ABSTRACT

In the 1990s sport became an increasingly important aspect of both national and international social policy. For example, in the United Kingdom sport became an important aspect of ‘New’ Labour’s social inclusion agenda. The expected contribution of sport is summarised by Policy Action Team 10’s (DCMS 1999: 23) statement that ‘sport can contribute to neighbourhood renewal by improving communities’ performance on four key indicators – health, crime, employment and education’. Similar, if less well-developed, policies can be seen in Australia (Australian Sports Commission 2006) and Canada (Bloom et al. 2005).