ABSTRACT
In many U.S. secondary schools, inter-scholastic sports play crucial roles in structuring student status hierarchies and peer friendship networks. “Star’’ male athletes are often venerated by their peers and local communities, becoming core members of a school's “in-crowd” (Bissinger 1991; Coleman 1961; Holland and Andre 1994). Similarly, nonathletic friends of popular athletes tend to share elevated social status and gain membership in more exclusive peer groups (Eckert 1989). The predominance and visi bility of sports in schools encourages all students, regardless of their gender or athleticism, to orient their behaviors toward these activities and define their own identities in relation to the most popular athletes and athletic cliques.
