Managing Gender in English Collegiate Soccer

Association Football (Soccer) is the national sport of England and has, for more than a century, been positioned as a sort of male preserve where dominant notions of hegemonic masculinity are promoted and celebrated. Yet alongside this, over the past decade, women's soccer has consistently been one of the fastest growing sports in the country (Football Association, 2001). Whilst there has been much research exploring the social positioning of the game there has been scant consideration of management issues related to the sport. There is also little research based upon comparative data that can give a measured analysis of particular sporting environments and the experiences of athletes within these. This research critically reflects upon the gendering of soccer through drawing upon data collected in two ethnographic studies at a College in the South of England. Data was collected through (participant) observation and semi-structured interviews with members of the male and female soccer teams. The first of these studies examined the experiences of female soccer players and the way(s) in which the women made sense of their participation in a perceived 'masculine ' game. The second study, building upon the methodological framework of the first, examined the experiences of male soccer players within the same institution. Both studies look at the way(s) in which the soccer players 'do gender ' and how this relates to the management and administration of the sport within the College. Within this work we critically assess how gendered ideologies are (re)produced and (re)presented in soccer. It reflects upon the role of males within the organization and administration of women's soccer where they serve as coaches, spectators and referees