Kiyara Letlow, Courtney Szto, Luc Martin

Interdependent sport represents a multifaceted environment where individuals can develop their athletic skills, navigate meaningful relationships, and discover their identities within a team. Despite the numerous benefits attributed to participation, however, sport as a context is not immune to broader societal issues and biases, meaning their infusion will inevitably shape athlete experiences and collective team functioning. Unfortunately, the relative influence of these biases on athletes’ everyday experiences and interactions within team settings remains poorly understood. This study aims to examine how societal biases influence the experiences of racially minoritized university athletes with Black heritage pertaining to team structures, processes, and emergent states. The research will employ a two-phase qualitative design grounded in critical race theory and group dynamics principles. Phase one will include semi-structured interviews with athletes who identify as Black or have Black heritage from men and women’s interdependent sport to explore experiences of racial bias and team-based social interactions. Data from these interviews will be analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis, with preliminary interpretations—in the form of executive summaries—being presented to groups of different athletes comprising a range of racial and gender identities. These focus groups will serve to further explore how experiences are interpreted and to identify strategies for fostering more culturally competent team environments. Findings from this work will illustrate the unique ways in which interpersonal and systemic biases affect racially minoritized athletes’ sport-related experiences and will inform coaching and organizational practices to promote more equity, inclusion, and cultural competence within competitive sport environments.