collegiate softball.

Direct Paths to Division_s One (DDD

One would think that women who reported direct support from parents and high
access to organized youth sport would make up the group that made direct paths to
division one collegiate softball. Indeed, the 12 women (44% of total) who began their
collegiate careers in division one participated in organized youth sport leagues from an
early age and as a group were the most consistently involved in ASA travel ball. These
women were Carmen, Micaela, Lucy, Connie, Jane, Karen, Nicole, Julie, Alma, Miranda,
Monica and Christina. Parental education was the highest among this group, with 63
percent of parents attending and/or graduating from college, 29 percent completing high
school, and eight percent completing less than 12 years of formal education. Three
parents held advanced degrees, effectively increasing their insight to the collegiate social
structure. Interestingly, 33 percent of mother’s did not work outside of the home while
66 percent did. This may partially explain the ability of mothers to transport their
daughters to youth leagues outside of their immediate community, as well as the ability

of families to pay for involvement in elite youth sport leagues. Among this group of 12

221

 

women were at least three who were academically conﬁdent and elite, and several who
were the most elite collegiate and sanctioned amateur softball athletes in the nation.

The distinguishing characteristics of this group of women were a) consistent
participation in ASA travel ball, b) post-high school educational attainment of parents, c)
mother’s participation in the labor force, d) mother’s commitment to accessing sport
resources, e) elite academic or athletic talent, and e) receipt of ﬁnancial aid and
scholarship money.

Direct Paths to Division Two (DDII)

Six of the 27 women interviewed (22%) made direct paths ﬁom high school to
division two collegiate softball. These women were Sydney, Josie, Rita, Bugs, JJ and
Kim. Division two athletic programs are often smaller and less visible than division one
programs, making them less inviting to the most elite athletes. They may provide less
athletic related aid, and rely on other forms of “need-based” ﬁnancial aid to ﬁmd their
student-athletes. At least three of these women received Educational Opportunity
Program funding, and all of them received partial athletic scholarships as well. The
availability of funding was signiﬁcant for these women in maintaining their paths toward
collegiate softball. Various social conditions shaped individual ﬁnancial need including
parental divorce, additional siblings in college, and limited family income.

Among the parents of these women 58 percent had attended and/or graduated
from college, 17 percent completed high school, and 25 percent had completed less than
12 years of formal education. Also among this group 83 percent of mothers were
employed, 17 percent did not work outside of the home. This increase in mother’s

employment over the division one group reﬂects the relationship between educational

222

 

 

 

attainment and income potential. As a group the parents of the division two women were
less formally educated, perhaps creating an increased need for dual-parent incomes.

Beyond demographic characteristics, this group is unique in that nearly all of
these women suggested that being successful in k-12 educational settings was a constant
struggle. For instance, Sydney talked about working extra hard just to earn passing
grades, while JJ talked about feeling uncomfortable in her socially stratiﬁed school
environment. Moreover, several of these women indicated that softball was the link that
kept them attending and eventually completing high school. Softball also became the
initial reason some of these women went on to college. This is especially signiﬁcant to
note as a possible indication of how women may learn to exploit the same collegiate
athletic system that will surely exploit them.

The characteristics that illustrate this particular collegiate softball path are a)
participation in ASA travel ball, b) limited post-high school educational attainment of
parents, c) mother’s increased participation in the labor force, d) academic difﬁculties, e)
negative experiences in educational settings, and e) receipt of ﬁnancial aid and

scholarship money.

Detours Through Commqu Colleges (IDII)

 

Eight (3 0%) of the women interviewed began their collegiate careers in
community colleges. These women were Melissa, Marie, Ise, Marisol, Mickey, Gloria,
Yolanda and Rosalia. All, but two of these women had successfully transferred to a four-
year university and division one or two softball program at the time of the interviews.
The two who had not yet transferred, were just beginning their second year at the

community college. What is incredibly common among this group of women is the

223

 

 

educational attainment of parents. While six percent of parents had attended some
college, a whopping 81 percent had only completed high school, and 13 percent had
completed less than 12 years of formal education. Thus, among the women who began
their collegiate careers at community college, a full 94 percent of parents had no
experience with higher education. Not surprisingly, this group also showed the highest
employment level among mothers, with a full 88 percent in the labor force, most likely
out of family ﬁnancial need.

