ABSTRACT
T he roots of modern day amateur sport in North America might be traced to the villages and towns of rural Britain during the industrialization of the 18th and 19th centuries (Kidd, 1999). Mechanization in farming and other industries resulted in the migration of workers from the countryside to cities, and later to North America. Traditionally, farm workers competed in folk games and other precursors to today’s athletic events. Although such activities were scarce in overcrowded cities where an expectation of longer work weeks was the norm, games and active forms of recreation continued to be played in elite, all-male schools (Morrow & Wamsley, 2009). As sport for the elite became more popular and better organized, an interest in participating quickly spread to upper-class girls and women and to working-class boys and men. In a similar way, participating in amateur sport emerged and gained momentum in many parts of the world.
