Abstract
In this article, we discuss some of the identity challenges presented by Canadian National Team Female Boxers, and their possible implications to the athletes’ well-being and sport performance. Three identity challenges identified by the athletes included: (a) being a female boxer in a masculine sport context, (b) acceptance and tensions surrounding queer identities, and (c) feeling “different” as racial/ethnic minorities. Corresponding to these challenges, intervention strategies are proposed for sport practitioners, comprised of sport psychologists, coaches, and organizational staff seeking to build a culturally inclusive sport environment and support elite female athletes as holistic persons in combative sports through both policies and interventions. This submission is also intended as a catalyst to context-driven explorations and subsequent practical interventions within further elite sport contexts.
Notes
1 Queer is an umbrella term that captures various sexual and gender minorities, representing people who are not heterosexual and/or do not conform to gender norms. Not all non-heterosexual people identify as queer (Krane et al., Citation2010).