It is in this group of women that conﬂicts with academic counselor’s were
identiﬁed, family and household transitions were acknowledged, breaks in educational
goals were experienced, and older siblings also had attended community college. What is
remarkable about this group of women is their resiliency and perseverance. Despite this
educational detour, seventy ﬁve percent of these eight women successfully transferred to
a four-year university and either a division one or two softball program.

The distinguishing characteristics of this particular collegiate softball path are a)
late or limited participation in ASA travel ball, b) limited educational attainment of
parents, c) mother’s increased participation in the labor force, (1) academic difﬁculties, e)
negative experiences with academic counseling and guidance, and f) limited ﬁnancial
resources.

Summm

In this section I have described somewhat discreet paths to collegiate softball. I
have illustrated the factors that make up a) direct paths to division one, b) direct paths to
division two, and c) detours through community college. While a typology makes these

data seem more discreet than they actually are, it is a helpful tool in examining the real

224

 

consequences of social conditions. In the typology, particular social conditions are more
clearly articulated as inﬂuences in the choices women make about sport involvement.
For example, parental educational attainment bears out as the most signiﬁcant
distinguishing characteristic, especially as it is clearly related to other important factors,
such as parent occupation and opportunity to participate in elite organized youth sport
leagues. A model of these divergent paths appears in appendix N.
Recommendations for Sport Leaders

At this point in the manuscript I am compelled to articulate my beliefs about what
Eitzen (1999) so adeptly refers to as “the duality of sport” (p. 8). Eitzen (1999) suggests
that while sport is magical, captivating and compelling, it also reproduces many negative
aspects of current social arrangements. He further suggests that “understanding sport
must precede any effort to change it for the better” (p. 8). I too believe in the value of
many different forms of sport and am committed to making meaningful sport experiences
available to all women, not just those who are athletically and ﬁnancially elite. At the
same time it is painfully apparent that all levels of sport are becoming increasingly
privatized and elitist in structure (Coakley, 1998), and thus, exclusionary in practice.
But, as a critical theorist, I take heart in a belief that sport experiences and sport
structures are constructed by people and as such are changeable. It is with these
contradictions and a critical ﬁamework that I provide the following recommendations for
enhancing opportunities and experiences in collegiate softball. I will make
recommendations in the following categories a) families and communities, b) secondary

schools, c) colleges and universities.

225

 

Families and Communities

Family members as youth sport volunteers and as socializing agents for young
girls and women need to be included in decision-making about organized youth sport
leagues. Beyond the inclusion of families in the development, delivery and evaluation of
organized youth sport leagues, they also ought to be included in the recruitment process.
Coaches, academic counselors and other educational staff must make meaningful efforts
to inform and educate parents about opportunities for collegiate athletic involvement. To
increase effectiveness of such projects, parents of current or former collegiate athletes
ought to be employed as peer-educators. This may be especially helpful in cases where
student-athletes are the ﬁrst in their families to attend college, English is not the primary
language spoken at home, and parents are locked into lower blue collar employment.
Offering convenient, community-based, community facilitated educational sessions about
accessing collegiate softball will surely increase opportunities for Latinas to make more
direct paths toward division one softball.

Secondary Schools

Teachers, administrators and coaches in middle and high school must attend to the
needs of diverse students. It is imperative that administrators promote a climate of
success for all students in an environment that advocates for all students. This may be
accomplished by promoting cross-cultural awareness in all academic subjects. For
example, a discussion of the Mayan and Aztec pyramids may enhance a lesson in
physics, social studies, history, art, and even physical education. Including racial and
ethnic minority groups in the day-to-day curriculum may enhance student feelings of

belonging in the classroom. Moreover, all school personnel need to clearly articulate

226

 

 

expectations of success to all students, but especially to those who have inherited a
legacy of educational dislocation. Finally, all students and parents ought to be
thoroughly counseled on how to access a four-year college education, including academic
requirements, ﬁnancial resources, collegiate athletics requirements, and community
college opportunities. Yes, this task is rightfully placed in the hands of secondary school
personnel, as they have early opportunities to set all students up for success.

In terms of school-based athletics, coaches, teachers and administrators ought to
collaborate to encourage participation from a broad and diverse range of students.
Student-athletes ought to be consulted about the form and purpose of school-based
athletics, especially in this era of the declining signiﬁcance of school sports. Where
possible, schools ought to offer both recreational sport activities and elite, competitive
activities for students. All students ought to be fully educated about opportunities for
sport involvement in college, including both recreational and highly competitive forms of
sport. Sport ought to be seen as a site for transforming racial relations, class conﬂicts,
and ideologies about sexualities.

