Author Archives: klcraw

A student-athlete on student-athletes

10350521_702825009793855_1240914396882785585_n 10703721_702824963127193_6747904506057412498_n 947139_702824983127191_5406130620779385725_n

In Dorothy Smith’s piece ‘The Everyday World as Problematic’ the author discusses her observations of they in which norms, or the social expectations that govern our behaviour,  are interconnected to form large webs of structures and settings.  Smith argues that “the single case has no significance unless it can in some way or another be extrapolated to some general statement about society or some subgroup represented methodologically as a population of individuals” (p. 571).  I believe my experience as both a varsity athlete and attending my first every Thunderbird Athletes Council (TAC) weekly meeting provided some context and personal application to what Smith is proposing.  Student athletes at UBC are in a very unique position in comparison to other students, a position that comes with both undeniable privilege yet massive expectations that require tremendous commitment and accountability.

My experience at the TAC meeting was a first me, even though I have been a member of the Varsity Women’s Volleyball Team for four years.  The TAC acts as a student-athlete lead student council that meets weekly with two representatives from each other the 27 varsity teams on campus.  The meeting consists of each team present quickly recapping their past week with results from competitions or updates on training.  Each team is invited to nominate a team member (or any athlete for that matter) for Athlete of the Week, which is then voted on by all those present.  The TAC council, which consists of five elected members (President, Secretary, Treasurer, Events Coordinator and Social Media) from various teams, then addresses upcoming events (club events, Christmas parties, fundraisers etc.) or any other announcements and housekeeping matters.  The group was then addressed by two guests, one from Recreation and one from the Athletic Department.  The meeting concluded with members of a particular team nominating their teammate to be featured in a section of the Student-Athlete Newsletter called “A Little Birdy Told Me”, which basically simulates a playful gossip column in which teammates can share anonymous tidbits of info about their teammates.  This section usually consists of romantic endeavours between athletes or anonymously selling out teammates for embarrassing nights out.  Most of the submissions are harmless, playful and good for a quick chuckle but there is no denying the heteronormative undertones of the obsession with heterosexual pairings and their sexual exploits together.

I believe it is aspects like “A Little Birdy Told Me” that creates an image of varsity athletes on a college campus that gives other students presumptuous perspectives about the identities of student-athletes.  The Student-Athletes Newsletter which features this trivial section is only sent out to those belonging to a varsity team, and is not easily available to members of the student body at large.  However its premise is what I believe hinders varsity athletes from connecting with other students and further encourages students to continue to be disconnected and disinterested with UBC’s sport culture.  This lack of investment students feel to the sports team on campus is something that is equal parts frustrating and puzzling for a student-athlete like myself.

I am one student athlete among many I know would love nothing more than to have students their my classes see my varsity branded t-shirts and jackets and instead of rolling their eyes, ask me what team I play for or even better tell me they want to come to a game this weekend.  I believe students see my team gear (which I personally avoid wearing to class for these reasons) and make a host of assumptions about my privileged position on campus and presumed sense of individual entitlement.  I believe what Dorothy Smith has to say about a single case having no generalizing significance would resonate with a lot of student athletes who are very eager to reach out to the general student body.

There is no denying that being a student-athlete has its privileges and perks.  However it comes, in my biased opinion, at a massive investment and price.  Student-athletes on average train/practice 6 days a week, travel every other weekend for competitions across Canada and in the states, have weekly team meetings, video meetings, weight-room sessions, conditioning sessions, team community service, athletic therapy and then actual games/competitions.  In the average week on the volleyball team we put in 40+ hour weeks, equivalent to a full-time job,  and we still go to school full-time and some athletes even work part time.  We do it for a host of different reasons,  some would not have the opportunity to get a degree without sport propelling their education, some want to continue on and play professional sports or compete in the Olympics (some do, most don’t), some consider it a huge accomplishment, some do it for a sense of community, to make friends, to have a place to belong, some do it because of pressure from family, but we all do it because at some point or another we fell in love with a game and fell hard.  Whether that game be running around a giant circle as fast as possible or trying to keep a ball off the floor, we love it regardless of how illogical it all is.  Despite the knee surgeries, the lack of sleep, the coaches we don’t understand, the mandatory ice baths and the 7AM conditioning sessions,  at the end of the day it is a choice, and everyday sore as ever we make it over and over again.

We do not expect our fellow students to idolize us, like we see in U.S. NCAA college sports. We are just trying to get by, so if you are our TA and we have to miss the midterm because we have to fly to Regina in -40 degree weather to play two matches back to back, please understand we truly appreciate your flexibility and consideration.  If you sit next to us in class and I’m still sweating because my coach forgot to let me out early and I ran all the way from the stadium to the ANSO building to try to get to class on time, I apologize for the smell and for the panting.  Please understand I do not actually think my life is like Blue Mountain State or Friday Night Lights (trust me no one on the football team looks like Tim Riggins).  Believe me when I say I love wearing my Blue & Gold and Thunderbird jackets not because I think my shit doesn’t stink but because I love representing our school and am very proud and feel very fortunate to get the opportunity to play the sport I love and get a degree from UBC at the same time, its incredible.  I want to be apart of making the UBC experience more than just about grades, finishing assignments and future job opportunities.  I would love it if you came to a game, just one, doesn’t even have to be my game, our basketball teams play this weekend and my roommate is #7 and she’d love to see you in the stands.

