Women’s snowboarding – some experiences and perceptions of competition

Abstract

This article focuses on female snowboarders’ experiences with, and perceptions of, snowboard competitions. The article is based on a study conducted at an international women’s snowboard camp. The purpose of the camp was to discuss strategies for promoting females’ participation in the snowboard organisations and in snowboard competition. Interviews were held with eight participants aged 18–31 years. Most of the participants had been previously involved in competition. Their experience had been both negative and positive. Most of the participants perceived snowboard facilities (Big air and Half-pipe) as being too large for females and a possible constraint on participation. Moreover, the study’s findings reveal ideas concerning alternative competition formats as well as arguments for ‘women-only’ sessions as a feasible way to reach more female snowboarders, to provide skill enhancement, and to increase participation in the competitions. The findings are discussed in light of the development of snowboarding and Bourdieu’s theoretical framework.

Este artigo tem foco nas experiências e percepções de mulheres snowboarders com competições de snowboard. O artigo é baseado em um estudo conduzido em um acampamento feminino internacional de snowboard. O acampamento tinha como propósito discutir estratégias para a promoção da participação feminina nas organizações de snowboard e em suas competições. Foram conduzidas entrevistas com oito participantes entre 18 e 31 anos de idade. A maioria das participantes já haviam participado de competições anteriormente. Suas experiências foram tanto negativas como positivas. A maior parte das participantes perceberam as instalações de snowboard (big air e halfpipe) como sendo muito grandes para mulheres e um possível motivo de afastamento de participantes. Além disso, os achados do estudo revelam ideias sobre formatos alternativos de competição, assim como argumentos para sessões “só para mulheres” como uma forma possível de alcançar mais mulheres snowboarders, de proporcionar a melhoria do nível de habilidade, e de aumentar a participação em competições. Os resultados são discutidos sob a luz do desenvolvimento do snowboard e do quadro teórico de Bourdieu.

该文章着重于女性单板滑雪者的经验, 和滑雪竞赛的看法。该文章是建立在在一个国际妇女滑雪营里进行的研究。该露营的目的是来讨论宣传女性在滑雪组织和在滑雪竞赛的战略。采访是与年龄18到31岁之间的8位参与者进行的。大部分的参与者都以前参加过竞赛。他们的经验有负面的和正面的。大部分的参与者认为滑雪器材 (空中滑雪和半管) 对女性来说太大了, 并是一个对参与的可能的限制。另外, 研究结论揭示了关于替代的竞赛形式以及用女性专用赛事来作为一个达到更多女性滑雪者的可能的方法, 来提升竞赛的参与。结论是在滑雪发展和Bourdieu理论框架的启发下讨论的。

Keywords:

• snowboarding
• the new leisure movement
• snowboarding facilities
• competition formats
• women-only sessions
• Bourdieu

Palavras chave:

• snowboard
• o novo movimento de lazer
• instalações de snowboard
• formato de competições
• sessões só para mulheres
• Bourdieu

关键词:

• 滑雪
• 新休闲运动
• 滑雪器材
• 竞赛形式
• 女性专用赛事
• Bourdieu

Notes

1. Elias and Dunning (1986) use the term sportisation when discussing sport/physical activities in relation to the civilising process. Guttman’s (1978) characteristics of modern sport give relevant insight in rules, regulations, standardisations etc.

2. An article on networking is formerly published (Sisjord, 2012) (The title, journal and name of author will be added if the present article is acceptance for publication). See note 7.

3. The term ‘girls’ is directly translated from the Norwegian use of the word which covers a wider age span then ‘girls’ in English (Norwegian ‘girls’ may also refer to young adults). The term ‘girl’ may appear in quotations from Norwegian participants as well as other (non-English) participants employing the term in the interview.

4. Snowboarding can also be traced to the ‘whiz sports’ movement in France in the1970–1980s, which according to Midol and Broyer (1995) constitutes new sport forms, very different from the official one promoted by sport institutions. The whiz sport culture was championed by avant-garde groups that challenged ‘the existing order through which French society has defined itself for the last two centuries’ (p. 210).

5. Gender-specific equipment is an evidence of females’ inroad into snowboarding and which was welcomed by female riders. The boards for women were shorter, lighter, and narrower, with more flex and clothing was designed to fit better for females than the ‘super-huge’ designed for males (Howe, 1998). The inclusion of gender-specific competitions may be understood as a part of the sportification process, where fairness in judgment is a predominant aspect, also resulting in sex-separated classes.

6. Due to bias distribution of participants representing the different countries the number of interviewees from Finland and Norway was limited in order to equalise the other countries. This was mainly because of another part of the study exploring organisational links in the home country and collaboration across national boarder, where it was imperative to include delegates from each country represented at the camp.

7. The Data Protection Official for Research evaluates proposals from scholars at Norwegian universities, university colleges, several hospitals and research institutes. The proposal covers a plan for data collection including interview guide and a description of the sample (particularly age is important with regard to parent’s consent for participation which was not needed here) etc.

8. A draught of a formerly published article on ‘networking’ was sent to the interviewees for comments since much of the data revealed home country which made the interviewees easier identifiable. The interviewees expressed that they did not need to read through a draught of another article.

9. As part of the EU supported project, a workshop was held the year before the camp was arranged. Delegates from several European snowboard organisations, males and females, took part in the workshop. During the discussion of promoting females’ involvement, a few delegates explained that men facilitated lower sized jumps in order to encourage women’s participation. The current statement may be an example of that.