§o_ll_e_g§_a_nAUniversities

Collegiate coaches hold a great deal of power in the lives of their student-athletes.
They ought to use that power in ethical, student-centered ways. Two things that are most
obvious ﬁom these interviews are that a) coaches ought to communicate about more than
softball with their athletes, and b) coaches ought to become role models in the
development of cross-cultural competence. It is clear from the interviews here that
coaches fail to serve their student-athletes when they avoid dealing with issues of race,

ethnicity, class and or sexuality on their teams. The burden of racial harmony should not

227

 

fall on the shoulders of the few women of color who have made their way into collegiate
softball. All coaches in collegiate softball ought to collaborate in creating safe spaces for
diverse women to come together in an empowering athletically elite experience. Coaches
also ought to make time to talk with their student-athletes about academic goals, family
situations, and experiences across campus. Clearly, not all coaches have the
interpersonal skills to communicate effectively about things other than softball. In these
cases, an assistant coach or other staff member ought to have this type of communication
as their primary responsibility.

Coaches also ought to set examples as persons who are committed to increasing
their cross-cultural competence. That is, coaches ought to respectfully ask about the lives
of student-athletes, assistant coaches, and other staff members in order to learn about and
come to value different ways of life. This should not be seen as counter to the team—
building and cohesiveness desired for successful teamwork, but should be included as a
signiﬁcant aspect of it. A particularly important way to establish one’s program as one
that values cross-cultural competence is to identify, guide, and promote student-athletes
of color into leadership roles within softball programs. A growing number of Latinas are
earning positions as assistant coaches in elite collegiate softball programs, but it remains
to be seen if these women will soon move into head coaching positions. Establishing a
caucus for women of color within the Collegiate Softball Coaches Association may be
another way to promote leadership opportunities for Latinas and others. Certainly, there

is room for creativity in the project of making collegiate softball more equitable for all

women.

228

 

 

Summary

In this chapter I have articulated what I believe to be the most signiﬁcant social
conditions in the experiences of the 27 women who so graciously shared their stories with
me. I have maintained a focus on pathways and suggested that the early expectations of
these women were subjected to a host of both fortifying and undermining social
conditions as they moved toward adulthood. To further illustrate the inﬂuence of social
conditions on the choices women make about sport involvement, I have delineated a
typology of paths that these women traveled. I have also suggested that families, schools
and universities ought to do more to ensure high quality sport experiences for all girls and
women, not just the most athletically and ﬁnancially elite.

It is not enough that record numbers of girls and women participate in sport. We
must continue to examine collegiate athletic structures and ask “At what cost do such
opportunities become available?”, and “To whom do the beneﬁts of current social
arrangements accrue?”, and ﬁnally “How can we make collegiate softball a more socially

equitable site for all women?”

229

 

APPENDD( A
Diagram of Research Design

ﬂows Groups / : I / Interview Form /

/ Individual Interviews /

Latina
Experiences of
Collegiate

Softball "

\/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

230

APPENDIX B

Former Collegiate Athlete Demographic Questionnaire

Please respond to every item completely and in a way that best represents what is true for you today.
Blank lines have been left on some items so that you may write in your own most appropriate response.
The information provided by you will be used to write a brief biographical statement about you (your name
will not be used) for inclusion in the report of ﬁndings.
W
Age

CI 20-24 CI 25-29 0 30-34 C] 35-39 CI 40-49 Cl 50 & over

Latino/a Ethnicity
0 Mexican Cl Cuban Cl Puerto Rican El E1 Salvadoran Cl

 

If different from above, please write in how you self-identify in terms of racial-
ethnic heritage? (e. g., Mexican, Mexican-American, Latina, etc.)

 

Family generational status in the United States (e.g., my maternal grandmother was born
and raised in the US. This makes 3 generations of my maternal family that have

resided in the US.)

Maternal Cl 1 generation Cl 2 generations Cl 3 or more generations

Paternal Cl 1 generation Cl 2 generations 0 3 or more generations
Individual Annual Income

CI 9,999 or less Cl 10K to 14,999 El 15K to 19,999 CI 20K to 24,999

D 25K to 29,999

D 30K to 39,999 El 40K to 49,999 D 50K to 59,999 Cl 60K or more

How do you self-identify in terms of social-economic class?
D Lower Class Cl Middle Class Cl Upper Class C]
Sexuality
How do you self-identify in terms of sexual preference?
CI Straight CI Gay CI Lesbian Cl Bi-sexual D Lesbiana Cl
Highest Grade Completed
Cl H.S. + 1-2 yrs. Coll. Cl H.S. + 3-4 yrs. Coll. Cl HS. + 5 or more yrs. Coll.
Highest Degree Earned
Cl Associate’s Cl Bachelor’s Cl Master’s
CI Doctoral Cl Vocational Cl
Current Occupation (please write in)
1. 2.

