The Unique Lived Experiences of LGBQ Athletes: A Collegiate Women's Rugby Club Team as an Inclusive & Empowering Community.

There is ongoing debate regarding the culture of competitive women's sports. On one hand, women who participate in sports are viewed as adhering to and reinforcing heteronormative stereotypes and hegemonic masculinity. Conversely, women's sports are viewed as an inherently supportive environment for those involved. The current study explored the latter phenomena, specifically related to factors that promote an inclusive and empowering community for LGBTQ+ women. Eleven individual semi-structured interviews and one follow-up focus group with six participants were conducted with women from a collegiate women's rugby club team. All participants described their sexual identities as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and/or Queer (LGBQ). A reflexive thematic analysis was used to analyze the data collectively. Participants described their collegiate rugby team as being one of their first encounters with a safe and inclusive LGBTQ+ environment. Membership on the team also was viewed as an important experience that helped participants come to terms with their sexual identity. Specifically, findings indicate the supportive actions of teammates, an inclusive team culture, and unique factors related to the sport of rugby helped promote an inclusive and empowering community for LGBTQ+ women. Indeed, from a critical positive youth development perspective, social justice life skills (e.g., allyship) provided actionable behaviors that promote an inclusive and empowering community for LGBTQ+ women. However, future research must seek to understand the lived experiences of all women's rugby participants, particularly transgender and athletes of color.

Does Athlete Status Explain Sexual Violence Victimization and Perpetration on College Campuses? A Socio-Ecological Study.

In the United States, college students have been identified as a high-risk group for sexual violence (SV) victimization and perpetration, with one in three women and one in four men experiencing SV in their lifetimes. Therefore, studies investigating both perpetration and victimization across genders are pertinent. Additionally, in the context of higher education, athletics is often viewed as a high-risk environment for SV. Despite established relationships between SV and intercollegiate athletics, research on this topic is not conclusive due to the heterogeneous nature of college sports, as well as a dearth of research on recreational athletes. The primary purpose of this study was to examine the differences in SV victimization and perpetration among intercollegiate, recreational, and non-athlete populations. Additional context was provided by exploring variables at multiple levels of the socio-ecological model for violence prevention, as these factors can be important aspects of a person's development and may inform behavior. Utilizing a sample of 62,996 students from 199 institutions of higher education in the United States, multilevel logistic regression analyses were conducted to assess individual- (i.e., personal demographics), relationship- (i.e., athlete status), and community-level (i.e., institutional characteristics) predictors of SV victimization and perpetration. The results indicated that recreational athletes are the most at-risk group, experiencing and perpetrating SV at higher rates than non-athletes. Results on institutional status and individual characteristics, as well as implications for practitioners and future research is discussed.

Investigating the Social Network Structure of Physical Literacy Scholars to Advance a Paradigm for Physical Activity Promotion.

Purpose: Physical literacy has quickly gained global attention as a holistic approach to combat physical inactivity and obesity. However, research silos may limit the growth and application of the physical literacy paradigm for effective physical activity promotion. The purpose of this study was to measure the underlying network structure of scholars publishing on physical literacy (focusing on empirical research) through co-authorship analysis. Methods: Data collection resulted in 1,070 documents related to physical literacy retrieved. A total of 198 articles met inclusion criteria and were included in the full network, with authors operationalized as actors in the network. A total of 75 empirical studies were included in the sub-network for critical appraisal and further analysis. Social network analysis was then conducted at the macro- and component-level, using quantification and visualization techniques. Results: Results revealed a collaborative, yet fragmented physical literacy network with sub-groups representing substantive and geographically diverse scholars. The majority of scholarship lacked empirical evidence, suggesting a research-practice gap. Conclusion: Recommendations for advancing physical literacy research and practice include strategic collaborations that transcend geographic and disciplinary boundaries, cooperative efforts across scholars and practitioners, and productive discourse through professional avenues to progress knowledge generation, dispersion, and application.