Positional Play: Racial Stereotyping in Rugby League

Chappell (1995) has drawn attention to research that has identified the ways in which racial stereotyping can dictate the involvement of black athletes in British sport. Following Cashmore (1982) he suggests that stereotyping serves to present sport as a legitimate area for success for young blacks, but that stereotyping also serves to restrict the positions in which black athletes are allowed to play (Wedderburn, 1989 & Maguire, 1991). We now have further evidence of the racial dimension of sport from a study of rugby league recently conducted by a team from Leeds Metropolitan University on behalf of the Rugby League, the Commission for Racial Equality, and Leeds City Council (Long et al, forthcoming). That study involved: a) a postal questionnaire sent to the chairman, secretary, coach and head physio/trainer, or their equivalent, at each club in the Rugby League (with a response rate of 60%); b) a survey of rugby league fans via self-completed questionnaires administered at four matches (2,634 completed questionnaires represented an overall response rate of 70%); and, c) in depth interviews with 16 players (eight black and eight white).