 

 

 

 

FAMILY Z NEIGHBORHOOD BACKGROUND
Mother’s Race/Ethnicity (check all that apply)

Cl Mexican Cl Puerto Rican El E1 Salvadoran C]
Father’s Race/Ethnicity (check all that apply)
Cl Mexican CI Puerto Rican El E1 Salvadoran Cl

 

 

231

 

Parents Highest Grade Completed
Mother CI 8th grade or less Cl 9th - 10th grade Cl 12th grade/GED
Cl H.S. + 1-2 yrs. Coll. Cl H.S. + 3-4 yrs. Coll. Cl H.S. + 5 or more yrs. Coll.

Father Cl 8th grade or less Cl 9th - 10th grade Cl 12th grade/GED
Cl H.S. + 1-2 yrs. Coll. Cl H.S. + 3-4 yrs. Coll. Cl H.S. + 5 or more yrs. Coll.

Parents Occupation (please write in the most current)
Mother Father

 

 

How would you describe the neighborhood in which you grew up? (Check all that apply)
0 Predominantly Latino/a Cl Predominantly White Cl Mixed race/ethnicity
C] Lower Economic Class 0 Middle Economic Class Cl Upper Economic Class

0 Blue Collar Workers CI White Collar Workers Cl Single Parent families
Cl Female heads of household Cl Dual Parent families Cl Parks/Playgrounds in
C1 C1 walking dist.

 

 

Of the girls in your high school that graduated the same year as you did, roughly what
percentage went . . .

to work ﬁrll time _% away to a 4 yr. College/Univ. _%
to a local 4 yr. College/Univ. _% to a Community College _%
to a vocational/trade school _% on to collegiate athletics _%
ATHLETICS BACKGROUND
High School Participation
Which sports did you play in high school?
CI Softball 0 Basketball CI Volleyball 0 Track/Field
Cl X-Country Cl Swimming Cl Tennis D

On these teams, were your teammates predominantly . . .
Cl White 0 Latina Cl Aﬁican American Cl Asian Cl Native American D Other
College Participation
Which sport(s) did you play as an intercollegiate athlete?
Cl Softball C1 C1
At what level did you compete in collegiate athletics?
Cl Community College Cl Division I 0 Division II Cl Division III

On these teams, were your teammates predominantly . . .
C] White Cl Latina Cl African American Cl Asian C] Native American C] Other

 

Current Participation
Ifyou currently (in the past year) participate in organized sport(s), list the sports below.
1. 2. 3.

 

 

 

At what level do you currently compete in these sports?
Cl Community Recreation Cl Professional 0 Sanctioned Amateur CI

On these teams, are your teammates predominantly . . .
D White CI Latina 0 African American Cl Asian CI Native American D Other

 

232

 

Fictitious Name Real Name

 

 

APPENDIX C

Latinas in Sport Background Questionnaire (11)

Please respond to every item completely and in a way that best represents what is true for you today.
Blank lines have been left on some items so that you may write in your own most appropriate response.
The information you provide will be used by the researcher to write a brief biographical statement about
you (your name will not be used) for inclusion in the written report of ﬁndings.
PERSONAL BACKGROUND
Age

CI 20—24 0 25-29 CI 30-34 CI 35-39 CI 40-49 D 50 and over

Latino/a Ethnicity
Cl Mexican C] Cuban Cl Puerto Rican El E1 Salvadoran D
If different ﬁ'om above, please write in how you self-identify in terms of racial-
ethnic heritage? (e. g., Mexican, Mexican-American, Latina, etc.)

 

Family generational status in the United States (e.g., my maternal grandmother was born
and raised in the US. This makes 3 generations of my maternal family that have

resided in the US.)
Maternal Cl 1 generation CI 2 generations 0 3 or more generations
Paternal Cl 1 generation Cl 2 generations 0 3 or more generations

How do you self-identify in terms of sexuality? (e. g., straight, bi-sexual, lesbian, etc.)

