ABSTRACT
The social significance of sport at both local and global levels, in traditional and extreme‚ or alternative forms, has become increasingly apparent through theoretical concern with sporting identities (see for example Donnelly and Young 1988; Messner and Sabo 1990; Coakly and Donnelly 1999; McKay et al. 2000). These studies are informed by investigations of shifting, flexible and multiple hegemonic masculine identities that have emerged in the sociological and cultural studies literature (see Connell 1995).
