Men & Sports is the sporting section of Essentially Man (EM), documenting the lives and experiences of male athletes and the worlds they inhabit. Through interviews, profiles and firsthand reporting, EM explores sport from the perspective of the men who participate in it.
The series ranges across different sports, levels of competition and countries. Stories may follow individual athletes, teams, coaches and sporting communities, looking beyond competition to the training, routines, relationships, pressures and everyday experiences that surround sport.
Some stories will also be immersive. I’ll step into different sporting environments myself — training alongside athletes, trying unfamiliar sports and spending time around teams and clubs — to experience something of these worlds firsthand.
At other times, I’ll simply observe. From training grounds and changing rooms to competitions and the time spent together before and afterwards, Men & Sports looks at what happens around the game as well as during it. Friendship, rivalry, discipline, identity, camaraderie and belonging may all be part of these stories but the aim is to discover what sport means to the men involved rather than decide that in advance.
THE EXPERIENCES OF MALE ATHLETES
Read their stories here.