FINANCIAL RESOURCES
Individual Annual Income (if you are employed)
C] 9, 999 or less 010K to 14, 999 DISK to 19, 999 D 20K to 24, 999

 

 

 

 

 

D 25K to 29,999
Individual Annual Athletic Related Scholarship Funding
D Full CI Partial Amount $
Other Financial Aid/Resources (please list the source and the amount received annually)
Source Amount 3
Source Amount 3
Source Amount 3

 

 

How do you self-identify in terms of social-economic class?
Cl Lower Class Cl Middle Class D Upper Class D

EDUCATIONZQAREER
Highest Grade Completed

Cl H.S. + 1 yr. college Cl H.S. + 2 yrs. college 0 HS. + 3 or more yrs. college

 

Highest Degree You Plan to Complete

 

Cl Associate’s Cl Bachelor’s Cl Vocational
Cl Master’s Cl Doctoral Cl
Future Occupation/Career Choice (top 2 choices) 1. 2.

 

 

 

 

233

Fictitious Name Real Name

 

 

FAMILY BACKGROUND -
Mother’s Race/Ethnicity (check all that apply
O White O Black O Eastern European O Asian OLatino/a

O Mexican O Puerto Rican O El Salvadoran O

Father’s Race/Ethnicity (check all that apply)
O White O Black O Eastern European O Asian OLatino/a
O Mexican O Puerto Rican O El Salvadoran O

Parents Highest Grade Completed
Mother O 8th grade or less O 9th - 10th grade O 12th grade/GED
OHS. +2yrs. OHS. +4yrs. OHS. +5 or more yrs.

 

 

Father O 8th grade or less O 9th - 10th grade O 12th grade/GED
OHS. +2 yrs. OHS. +4yrs. OHS. + 5 or more yrs.

Parents Occupation (please write in the most current)
Mother Father

How would you describe the neighborhood in which you grew up? (Check all that apply)
O Predominantly Latino/a O Predominantly White O Mixed race/ethnicity
O Lower Economic Class O Middle Economic Class O Upper Economic Class
O Blue Collar Workers O White Collar Workers O Single Parent families
O Female heads of household O Dual Parent families O Parks/Playgrounds nearby

 

Of the girls in your high school that graduated the same year as you did, roughly what
percentage went . .

to work full time % away to a 4 yr. College/Univ. %

to a local 4 yr. College/Univ. % to a Community College %

to a vocational/trade school % on to collegiate athletics %
ATHLETICS BACKGROUND

High School Participation
Which sports did you compete in at your high school?

O Softball O Basketball O Volleyball O Soccer O

On these teams, were your teammates predominantly . . .
O White O Latina O African American O Asian O Native Amer. O Other

 

College Participation
Which sport(s) do you participate in as an intercollegiate athlete?
O Softball O Basketball O Volleyball O Soccer O _ _
At what level did you compete in collegiate athletics?
O Community College O Division I O Division II O Division II]

On these teams, are your teammates predominantly . . .
O White O Latina O African American O Asian O Native Amer. OOther

234

 

 

APPENDIX D

Focus Group Interview - Moderator’s Guide

Introduction/Warm-up
- Welcome
- Purpose
- Type of information sought
0 Guidelines
- Make peOple comfortable

Clariﬁcation of Terms
- Sport versus Sports
- Race, Ethnicity, Class, Gender
- Latinas

Easy/Non-Threatening Questions
1. Tell us your name, where you played college ball, and what you are doing now.

2. How and when did you ﬁrst become involved in sports?

3. Additionally, please tell us how you became so involved in softball.

The more difficult questions
1. What personal challenges did you face along the way to collegiate softball?

Are there examples in your own experiences of challenges based on race, class,
gender, sexual preference, family values, general social constraints. . .?

2. Of the challenges mentioned, are there some that you think are faced by Latinas
today? Why?

4. What were the conditions that helped you to make it to collegiate softball?
Did particular conditions/support systems exist that helped you “make it”?
Can you relate an experience where support systems were instrumental in your
“making it” to collegiate softball?
Were families, friends, teammates, coaches, teachers, others particularly
supportive?

5. Are there particular statuses that go with being a collegiate softball player?
Were there social identities/ statuses placed upon you due to your participation in
collegiate sport/softball?
To what extent did these statuses have underlying racial-ethnic, class, or gender
components to them?

