A Intersectional Analysis of the Recruitment and Participation of Second-generation African Canadian Adolescent Girls in a Community Basketball Program in Ottawa, Canada

Abstract

Research on the unique challenges facing racialized and minority adolescent girls in Canada has prompted sport actors to develop tailored intervention strategies to address the disproportionately lower participation and retention rates of these subpopulations. However, much research has relied on unitary conceptualisations of participation barriers facing socially disadvantaged adolescent girls, which has produced “one-size-fits-all” policy and program solutions to address declining participation trends. Therefore, in my thesis research, I used intersectionality theory, a feminist participatory action research (FPAR) approach, and semi-structured interviews with 11 coordinators and coaches in the City of Ottawa’s Community Centre Basketball League (CCBL) to understand how they address the recruitment and participation of second-generation African Canadian adolescent girls in low-income Ottawa neighbourhoods. I then used Braun and Clarke’s (2019a) reflexive thematic analysis to better understand the facilitators and barriers to the recruitment and participation of these girls in the CCBL program. I identified four themes that inform the recruitment and participation of second-generation African Canadian adolescent girls in the CCBL: a) CCBL coordinators hire coaches who can relate to the program users through shared culture and/or lived-experiences; b) CCBL coaches use their identities and lived experiences to enhance their understanding of the program users; c) CCBL coaches and coordinators make efforts to build trust with and increase buy-in from parents to improve participation from program users; and d) CCBL coaches and coordinators make religious accommodations in response to the needs of Muslim and Christian program users. The findings from my research can be used to promote more inclusive and equitable community-based sport programs serving ethnoculturally diverse adolescent girls in Canada.