Abstract
How did we get here? I am the coach of a senior women’s softball team. Last week we had our end of summer bash, and so it is a time of reflection. Straight to the point, this has been a challenging year for reasons that can be imagined when several players on a team are in their late 80s and early 90s. Yet here we are heading into the fall portion of the season stronger than we have ever been as a collective team and as an organization. There are lots of pieces we are still rebuilding, and there are always unforeseen challenges waiting around any next bend. In a way that is the point as is the feeling of resiliency, continuity, and growth that predominates. As someone whose organized sports life has taken place in the post Title IX era, situated such that I have had the opportunity to experience a range of programs on the cusp of change a, to answer the opening question, I incorporate PERPLE (practically engaged reflection on the perception of lived experience) methodology and the constructs of creative agency, positivity possible, and sports as a strategic art. The emerging theme of the paper is choosing sports. The link between the global and the local is an approach to sports where each day, an active choice is made, how do I choose to relate to sports today? This level of awareness necessities keeping the local always central in any choice.
Presenters
Heidi MullerProfessor, Communication and Journalism, University of Northern Colorado, Colorado, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Theme
2025 Special Focus—Global Sports Local Cultures
KEYWORDS
Communication Theory, Senior Women's Sports, Lived Experience, Softball, Creative Agency
