A participação de meninas em ambientes de competição mista

Abstract

The regulation of mixed-gender football has expanded institutional opportunities for girls to take part in youth competitions; however, eligibility to compete does not, by itself, ensure access to teams, the distribution of playing opportunities, or the conditions under which these experiences are lived. This dissertation aimed to investigate the conditions of girls’ participation in mixed-gender football competitions by integrating competitive organization, actual playing opportunities, and the experiences constructed within this context. The research comprised a documentary contextualization of youth football competitions organized by the Amazonas Football Federation between 2019 and 2026 and three complementary studies developed from the 2025 Amazonas Youth Football Championship. Field monitoring included 103 matches in the Under-8 and Under-10 categories, resulting in 261 player-match observations. The first study adopted a quantitative, descriptive, and correlational approach to analyze competitive organization, participation opportunities, and players’ perceived self-efficacy. The second used a longitudinal observational design and linear mixed models to examine the distribution of playing opportunities and their associations with competitive conditions, maturational characteristics, and coaches’ evaluations. The third adopted a qualitative approach and analyzed interviews with 29 players, 23 family members/guardians, and 11 coaches to understand conditions of access and experiences constructed within the competitive environment. The documentary overview showed a recent increase in girls’ registrations, accompanied by substantial use of the Age Waiver Mechanism and the recurrence of participants across subsequent seasons. In the competition investigated, adaptations designed for youth football and regulatory mechanisms related to participation were identified, although no minimum playing time was guaranteed. Playing opportunities were unevenly distributed and varied according to competitive conditions, players’ characteristics, and coaches’ evaluations, while playing time alone did not explain participants’ perceptions of their own capabilities. The interviews showed that access to teams depends on different forms of mediation and that experiences in mixed-gender environments may involve acceptance, learning, friendship, and recognition, as well as pressure, prejudice, insecurity, and embarrassment. It is concluded that eligibility, access, playing opportunities, and experiences constitute distinct, interrelated, and complementary dimensions of girls’ participation in mixed-gender football. Understanding these conditions requires considering the interplay among competitive organization, players’ characteristics and perceptions, the relationships and decisions of social agents, and the gender relations that permeate the sporting context.