“It’s always going to be a part of who you are”: exploring the identities of competitive male ice hockey players

Abstract

In this thesis I explore how competitive male ice hockey players living in Northeastern Ontario construct their identities through sport participation with an emphasis on masculinity. The purpose of the thesis is to provide insight into the way identities are formed and the examination of myself in relation to my biases and the participants. The study was guided by narrative theory using a social constructionism paradigm. Participants consisted of five current players (age 19- 22) from hockey teams in Northeastern Ontario and one retired professional hockey player who acted as a key informant. I used thematic analysis to identify common themes from a total of six semi-structured, conversational interviews. The thesis is a paper-based document consisting of two stand-alone manuscripts and complementing bookend chapters. The first manuscript presents the results from the analysis of the interviews while the second manuscript presents a discussion around reflexive materials written throughout the research process.