Living in the along: reflections on inquiring into experiences of women in sport

In this chapter we reflect on our ongoing research into women and sport, and our mutual learning from our positions as a Black woman located in the Global South and a white woman located in the Global North. Using Gwendolyn Brooks’ poem “Speech to the Young, Speech to the Progress Towards (among them Nora and Henry III)†as a device, we explore the ways our practices and beliefs align to a way of thinking in which the present moment before gender balance or justice is realised is just as valuable as the visualised end. We call this an epistemology of the along. The chapter provides an overview of the theoretical approach and methodology we apply that has led us to the idea of the along. Throughout the chapter, the reader is reminded that nothing is finished. Both researcher and the reader are invited to keep raising questions and consider possibilities given the multiple influences in space and time.