Speakers
Description
Athletes can be seen as one of the main actors in sports. However, it has been evident that their voices are the least heard of when it comes to decision-making and policymaking of sports institutions. Some sports governing bodies are beginning to establish athletes’ commission for athletes to represent themselves. Though majority remain silent, athletes have become more vocal of their experiences about their training, coaches, and sport federation officials. Some elite athletes have started to make their voices heard as seen from Tokyo Olympics. In the Philippines, few national athletes had spoken out about their struggles as an athlete. This action was welcomed with both support and criticism. In combat sports, athletes rarely speak out, as obedience and respect are highly valued. Therefore, this paper examines the meaning of athlete representation and how it is carried out in the case of combat sports in national sports associations in the Philippines. To identify how athletes and sports administrators understand and define athlete representation, in-depth interviews with combat sports athletes and sports administrators from different combat sports associations were conducted. Findings reveal that athletes and sports administrators have different ideas of athlete representation. Some athletes are uncertain about athlete representation but believe that their voices matter and should be considered in decision making and policymaking. Most sports administrators agree that athletes’ voice matter. Understanding how athlete representation is understood among different stakeholders can contribute to closing the gaps between athletes and administrators as well as develop policies for athletes’ rights.
