<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>The purpose of this phenomenological study was to examine within the framework of symbolic interaction theory and field theory how women national ice hockey players understand ice hockey through their experiences. Semi-structured interviews were used to understand the experiences of 21 ice hockey players from the Turkish women’s national team, and themes were developed from the data using the thematic analysis methods. A total of three main themes and two sub-themes were created after the analysis. In this context, three main themes related to the theoretical framework were established: “Symbolic Meanings: A Strong Ice Hockey Player,” “Ice Hockey As a Life Space,” and “A Hard Fight On the Ice.” In addition, under the main theme of “Ice Hockey As a Life Space” are two sub-themes: “World of Emotions” and “Constraints.” Ice hockey is perceived by women players as a living space that expresses a firm stance towards life. Despite the presence of traces of the concept of gender, ice hockey is not seen as a fully gendered area by Turkish players. In general, women players reported the lack of financial and social support as limiting factors for participation in ice hockey, while moral support and high motivation were supporting factors.</p></abstract>

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to examine within the framework of symbolic interaction theory and field theory how women national ice hockey players understand ice hockey through their experiences. Semi-structured interviews were used to understand the experiences of 21 ice hockey players from the Turkish women’s national team, and themes were developed from the data using the thematic analysis methods. A total of three main themes and two sub-themes were created after the analysis. In this context, three main themes related to the theoretical framework were established: “Symbolic Meanings: A Strong Ice Hockey Player,” “Ice Hockey As a Life Space,” and “A Hard Fight On the Ice.” In addition, under the main theme of “Ice Hockey As a Life Space” are two sub-themes: “World of Emotions” and “Constraints.” Ice hockey is perceived by women players as a living space that expresses a firm stance towards life. Despite the presence of traces of the concept of gender, ice hockey is not seen as a fully gendered area by Turkish players. In general, women players reported the lack of financial and social support as limiting factors for participation in ice hockey, while moral support and high motivation were supporting factors.

Standing on the ice: experiences of women national ice hockey players in Turkey

Physical Culture and Sport. Studies and Research

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

{"article-title":"Standing on the ice: experiences of women national ice hockey players in Turkey"}

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to examine within the framework of symbolic interaction theory and field theory how women national ice hockey...

Standing on the ice: experiences of women national ice hockey players in Turkey

Published Online: Jan 29, 2021

Page range: 45 - 54

Received: May 21, 2020

Accepted: Nov 23, 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/pcssr-2021-0005

Keywords
Gender, field theory, ice hockey, symbolic interaction theory, women

© 2021 Sena Nur Doğusan et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Standing on the ice: experiences of women national ice hockey players in Turkey

Published Online: Jan 29, 2021

Page range: 45 - 54

Received: May 21, 2020

Accepted: Nov 23, 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/pcssr-2021-0005

KeywordsGender, field theory, ice hockey, symbolic interaction theory, women

© 2021 Sena Nur Doğusan et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
Gender, field theory, ice hockey, symbolic interaction theory, women