Furguson 1

Haley Furguson
Professor Olivia Rines
UWRT 1101-02
20 March 2015
Football Players of UNC Charlotte
The world is filled with many different communities; it is what people associate
themselves with today. For instance, football; some people may play it and some people may
watch it. One of the most common American pastimes is watching football. Whether it is high
school, college or professional; football has become a very popular sport to both watch and play.
Since football has become such an entertainment to viewers, the standard of teams across
America has been raised. College football players at UNC Charlotte are a discourse community
that many people who watch football for entertainment would not understand fully. A discourse

Comment [O1]: According to who? Are you

attempting to connect the standards of football
teams with their popularity?
Comment [O2]: Why?

community is something that can be identified through John Swales six defining characteristics
of a discourse community (Swales 220). Football players at the University of North Carolina at
Charlotte are a community that has recently been formed. With the discourse community of
UNC Charlotte developing a new football program being formed in the past three years, there
are many things that have changed quickly and are still changing. After much observation,
interviewing two football players and a closer look into the football players at UNC Charlotte, it
is clear that the community is a hard working intelligent community.
Football may seem like an easy way to get school paid for or even just an easy way to get
an education; for example, easier classes, early class registration and the list goes on. This is far
from true; from my observations everything about football seems hard. As a student undergoing
16 credit hours, my schedule is busy enough as is, but with a football schedule on top of 15

Comment [O3]: What is the purpose of this

paper? Why are you talking about the discourse
community of football players?

Furguson 2

credit hours, players schedule is more than three times as time consuming. Players only have
one day off, in an interview with a player on the team he described football as really demanding
we have stuff just about everyday[] during spring ball we only have Sundays off so it can get
pretty hectic as I was told in one of my interviews. And even on that daywith Sundays off, some
players have to go to treatment, study hall or even work if they are not on scholarship with
football. Practices are very physically demanding and hard on players, when observing practices
the players were moving nonstop and constantly showing signs of exhaustion.
Swale describes the first characteristic of a discourse community as sharing a broadly

Comment [O4]: What claim are you trying to

make in this paragraph? How does it contribute to
the overall purpose of your paper?

agreed set of common goals (Swales, 220). Having a busy schedule with plenty of hard work
means that the community of football players has a very strong common goals. Football players

Comment [O5]: How does a busy schedule equal

common goals?

at UNC Charlotte have quickly made their way up college football divisions. With higher

Comment [O6]: Explain. Im not sure I

understand.

divisions there are harder and harder teams and the goal to win becomes even stronger. The goal
of most athletic teams anywhere is to win, which is UNC Charlotte football teams main goal.

Comment [O7]: According to who? How do you

know this?

Another goal of the football team is to become the strongest they can individually and as a
whole. The team is constantly competing to obtain the maximum weight they can for squats,
benching and be the best at every exercise they can. Competition is one of the biggest parts of
football both on and off the field, it is what motivates and keeps players interests. Having players
motivated is very important when it comes to obtaining the standard of the team. With the team
being newly started, the standard that is set of the team becomes very important. One player had
told me, it takes years to build a program and it will always grow but we were the first ones
here to begin it. When looking back when we are older it would be nice to see that we fit in with
the other successful programs in the nation. (Fleming). This goal is something that is passionate
to all players individually and as a whole. One goal that is not very recognizable is the goal of

Comment [O8]: Again, how do you know this?

Furguson 3

earning an education. For some players, they are in the program mainly to play football but all of
them are here enrolled to earn a degree. Many players are on full scholarship or even partial
scholarship, so much of football is to help pay for school. Many of players One interviewee
confessed to not trying hard in school because football is so time committing, but they are very

Comment [O9]: Is there a reason you are not

personalizing your interviewees? If so, indicate why
in your paper.

thankful for football in the fact that it offers a lowered cost of education to many or most players
in the program many are very focused on earning a degree. An interviewee described his
personal goals, We are student athletes, I am not going to play in the NFL so I know I am going
to get a degree and try to better myself both as a man and in the classroom.
As the football schedule is so time consuming, having a beneficial communication
system within each other is very important. Swales describes that a discourse community has
mechanisms of intercommunication among its members (Swales, 221). When observing the
communication between coaches and teammates, it was apparent to me that the contact is