I identify as an athlete.  Not because I agree with the harm sports brings to men who struggle to live up to a glorified hegemonic masculinity or the fact that Maria Sharapova is one of the most incredible female athletes who gets more comments on her choice of skirt as opposed to her performance at Wimbledon.  I identify as an athlete because my coach’s partner is a UBC Poli Sci prof and he helped me pick courses which eventually lead me to sociology a discipline I love.   I identify as an athlete  because in the 70s women fought for me and my teammates to have the same rights as men in college sports.  I identify as an athlete because a couple of decades ago there wouldn’t have been the resources or the funding for me to.

 

Smith, Dorothy (1987/2012). From “The Everyday World As Problematic.” In Scott Appelrouth and Laura Desfor Edles. Classical and Contemporary Sociological Theory (2nd Edition). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Pine Forge Press Pp. 570-3.

No commentsAdd a comment

Bid Day a UBC Welcome to Guyland

Bid Day.

IMG_3109

Bid Day is the yearly UBC event in which young men discover they have been admitted in to the Greek Fraternity System.  Bid Day is the final segment of the week long RUSH process.  Students who are interest in joining a fraternity apply and go through a long interview like process with the frat’s of their choosing.  On Bid Day they gather at the Student Union Building and go through two rooms one to find which Fraternities have selected them and the second to confirm and sometimes choose their position in 1 frat, if they’ve been accepted into more than one.  If you find your name on the list, you’ve earned your “bid” and are officially admitted to begin your initiation.  The process is very quick and efficient.  It oddly resembles a sports team roster or discovering you’ve been cast the lead in the school play.

There are very few surprises on bid day.  Most of the Rushee’s have a pretty solid idea of where the stand with their first choice of frats.  From what I gathered from talking to active frat members the process is rather straight forward.  The Rushee’s find their name on the list a select few will have names on multiple lists, but for the most part this step is just a matter of formality.   However there are always a few disappointments.  A handful will walk by the lists and not see there name and will have to walk out with some inevitable rejection.

Following identifying your name on the Bid Roster for your desired frat you then make your formal acceptance in a second room where you are greeted by an active member who usually greets you with much enthusiasm and a t-shirt.  Lots of hand shakes, embraces, smiles are in the second room.  However this is not the event.  This is the behind the scenes work.  The backstage.  Bid Day is truly about what happens on the ground, or more specifically that spot in between the side of the Sub and the Aquatic Centre.  Entrance into Guyland (according to UBC Frats) happens there.

I was invited to step onto the balcony upstairs at the SUB to peer down onto the scene unfolding outside.  My perspective of the charade that is Bid Day was from above.  An eye in the sky if you will.  Below me were a lot of young men, or frat boys, congregated in to their respective packs.  Distinguished by their coordinated Fraternity t-shirts or matching attire.  They were all staring at the side door from the basement of the SUB with alarmingly eager anticipation.  Energy is high.

One frat guy comes out of the door in question and gestures for his entourage to come front and centre.  The Phi-Delts distinguished by their navy t-shirts push they’re way to the front of the crowd.  The door bursts open once again and a Phi-Delt rushes out into the mob of navy shirt frat brothers and announces a new member, who quickly follows behind the hype man and is engulfed by a sea of Navy.  The begin chanting in unison and push and shove the new member until finally hoisting him above the mosh pit of Phi-Delts.  These guys are loud.  This is the boisterous frat welcome. (Link to short YouTube clip of Bid Day 2014 t UBC)

This welcoming chanting hoisting embracing phenomenon is repeated many times over.  With each new “pledge” that comes through the door is again welcomed with a thundering chant and exclamation from his new Greek brothers.  This is supposed to mark the moment that officially welcomes them into their new community and certainly the new  dimension to their identity.  I could only imagine what a moment this would be for the newcomers.  I could imagine a whole host of reactions from “This is so awesome!”, to “What is happening!!” or even “What the heck have i gotten myself into” all could be expected.  However for most there was a quick look of shock at just the sheer volume of the chanting which was usually responded with equally excited expressions.  Some newbies cheered, some chanted along (even if they didn’t know the words), so laughed and most just gave animalistic shouts.

To say I was overwhelmed with the energy at Bid Day would be a slight understatement.  I was jaw to ground, fit a tennis ball in my mouth shocked.  More because it was almost equally as energetic and enthusiastic for every single guy that walked out of the door, and this had been going on for over 2 hours, in the middle of the day.  The whole time I was observing what was going on below I just kept thinking to myself “That’s a lot of testosterone.”  Which seems to be quite a normative response to such events because of the chauvinistic hegemonic masculine behaviors I was witnessing.  There was playful aggression, loud barbaric chanting, a sense of competitiveness to see which group could out-do the other, and of course an glorification of the Kimmel’s “guy code” also referred to as the “bro code”, as many of the frats refer to their collective groups as brotherhoods.

