Motherhood and Sport: Collective Stories of Identity and Difference

Although sport participation decreases on average for women once they become mothers, female athletes from the recreational, to the competitive, to the elite level have demonstrated that motherhood does not signal the end of sport engagement and athletic identities, or career and leadership roles. This is the first book to offer an in-depth examination of the nexus of women, sport and culture within the context of motherhood, uncovering new narratives that raise the profile of non-conformist performances.

The book brings together international researchers using innovative and rigorous qualitative methods to show how sport affords or constrains women’s agency to devise, negotiate and live alternative versions of motherhood in and through sport. Presenting stories of sporting mothers in contexts including martial arts, leisure swimming, recreational running, triathlon and climbing, the book explores the shifting meaning and practices of motherhood across social, cultural and media/digital landscapes.

Deliberately challenging taken-for-granted ways of thinking about motherhood and sport, this book is fascinating reading for anybody with an interest in the socio-cultural study of sport, gender and sport, women’s studies, sport coaching, sport leadership, sport development, or qualitative and digital research methods.

Lucy Spowart is Professor of Educational Enhancement at the University of Plymouth’s Peninsula Medical School, UK. As a competitive age-group athlete, Lucy became particularly interested in the intersection of sport and motherhood. Lucy combines her university career with a part-time profession as an endurance sports coach. She is a Level 3 triathlon coach and has supported mother-athletes at all levels, including in the build up to the European and World Paratriathlon Games. Her current research on university staff experiences of returning to work following maternity leave maintains her ongoing interest in motherhood. Lucy is a member of the Expert Advisory Group on Fellowships and Accreditation for Advance HE and Associate Editor of the journal Higher Education Research and Development.

Kerry R. McGannon is a Professor at Laurentian University, Canada. Professor McGannon’s research program has advanced critical qualitative methodologies to understand sport and physical activity behaviour. Specific streams of this work explore the socio-cultural influences on self-identity and critical interpretations of sport, physical activity and the psychological implications. Professor McGannon also studies the media as a cultural site of identity construction within the context of sport, physical activity participation and health. Within this research program, she has advanced understanding of motherhood, identity and sport participation across multiple levels of sport using qualitative methods and methodologies. She is Co-Editor of the journal Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health, Associate Editor of the Journal of Applied Sport Psychology and Psychology of Sport and Exercise.