The professionalization tension in women’s sport: the case of women’s basketball in Australia

Research Question: Women athletes in elite leagues are increasingly viewed as professional, but often this label is aspirational and does not reflect their experience. They are rarely provided with professional working conditions, which creates barriers to becoming elite, full-time athletes. This research aimed to explore the barriers faced by Australian women basketballers at the elite and sub-elite level, how those barriers vary at each stage on the professionalization continuum, and how this impacted the athlete’s experience. Research methods: Concept Mapping is a two-phased mixed-methods technique that was used to explore the barriers faced by elite and sub-elite women basketballers. Participants in both groups separately brainstormed barriers they faced, sorted them into groups based on similarity of meaning, and rated them for importance and frequency. Results and findings: For sub-elite players, barriers resulting from the inability to balance sporting commitment with other facets of their lives were rated the most important and most frequently experienced. For elite players, the main barrier was low pay. Both these types of barriers link to the respective stage of professionalization of their leagues. Cluster maps and go-zones for each group represent the data. Implications: By placing the results in the context of Bowes and Culvin’s (2021) definition of professionalization, this research adds to the understanding of how the current stage of professionalization in Australian women’s basketball hinders career progression for these athletes, and diminishes their experience as a player.