I believe the events of Bid Day would fit very well as a case study in Kimmel’s exploration of Guyland.  The sense of passionate unity between the Frat guys and their new recruits was evident.  They wanted to welcome them into their uniform club, not only do they dress the same (with their matching t-shirts), but the chant in unison and follow a strict hierarchy, yet instil a sense of mutual respect as they want the welcome to warm and ego-boosting before the  embarrassing and frankly humiliating initiation rituals begins.  Bid Day is about celebration of brotherhood, and its genesis in young men’s lives.  The whole process is very symbolic, with the emerging from behind closed doors into a swarm of cheering admirers and new peers.  Some would say its as dramatic of a ceremony to say that many of the frat brothers are literally entering a whole new world.  With a unique set of values.  But what Bid Day certainly reiterates is that brothers stick together, from day one.

Many of the frat brothers that I spoke to identified strongly with the Greek system.  Strongly enough to consider being apart of their frat as part of who they are as people.  I believe the electric masculine intensity that Bid Day exalts has a large part to play in the loyalty to Guyland or frats that these young men strongly identify with.

No commentsAdd a comment

Meanwhile at the Frat’s: TFM’s and Identity

423661_10151055386096334_353483907_n

The Greek system (fraternities and sororities) is a massive North American college institution with strong ties to UBC.  Beta house located at Wesbrook Mall, was kind enough to allow me to spend some time visiting the house, getting to know their members, traditions and culture.  I began my investigation by attending a preliminary RUSH event, which consisted of current members meeting and touring potential recruits around the house.  My primary purpose was to build some rapport with the Beta Brothers and get to know their culture as a frat and see what such a collective identity looks like. One of the defining features of the fraternity system which I think most of its appeal to outsiders originates from, is the relationship between tradition and secrecy.  Much of the recruitment, initiation and governing traditions of Beta function only through a collective code of confidentiality.  While the brothers were very open and anxious to chat and teach me about their history and culture certain questions are never given a straight answer. However what I believe sets fraternities apart from other campus groups is language.  There is such a decisive and exclusive vocabulary within the house, I found myself constantly asking for clarification.  The whole Greek system in general works on a specified vocabulary, as well as the Beta brothers specifically use their own unique plethora of slang terms.  However while the language can easily work to alienate outsiders they held very little reservations on getting me up to speed on some of their favourite words and phrases.  What I found particularly interesting was that while their language worked to set them apart from other groups it also worked to establish their identity and provide them with a space to respond to the ever present negative frat stigma. Total Frat Move according to urbandictionary.com is an expression “used in response or to describe an action of a male who exudes all things fraternity”.  Beta house specifically described TFM’s as a response to the negative stereotypes and stigma that they feel is undeservingly projected onto them.  This stigma they feel is justified, by the greater student population, solely based on their membership to the Greek system.  If you are at a loss for an image of stereotypical frat guy, please watch Jimmy Tatro’s YouTube video.  As one brother explained to me that he could not even begin a conversation with a girl without her immediately assuming he was only speaking to her having premeditated their night would end in bed.  This was revealed to me with much frustration and even as a sort of plea.  The boys were constantly referring to me as “the snitch” or “investigator”, even though I reassured them that while the underlying purpose of my presence was for a class project I primarily had a general interest in what frat culture looked like from the inside.  There was a definitely a hint of defensiveness regarding my presence. While testosterone levels in the house are high and the language utilized is full of acronyms and exclusive slang, you could not help but admit there was a definite self-deprecating sense of humour  in everything they did.  They are far more self-aware of their stigma, then they think people realize.   They explained that as opposed to doing everything in their power to reverse this “douchey” stereotype they chose to exemplify it.  This exemplification of the frat boy stereotype is accomplished by TFM-ing.  Instead of just going to gym in tank tops with their pre-work out in hand and keep it to themselves like any other tank top wearing gym going frat boy would do, they make a game of it.  One frat brother explained to me that sometimes they’ll set up a bench press in the front yard and have guys “work out” as people walk past on their way to class or getting off the bus.  The brothers revel in the exasperated expressions, the eye rolling, and snickering they receive from onlookers.  Simply put, they find it hilarious, less out of how ridiculous they are actually acting but hilarious in the fact that people think they’re taking themselves seriously.  Such activities bring the boys together in a sort of ‘us’ versus ‘them’ mentality, or at least that helps validate the behaviour on the surface.  They’d rather spend their energy giving people the fuel they want as opposed to fighting against a deeply engrained reputation. BETA house gathers a lot of their identity from playing along with what everyone thinks about them.  To quote Goffman, “it is this against something that the self  can emerge.”  The BETA brothers to an extent have flipped this on its head.  It is a sort of acceptance of people’s assumptions and the exaggeration of what people want frat guys to be that has driven BETA’s common identity.  The find camaraderie  in being the butt of people’s jokes.  Total frat moves give them the self awareness to see what other people assume.

 

KC

References: Goffman, E. (1961). Asylums: Essays on the social situation of mental patients and other inmates. Garden City, N.Y: Anchor Books.

Read 1 CommentAdd a comment