Abstract
Relying on a framework of multiracial feminism (Baca Zinn & Dill, 1994) and Gerson's (1985) developmental analysis, this research explores how a select group of Latinas made decisions about sport involvement. More specifically, the collegiate athletic paths of a select group of Latinas are analyzed as a product of their experiences within larger social conditions. The application of these frameworks is especially relevant for studying the experiences of women in Latina/o families who face varied constraining and enabling conditions along what are often unconventional paths toward collegiate softball. Among the findings in the present research were: a) women in Latina/o families do receive familial support for sport involvement; b) women in Latina/o families face varied forms of structural disadvantage that influence decisions about involvement in sport; c) school personnel may hold beliefs about Latina educational and career advancement that influence the guidance Latinas receive for transitioning from high school to college; d) race and ethnicity are consistently significant in interactions between student athletes and coaches; e) social constructions of sexualities have contradictory influences in the experiences of female collegiate athletes; and f) collegiate softball is a social structure organized around multiple inequalities that situate participants in different locations from which they gain disparate consequences of membership.