An Exploration of How Ontario Children’s Soccer Coaches of Mixed-Sex Programs Understand Sex and Gender

Abstract

Sport is an arena in which natural differences between women and men are considered so obvious and profound that they necessitate completely separate teams and leagues for women and men. The normalized division of women’s and men’s sport and assumptions of natural sex difference also informs the organization of children’s sport, including in children’s soccer spaces. Sex segregation in children’s sport spaces not only has negative impacts on both boys and girls, but it also actively restricts the participation of trans, Two Spirit, and gender expansive children, often requiring them to choose between honouring their gender or participating in sport. Little research has explored specifically how coaches of mixed-sex children’s sport programs understand sex and gender; therefore, for my Master of Arts research, I explored how children’s soccer coaches of mixed-sex programs in Ontario understand sex and gender. I used a feminist science studies theoretical framework and feminist methodologies to conduct 11 semi-structured interviews with coaches who had experience working with mixed-sex programs for children aged four to eight. I used critical discourse analysis to analyze these interviews and examine the discourses (re)produced by the coaches. Through this analysis, I found that the coaches (re)produced three pervasive discourses: 1) gender is constructed but categorical; 2) inevitable and hierarchal sex differences necessitate sex-segregation; and 3) girls’ sport is vulnerable and girls in sport require support. The results of this research suggest that coaches’ understanding of sex and gender is heavily informed by the sex/gender binary of sport, even in mixed-sex children’s soccer spaces. The findings from this research can be used to inform coach education and sport policy that resists binary and naturalized notions of sex and gender.