For this research corner, I (Alan) interviewed my colleagues and guest editors, Drs. Rob Owens, Aaron Goodson, and Amanda Perkins-Ball, regarding the development of the Case Studies in Sport and Exercise Psychology (CSSEP) Special Issue—Making Good Trouble, Necessary Trouble, in Applied Sport Psychology Practice: Global Perspectives.‬ This special issue focuses on applied and research case studies that critically reflect on an applied sport, exercise, and psychology practitioner’s ability to deliver services and/or underscore the practitioner’s role in disrupting and dismantling systemic oppression in high-performance settings.

Interview Questions

Alan: How was the idea of this special issue created? Why did you do this through the journal CSSEP instead of other journals?

Editors: Dr. Rob Schinke, the Editor-in-Chief of CSSEP, came up with the idea of a special issue for CSSEP. He originally approached Rob (Owens) and another colleague with the idea. Initially, we were reluctant because the Journal of Applied Sport Psychology (JASP) and the Journal of Clinical Sport Psychology (JCSP) had already announced special issues related to race and intersectionality. However, we ended up agreeing to edit this special issue because we thought it would supplement the other special issues by specifically calling for global perspectives.

Alan: What was the process like to develop such a special issue? Did you face any challenges?

Editors: The process of putting together a special issue like this one posed several challenges. The first is the format of the journal. Authors who submit to CSSEP must follow a special format (must demonstrate practical and academic rigor that goes beyond description of processes to interpretive qualities and relevance outside of a single context) that you do not see in other sport psychology journals. This choice was intentional as the focus of the journal is case studies. Second, there are fewer submissions to CSSEP than to other sport psychology journals. Rob (Schinke) advised us that we would need to recruit authors. He also advised that a CSSEP special issue would contain fewer articles. The goal of the special issue would be to provide an outlet to international scholars.

Alan: How is an antiracist praxis from an international perspective similar to and different than from a US perspective?

Editors: Good question. In full transparency, we want to exercise cultural humility and not provide a US or Western-centric position of what anti-racist means, which could vary across the globe. We intentionally used the words “Global Perspectives” in the title of the special issue to call attention to multiplicity and the polyvocal nature of the anti-racist praxis. We would say the anti-racist praxis is not static. It has a global flow to it and has the power to cut across geographical boundaries.

Alan: What suggestions do you have for US and international researchers to make meaningful impacts regarding the current struggles faced by BIPOC individuals in exercise, sport, and other high-performance settings?

Editors: Tell your story, regardless of whether you are a researcher or practitioner (or both). In telling your story, you have the ability to empower and change the lives of new practitioners entering into the field.

Alan: What do you hope to see after this special issue gets published?

Editors: The CSSEP special issue will be small. Therefore, we hope to continue the conversations to see more articles on global perspectives to anti-racist praxis in other sport and exercise psychology journals.

Alan: Is there anything else you want people to know about this special issue?

Editors: As sport, exercise, and performance psychology researchers and practitioners, it is important that we continue to learn and engage with each other and consider issues of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) from a global perspective. This special issue (and others) is just the beginning. We need to embed DEIB in all of our work and not let it remain in the periphery.