6. In a brief statement, what does it mean to be Latina in collegiate softball today?

235

 

 

Wrap up
- Identify the major themes
- Organize major themes
- Final comments

Participant Check
- How does each member perceive selected issues (rank order card)

Closing Statements
- Required anonymity from all, for all

- Remaining questions?
- Thank you!

236

 

 

APPENDD( E
Individual Interview Schedule
Purpose: To gather detailed information regarding paths to collegiate sport, interpersonal
relationships, consequences for involvement in sport, and constraints/augmentations to

participation.
Questions

Path to Collegiate Athletics
Tell me about how you initially became involved in sports?

(did family members also play?)

Tell me about High school?

Tell me about Travel Ball?

‘ Tell me how you came to be at this particular college?

Why did you choose to play softball, rather than other sports?

Challenges

Along the way, did you encounter challenges to your desire to play softball?
How were these challenges manifested?

Will you provide one or two examples?

Do you continue to receive challenges to your athletic involvement?

What form do these challenges now take?

Support Systems/Persons

Along the way, were there experiences, resources, people who facilitate or helped you to
increase your opportunities to make it in softball?

What specific form did this take?

Do you continue to receive support, resources, and or people who augment your
opportunities in softball?

What form do these take on now?

237

In.

 

Interpersonal Relationships in Collegiate Softball

Are there particular issues that bring teammates together or divide teammates? What are
they? (E.g., sexuality, scholarship money, ethnicity, race, language, etc. )

Do relationships typically work on and off the ﬁeld? How so?

Consequences for Sport Involvement

To what extent have you faced positive and negative consequences for your involvement
in sports?

Will you share a couple of examples with me?

Why do you suppose these consequences existed for you?

Beneﬁts for Sport Involvement

To what extent have you received beneﬁts for your involvement in sports?

Are there examples you would like to share with me?

Why do you suppose you received these beneﬁts?

Why do you participate in sport? In softball?

Would you recommend that other women/Latinas participate in collegiate level sport? In
softball? Why or Why not?

What does it mean to be Latina in collegiate athletics/softball today?

238

 

 

 

APPENDIX F
Informed Consent

You are invited to participate in a study being conducted by Kathy Jamieson as part of
the requirements for the doctoral degree in Physical Education at Michigan State
University. The study is speciﬁcally focused on the various paths to collegiate softball
taken by Latinas. You will be asked to participate in an interactive, small group
discussion of your experiences in sport and your thoughts on the current climate for
Latinas in collegiate softball.

The small group discussion will include 4—8 participants and will last approximately
ninety minutes. Prior to the interactive interview, you will be asked to complete a survey
of individual background data regarding age, ethnicity, athletic experience, and other
demographic information. During the interview, you will be asked to discuss how you
became involved in sport, what you believe it is like for Latinas in collegiate sport today,
and your most memorable moments in collegiate softball. Throughout the interactive
group interview, your verbal responses will be heard and possibly commented upon by
other interview participants. Additionally, the interviewer may observe you while in an
organized collegiate softball setting.

Kathy Jamieson will hold all written and verbal responses in strict conﬁdence, and all
participants will remain anonymous in any report of the research ﬁndings. All
information that you choose to share in the interview will be recorded by written notes
and by audiotape. Your participation in this study is completely voluntary and you may
cease participation at any time without penalty. After completion of the study, an
executive summary of the results will be available to you upon request.

I am sure you will be a valuable contributor to the group, and I would like to include you
in the study. You may indicate your voluntary agreement to participate in the focus
group interview by completing and returning the information. Your questions about this
study are important and may be directed to Kathy Jamieson at (714) 639-9964 or by e-
mail at: jamieso6@pilot.msu.edu

Thank you for your support of this research endeavor.

Participant Consent
I have read the information about the study on Latinas in fast-pitch softball, and agree to
participate in a group interview. My signature below indicates that I freely choose to
participate in this study.

 

 

 

 

Name: Signature
Address City, State, Zip
Phone E-mail

 

 

239

 

 

 

Appendix G

Focus Group Invitation to Participants
December 2, 1997

DearMs.

Did you know that Latinas make up roughly six percent of all female students an NCAA *
afﬁliated college campuses, but account for less than three percent of all female student-
athletes?

You may also ﬁnd it interesting to note that despite gains in collegiate sport opportunities
for women, Latinas, Asian, Native American, African American and lower income women
remain disproportionately under-represented in collegiate athletics. However, this
phenomenon is difﬁcult to understand because few research efforts have placed Latinas or
other women of color at the center of analysis.

