ABSTRACT
The aim of this chapter is to generate empirically based sociological knowledge about a new innovative ‘Football Fitness’ initiative carried out in associative sport clubs in Denmark, and to examine whether or not football as a team sport can create health-improvements for middle aged people. The figurational concepts of quest for excitement and spare-time spectrum are the main categories used for interpretative meaning making – as these middle-aged players claim that even though health was the reason for participation in ‘Football Fitness’, fun and excitement are highlighted as relevant terms for continued motivation and playing. The research is based on a large focus group study consisting of 13 heterogenic cases (32 + 26: N = 58 players). Each case represents a group of women (6) or men (7) participating in Football Fitness in a local voluntary football club in Denmark. The total number of participants ended up being 32 women aged 27 to 56 years and 26 men aged 24 to 76 years old. The empirical evidence from Football Fitness shows that football does matter for middle-aged people, as it takes them by the heart. Seen in line with the spare time spectrum, both men and women feel a quest for excitement and pleasure when playing Football Fitness compared to the routinization and obligation they feel of leisure in the fitness centers.
