Being ‘in’ and ‘on the Field’: An Auto-Ethnographic Reflection on Elite Women's Football in Argentina

Abstract

In this chapter, I reflect on my experiences researching women's football in Argentina as a professional player in the teams I was studying, UAI Urquiza and Argentina's national team. First, I explore some theoretical aspects of auto-ethnography and ethnography. Before entering into the main discussion of the text; however, I contextualise my work, starting with my access to the field and briefly summarising my own football career as an Argentine-American. Then, I articulate the categories of insider/outsider and native/non-native with my fieldwork and the transformations in the players, the sport and myself that I observed throughout my time in the field. Finally, the text concludes with a reflection on the limitations and opportunities offered by auto-ethnography in the social study of sport.

Citation

Garton, G. (2023), "Being ‘in’ and ‘on the Field’: An Auto-Ethnographic Reflection on Elite Women's Football in Argentina", Culvin, A. and Bowes, A. (Ed.) Women’s Football in a Global, Professional Era (Emerald Studies in Sport and Gender), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 145-157. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80071-052-820230010