You have been identiﬁed as one of a relatively small number of Latinas currently involved
in fastpitch softball in the state of California. I am writing to invite you to take part in a
study aimed at understanding the varied experiences of Latinas in collegiate level sport,
particularly softball. Your participation in this study will provide insight to the various
paths that Latinas take to make it in collegiate sport, and will shed some light on
inequalities that persist in this era of gender equity in women’s sports.

Latinas who have played at least one year of collegiate level fast pitch softball, in any
division, from 1988 to the present are eligible to participate in the study. Part of the study
will include a one to two hour interview with a group of 6-10 Latina softball athletes, such
as yourself. Another phase of the study will include an individual interview with the
researcher that will last approximately one hour. This research is tentatively scheduled for
November and January of the 1997/98 school year.

I am sure you will be a valuable contributor to the interviews. To be considered for
participation in the present study, please complete the interest card below, detach it, place
it in the envelope provided, and drop it in the mail by Friday, December 19, 1997.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns regarding this research.

Sincerely,

Kathy J arnieson

31“}? 55.153931. 51956. “WWWWW 93‘?! ﬂail???- .............................................
K Cut here K Cut here K

Interest Card
O YESl I am interested in participating in the study on Latinas in sport. I understand that my
participation is completely voluntary and that I may cease participation at any time.
Please contact me at the location indicated below with further details about the interviews.

 

 

 

 

Name: College/Univ.
Address City, State, Zip
Phone E-mail

 

 

IV Do you know others who may be eligible to participate in this study’? Please list names on reverse.

240

 

APPENDIX H
Letter to Coaches of Current Athletes

December 2, 1997

Dear Coach,

Several of your student athletes have been identiﬁed as potential participants in a study
regarding women of Hispanic heritage in collegiate softball. This research is part of my
doctoral degree program at Michigan State University in the Department of Physical
Education and Exercise Science. I hope to gain your support for inclusion of your
student-athletes in the study.

I myselfam from California and am a product of the California State University system,
where I was also an athlete. In fact, as a student-athlete in 1983, I was the only Latina on
my team. In Southern California, that is signiﬁcantly disproportionate to the large number
of Latinas in the state overall. My questions stem from a curiosity about why I got
involved in collegiate sport and so many other Latinas did not. Given your experience,
you may have some guesses of your own as to why Latinas participate in sport at
disproportionately lower rates than do many other women.

Participants in the study will be asked to participate in one individual interview, and one
focus group discussion (6-10 people per group) about experiences in collegiate sport. The
interviews are tentatively scheduled for November and January of the 97/98 academic
year, and will take place in California. Any student-athlete of Hispanic heritage, who has
played at least one year of collegiate fastpitch softball in any division, from 1988 to the
present is eligible to participate.

Enclosed“, please ﬁnd one letter for each student-athlete identiﬁed as a potential
participant in this study. The letter simply outlines the research, and requests a response
by Friday, December 19, 1997 . I would appreciate it if you would distribute the letters to
your student-athletes as soon as possible, so that they may decide whether or not to
participate.

Please contact me if you would like additional information about the study, or if you know
of former student-athletes that I should invite to participate in the study.

Sincerely,

Kathy Jamieson

* Ifnone of your current student-athletes were identiﬁed as eligible, no letters have been
enclosed. However, a request for help locating former student-athletes is enclosed.

241

 

— PLEASE HELP -

I am trying to locate an address, phone, e-mail, smoke signal, whatever will work for the
former student-athletes listed below. I would like to invite them to participate in the study
on Latinas in sport.

Ifyou know how I may contact them please provide that information in the table below.
Or, if you prefer, you may provide my personal information to these former student-
athletes and let them contact me.

Either way, I assure that any information provided will be used solely for the purpose of
this research project.

Thanks very much for your support!

K cut here 0 drop in mail K

 

blame t'rxJ’layul Address l’lmm- l‘~m;ril

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

242

APPENDIX I

Current Athlete Invitation to Participants
December 2, 1997

Dear

Did you know that Latinas make up roughly six percent of all female students on NCAA "‘
afﬁliated college campuses, but account for less than three percent of all female student-
athletes?

You may also ﬁnd it interesting to note that despite gains in collegiate sport opportunities
for women, Latinas, Asian, Native American, African American and lower income
women remain disproportionately under-represented in collegiate athletics. However,
this phenomenon is difﬁcult to understand because few research efforts have placed
Latinas or other women of color at the center of analysis.

