The Phenomenological Experience of Competitive State Anxiety for Female Beach Volleyball Players at the 2012 Olympics

ii Acknowledgments I would like to take the opportunity to acknowledge the six Olympic beach volleyball athletes who generously gave of their time and their experience to allow this thesis to come to life. To Kerri, Natalie, Elodie, Becchara, Marie-Andrée, and Laura, your honesty, compassion, full disclosure, and love of the game was clearly present in your interviews. You are all very special people to give back so open-heartedly to the sport you love, the future of the game, and the future athletes who will benefit from your legacy. Thank you to my supportive thesis advisor Dr. Terry Orlick for your guidance, your open-mindedness, your wisdom, your flexibility, and your commitment to the success of all the athletes and students you have taught, including myself. Your dedication to personal excellence and to finding the simple joys in life, especially in your most recent work with young children, is awe-inspiring. I would also like to thank Dr. Audrey Giles both for the rigor with which you delivered the research methods course in which the first half of this thesis was written, and for your guidance and moral support through the thesis coursework and with specific question