Comment [O10]: What kind of contact? Explain.

nonstop; whether it is between the coaches and players or the teammates themselves. Teammates
seemed to be very close to each other when observing during practice and off the field. In my
interviews, players had explained how close they are to their fellow teammates and even living
with them created a stronger bond, almost like a brotherhood in a sense. One had stated, We
help each other out a lot and I love those guys not only as teammates but as brothers. The
players are constantly texting in group texts and individually between each other. Coaches are
also involved in group texting and sometimes check in to see if the players are asleep before a
game or even checking in on what they are doing in their free time. One of the biggest forms of
communication throughout the team is an app on cellphones called Teamworks. This application
has the entire schedule of each player laid out for them to help plan out their week. With such an
intensive schedule, this application is very helpful to the entire team.

Comment [O11]: Who creates the schedule?

How is this intercommunication?

Furguson 4

Within communication is the lexis that the team themselves know very well. Swales
states a discourse community has acquired a specific lexis (Swales, 222).

Many football

terms are known to outsiders through entertainment, like touchdown, halftime, quarters and the
list goes on. But past the basic terms of football is the teams own language of plays, stances,
nicknames, etc. Each team has different names of plays calls, for example, bingo exchange ton
two backer is a play call that is called out during the game to inform players what play they will
be using, which I had observed being called out during a practice. There are also different
formations for different lines of players. For the defensive line there can be over ten different
formations. For example, a 4-3 defensive line formation consists of four defensive linemen, three
linebackers, and four defensive backs. This formation is only one of many, not including the
different formations of offense line. There are also different positions; for example, tight end,
defensive end or nose guard. There are hundreds of terms that football players accumulate over
the years, these examples are a very small amount of what the lexis actually consists of. When
observing different practices, I noticed many things that I did not understand and were uniformly
and quickly understood by all players and needed to be explained to me later on, for example the
names of different stations during practice. The amount of lexis that players are aware of proves
that football is something to learn, not necessarily something that comes naturally.
Because players are constantly being shared this information and playing many games
throughout the season, there are different mechanisms to inform and give feedback. Swales
describes this criteria of a discourse community as A discourse community uses its participatory
mechanisms primarily to provide information and feedback (Swales, 221). To inform players
their schedule and changes in their schedule there of course is the application of Teamworks.
There are also many meetings to inform players the different plays and formations they should

Comment [O12]: What do you mean?

Furguson 5

be aware of when it comes down to game time. During meetings there can also be film of
previous games and is important to help coaches give feedback to what happened during the
game. Film and meetings are one of the main mechanisms of feedback for football. This allows
football players to grow and learn where they had gone right and wrong.
Film is also considered one of the many genres that football utilizes. Swales describes

Comment [O13]: Are meetings and Teamworks

the only means of giving feedback and providing
feedback?

genre as being the next characteristic of the discourse community A discourse community
utilizes and hence possesses one or more genres in the communicative furtherance of its aims
(Swales, 221). Football players are constantly wearing team colors, attire and advertising their
team. This form of genre is to attract and show fans pride in the players team. These logos are

Comment [O14]: What form of genre? Are you

claiming team colors are a genre?

also displayed throughout the field house and meeting rooms. In meeting rooms there are boards
to display different formations, plays and positions. Within meetings players may receive binders
to help them study the different plays and stances. Players may also receive inspirational and
motivational quotes that help players get through games and practices.

Comment [O15]: I think there are more genres

that just the ones you listed.

For the last characteristic Swales states a discourse community has a threshold level of
members with a suitable degree of relevant content and discoursal expertise (Swales, 222). For
people just starting the program, there are older players to help younger players understand how
the program works. There are also captains of the team and people who fall superior to others for
different benefits. This seniority allows the standard to stay higher and is another learning
service for newer players and the program itself. With the program being so tough, having
stronger players that lead is very important.
UNC Charlottes football program is effectively growing and many fans are impressed
and content with how the program has started. With that being said, is the goal of football
players to earn a degree being fulfilled? After much observation and interviews, I do believe that

Comment [O16]: This needs more explanation.

