The Production of Docility in Professional Ice Hockey

The social relations and practices that imbue the sport of ice hockey have prompted several limiting and problematic outcomes for athletes. Concerned by such outcomes, and informed by the anatomo-politics of French poststructuralist philosopher Michel Foucault (1991), an examination into the relations of power that govern North American professional ice hockey was undertaken. The examination revealed that athletes were routinely subject to disciplinary power and a commonplace set of practices that closely resemble Foucault’s (1991) ‘means of correct training’: managers, in partnership with coaches under their remit, choreographed and engaged in constant supervision (e.g., scouting and monitoring), organized highly ritualized examinations (e.g., combines, training camps), rewarded conformity (e.g., contractual benefits), and punished deviance (e.g., inter- and intra-team reassignments). These practices were additionally undergirded by clearly identifiable panoptic arrangements that stretched across the athletic lifespan. Ultimately, the observed workings of disciplinary power served not the development of a whole individual, but rather the production of docility

Life after hockey : an examination of athletic career transition and the National Hockey League's career transition program

The existent body of athletic career retirement literature is scant in studies of career transition programs. In an effort to attend to this analytical gap, the present study set out to examine the transitions of National Hockey League (NHL; ice hockey) alumni, as well as the effect ~and effectiveness of their respective career transition program, the Life After Hockey program. Interviews with 17 NHL/program alumni revealed that quality of transition (to post-playing life) was affected by: the continuity between pre- and postretirement environments; athletic identity; physical/psychological health (particularly with respect to post-concussion syndrome); selective coping strategies (e.g., preretirement planning (e.g., financial planning, continued education), positive reinterpretation, alcohol/substance abuse); and social support. Also affecting quality of transition, and found to be highly effective (particularly in generating new occupational opportunities, assisting in the acquisition of new skills, and providing a system of continuous support), was the Life After Hockey program

‘I was there from the start’: The identity maintenance strategies used by fans to combat the threat of losing

On-field performances are a key, yet uncontrollable, determinant of team identification. In this research, we explore how fans of a new team, with an overwhelming loss to win ratio, maintain a positive social identity. Qualitative data gathered from 20 semi-structured interviews were used to address this research objective. Our findings indicated fans use social creativity and social mobility strategies to help preserve a positive and distinctive group identity. In the absence of success, fans evaluated the group on dimensions that reflected positively on, and emphasised the distinctiveness of, group membership. Fans also sought to increase their status in the group to increase the positivity of this association. We use these findings to extend understanding of social identity theory and provide recommendations for sport organisations with unfavourable performance records. Recommendations are themed around highlighting the unique nature of the group and and favourable status comparisons between members of the in-group

Давноминулий час із семантикою незавершеної ситуації

The article deals with the problem of the appearance in the pluperfect of semantic forms for uncompleted past situations. The study involves the analysis of situations in which the process of developing the action, expressed by the pluperfect, sees a barrier appear that disturbs the natural fl ow of the event or indicates the canceled result of the event. Particular attention is focused on constructions with the particle bulo, because the use of this particle in artistic texts is a sign of disturbance to the natural fl ow of the events. As a conclusion: the pluperfect tense in such interpretation is carried out in different types of sentences and its semantic potential is realized in 3 main types: 1) unrealized intention; 2) disturbed attempt; 3) canceled result. The choice of the appropriate interpretation depends on the aspectual characteristics of the verb, its semantics and the context