There is literature based on masters athletes and their involvement in sports at the later stages of life. Masters athletes are exercise-trained individuals who compete in athletic events at a high level well beyond a typical retirement age (Tanaka & Seals, 2008). These athletes vary widely in age but are typically older than 35 years, with many more over the ages of 50 and well into old age. The research questions guiding this study included; (a) what are the media representation of masters athletes, and how are they used to generate meanings around aging, sports and the aging body and (b) what are the implications of these meanings on how the aging body is represented to the audience. A qualitative (i.e., case study) approach was used to explore what meanings were generated around aging and sports through media narratives in relation to aging successfully. Media data in the form of sports magazines (i.e., Runner’s World and Lexis-Nexis data base) were compiled for the data analysis. This research focused specifically on two cases, 81year old Ed Whitlock, a Canadian long distance marathon runner, and 77 year-old Jeanne Daprano, an American masters track and field athlete. The data included (n=41 Ed Whitlock, n= 17 Jeanne Daprano). The data were analyzed via an inductive thematic analysis (see Braun & Clarke, 2006). The following central themes emerged a) life-long involvement in sports (higher order themes: earlier sporting experience, triumphant return, uninterrupted engagement), (b) performance narratives (serious contenders, reasoning for performance, systematic training, an individualized approach), and (c) decline narratives (resistance to declines in old age, sports related injuries, maintenance of performance). This study highlights how both athletes were depicted in the media narratives, demonstrating that their involvement in sports in later life provided an alternate way to view the aging process. The findings from this study seek to extend the understanding of masters athletes, by contextualization how they challenge some of the decline narratives associated with old age.

This thesis aimed to uncover age-related differences in a coach’s approaches to facilitate learning for Masters athletes (MAs) and youth athletes, using the Andragogy in Practice Model (Knowles et al., 2012) as a guide. Data in this instrumental case study were gathered from three semi-structured coach interviews, four focus group interviews (two with each cohort), and moderate participant observation (Spradley, 1980) to inform interview content. Results of qualitative analyses suggested, through the coach and athletes’ perspectives, that the coach oriented her approaches differently between MAs (aged 27-70) and youth (aged 14-15). She allowed the MAs to self-direct and make decisions, and encouraged them to ask questions collaboratively. Comparatively, she held a directed control and structure for the youth’s training influenced by highly competitive expectations. Despite differences, we acknowledge andragogy’s usefulness with both cohorts, and suggest that coaches recognize nuances between age groups that may influence how they orient their approaches.

This thesis aimed to: (a) design a factorially valid survey to assess sub-themes relating to ‘involvement opportunities’ (IOs), which are an antecedent variable in the sport commitment model (Wilson et al., 2004); (b) examine the placement of enjoyment alongside IOs in the sport commitment model; (c) determine the pathways (i.e., direct and/or indirect) by which specific IOs sub-themes affect functional and obligatory commitment and if they differ in number, strength and direction of association (Choosakul et al., 2009); and (d) examine differences between recent initiates compared to those who have been more continuously involved (Chu & Wang, 2012) in Masters swimming. Based on exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses of survey data from 725 swimmers (260 males, 465 females, M age = 50.5, range = 25-92), results confirmed a 10 factor solution of IOs sub-themes. Structural equation modeling demonstrated that the number, direction, and strength of associations between specific IOs sub-themes and commitment vary depending on commitment type, as do the nature of direct and indirect pathways affecting commitment. Invariance testing showed recent initiates and continuously-involved swimmers to be invariant across measurement and structural models. Overall, results support the need to measure and assess IOs at the level of the sub-theme and to consider a bi-dimensional (Santi et al., 2014; Wilson et al., 2004) sport commitment model.