There is a specific dynamic to a football team that
needs to be explained here.

Comment [O17]: What do you mean here?

Furguson 6

the football program makes it hard for players to find time for school. The program seems to be
aware of the time that it takes away from players from being students, hence why they are
offering mandatory study hall to students who do not make a high enough grade point average to
the standards that the team sets. This defies the stereotype that many people seem to think
football players as stupid or airheads and only focused on football. People also believe
that college football players want to earn a career in football and that is the only reason why they
are in college. All of these stereo types are not always or are barely true. Both football players I
had interviewed do not want to have a career in football and one player had told me try putting
a football schedule in with fifteen credit hours of a normal student and see how they do
(Fleming). This proves that players do not have it easy, but they do get by enough to earn their
degree and make their dream of a career come true.
UNC Charlotte football players are all strong men that have very strong goals to be
successful in every way. Being told that 98% of people do not have the opportunity to
collegiately play a sport (Muscarello) tells me that playing football is something that requires
lots of hard work and effort. Although there are many cons to playing football including the
exhaustion and time required to be involved, a player had told me the pros always outweigh the
cons. Football shapes players by teaching not only the sport of football, but discipline and
respect. Football players of UNC Charlotte have proved to raise a concrete program from the
start and are diligent workers both on the field and in the classroom.

Comment [O18]: Who said this?

Furguson 7

This is a strong draft. I enjoyed reading it and learning about your discourse community. In order
to improve, I would like to see you go a bit deeper in your analysis. This means incorporating
more of your data. Every claim you make should be supported by information from your
interviewees or from your observations. Make sure the reader knows where you are getting your
information. Also, try to dig deep into your community. There were some places where I noticed
that the analysis was surface-level. Make sure that you are providing the audience with new
information that is specific to your community. Finally, your sentence construction could be
tighter and stronger. Be deliberate in your word choices and think about how you are phrasing
your thoughts. If you have questions regarding this aspect, either make an appointment with the
Writing Resources Center or come talk to me.
The following is the rubric for the assignment, including what you would have received had this
draft been your final draft. This grade will not be recorded anywhere. It is simply a chance for
you to see where you stand.
Category

Content
(65 points)

Organization
(10 points)
Style and
Conventions
(25 points)
Score

Scoring Criteria
Is focused, clear, purposeful, and meets the needs of the audience
Properly addresses the question, What are the most important things for
an outsider to know about this community?
Describes Swales characteristic #1 (common public goals)
Describes Swales characteristic #2 (mechanisms of intercommunication)
Describes Swales characteristic #3 (participatory mechanisms)
Describes Swales characteristic #4 (utilizes genres)
Describes Swales characteristic #5 (specific lexis)
Describes Swales characteristic #6 (threshold level of members)
All claims made are supported. Writer uses specific references to data
and/or sources to support claims.
Introduction establishes a framework for the rest of the paper and
includes a thesis statement
Conclusion summarizes the paper and pushes the reader to think about
specific issues/concerns outside of individual discourse community.
Utilizes a strong internal structure and purposefully moves the reader
through the text
Sentences are all well-crafted and consistently varied in structure, length,
and beginning. Vocabulary and word choice are precise and varied.
The writer demonstrates a firm grasp of the conventions of written
English (spelling, capitalization, punctuation etc.). There are no typos.
Is formatted according to the conventions of MLA
Is 1500 2500 words
Total Points

Total
Points
5

Score
5

10

5
5
5
5
5
5

4
4
4
4
4
4

10

10

10

10
5
100

10
5
83

Furguson 8

Works Cited
Fleming, Tanner. Personal interview. 15 March 2015.
Muscarello, Stephen. Personal Interview. 15 March 2015.
Swales, John. The Concept of Discourse Community. Genre Analysis: English in Academic
and Research Settings. Boston; Cambridge UP, 1990. 21-32. Print.