Storying my self: negotiating a relational identity in professional sport

Abstract

Much existing sport research subscribes to a dominant performance narrative which prescribes sacrifice, dedication, discipline and an overriding focus on winning as prerequisites for success in sport. Recently, however, narrative scholars have criticised the performance narrative on the basis of its damaging effects on identity development and psychological well‐being and have identified alternative but silenced life stories among highly successful professional sportspeople. These alternative stories allow athletes to resist the dominant performance narrative and thereby sustain a multi‐dimensional identity and sense of self. My purpose with this paper is to provide some insight into how these narrative processes unfold through an autoethnographic approach which foregrounds particular moments of my own life in sport. Through telling these stories I hope to illuminate processes of identity construction and negotiation in the context of a golf career which included multiple professional tournament wins, two European Master’s Championships and representation of England, Great Britain and Europe.

Keywords:

• autoethnography
• narrative
• identity
• professional sport
• relational

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Kandis Ip for her comments on an earlier draft of this manuscript, and along with Pauline, Gus and Karen, for providing me with alternative adventures to narrate. My appreciation goes to the two anonymous reviewers for their encouraging, critical insights. Without the opportunity to share these stories, in their embryonic form, with someone who would listen with a supportive but insightful ear, I would not have considered their worth. I would therefore like to mark the significant contribution of David Carless to this work, with much gratitude, thank you.