You have been identiﬁed as one of a relatively small number of Latinas curremly
involved in fast pitch softball in the state of California. I am writing to invite you to take
part in a study aimed at understanding the varied experiences of Latinas in collegiate
level sport, particularly softball. Your participation in this study will provide insight to
the various paths that Latinas take to make it in collegiate sport, and will shed some light
on inequalities that persist in this era of gender equity in women’s sports.

Latinas who have played at least one year of collegiate level fast pitch softball and
currently compete in any division are eligible to participate in the study. You will be
asked to participate in an individual interview with the researcher that will last
approximately one hour. This research is tentatively scheduled for November and
January of the 1997/98 school year.

I am sure you will be a valuable contributor to the interviews. To be considered for
participation in the present study, please complete the interest card below, detach it, place
it in the envelope provided, and drop it in the mail by Friday, December 19, 1997.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns regarding this research.

Sincerely,

Kathy J amieson

1' .1113 NA“ MN’CM‘WMW wwgﬁﬂﬁkﬂi .............................................
K Out here K Cut here K

Interest Card
OYES! Iaminterestedinparticipatinginthestudyonlatinasinsport Iunderstandthatmyparticipation
is completely voluntary and that I may cease participation at any time.
Please contact me at the location indicated below with further details about the interviews.

 

 

 

 

Name: College/Univ.
Address City, State, Zip
Phone E-mail

 

 

N'Doyouknowotherswhomaybeeligibletoparticipateinthisstudy’? Pleaselistnamesonreverse.

243

APPENDDI J
Informed Consent — Current Collegiate Athletes

You are invited to participate in a study being conducted by Kathy Jamieson as part of the
requirements for the doctoral degree in Physical Education at Michigan State University.
The study is speciﬁcally focused on the various paths to collegiate softball taken by
Latinas. You will be asked to participate in an individual interview regarding your
experiences along the way to collegiate softball.

The interview will last approximately sixty minutes and will be conducted at a mutually
agreed upon location. As part of the interview, you will be asked to complete a survey of
individual background data regarding age, ethnicity, athletic experience, and other
demographic information. During the interview, you will be asked to discuss how you
became involved in sport, what you believe it is like for Latinas in collegiate sport today,
and your most signiﬁcant experiences in collegiate softball. Additionally, the interviewer
may observe you in a group setting while you are participating in organized collegiate
softball activities.

All information that you choose to share in the interview will be recorded by written notes
and by audiotape. Kathy Janrieson will hold all written and verbal responses in strict
conﬁdence, and all participants will remain anonymous in any report of the research
ﬁndings. Your participation in this study is completely voluntary and you may cease
participation at any time without penalty. After completion of the study, an executive
summary of the results will be available to you upon request.

I am sure you will be a valuable contributor to the group, and I would like to include you
in the study. You may indicate your voluntary agreement to participate in the focus group
interview by completing the consent form below. Your questions about this study are
important and may be directed to Kathy Jamieson at (714) 639-9964 or by e-mail at:
jamieso6@pilot.msu.edu

Thank you for your support of this research endeavor.

Participant Consent
I have read the information about the study on Latinas in fast-pitch softball, and agree to
participate in an individual interview and possible observation. My signature below
indicates that I freely choose to participate in this study.

 

 

 

 

Name: Signature
Address City, State, Zip
Phone E-mail

 

 

244

APPENDIX K

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Diagram of Data Collection
Phase One
Focus Group Focus Group
Interviews Analyses
Phase Two
Individual C5 Individual
Interviews Analyses

245

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

APPENDIX L

Diagram of Data Analyses

 

Phase One

 

 

 

Big < §2
Themes
6? Unitize

Data

Review Focus Interview

Data Group F
Interviews r==:> orm
E Categorize
Units of Data
Negotiate the <9
Meaningﬁrl

Categories

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Phase Two

Thiirgres Q

 

 

 

 

61> Unitize
Data

 

Review Latina
Individual Experiences
Data Interviews 3 apply > of Collegiate
eory Softball

 

 

 

 

 

Q] Categorize

, Units of Data
Negotiate &
Meaningﬁrl

Categories

 

\/

246

 

APPENDD( M

A Model of Baseline Orientations

 

247

I Parents

ﬂSiblings
[:1 Friends

 

APPENDIX N

A Typology of Paths to Collegiate Softball

 

Community
College

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Baseline V Division I
Orientation $ Softball
for Sport
Division II
Softball

 

 

 

248

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