Experiences of Black Canadian Male Student-Athletes

Abstract

The goals of this study were to centralize the voices of Black Canadian male student-athletes by investigating their experiences as students, athletes, Black males and children of immigrant parents, and examining how these experiences might contextualize their transition out of university sport. Qualitative interviews with 20 former and current Black Canadian student-athletes were conducted using Critical Race Theory (CRT) as a methodological framework. Several of the participants described the racial, athletic and academic stereotypes that shaped their experiences, illustrating, in some cases, the influence of the Black American culture on Black Canadians. The analysis focused on how the interview participants interpreted their experiences and how stereotypes were used to make sense of their university and transition experiences. Some participants rejected the stereotypes evoked, some challenged them in an attempt to prove them wrong, while others used them to “act more Black”. Furthermore, the degree to which these stereotypes interacted with their transition experiences centered around autonomy, the emulation of role models and of developing career opportunities highlighted the initiative displayed by most of these student-athletes. The intersection of these factors, combined with their immigrant parents’ inexperience navigating the Canadian university system, forced most of these young men to transition out of university and varsity athletics on their own.