ABSTRACT

In a world of competing public policy priorities, economic challenges and political uncertainty, sports development organisations and initiatives need to adapt to survive. This book makes the case for 'Sporting Capital' as a new conceptual model of sports participation with the potential to transform public policy and practice in sports development.

The central argument presented is that a model of Sporting Capital - with its three domains of physiological, social and psychological attributes - provides a missing framework, creating a new impetus for sustained growth in community sport by joining up the levels at which sports development is planned and implemented. Touching on important issues such as youth sport, public health, volunteering, disability, ethnicity and social inequality, it examines patterns of sports participation in relation to age, gender and social class and offers recommendations for strategic policy improvements that can be implemented by practitioners working on the frontline of community sport.

Sporting Capital: Transforming Sports Development Policy and Practice provides valuable insights for all those interested in sports development, youth sport, community sport, or sport and social policy.

chapter 1|16 pages

Introduction

chapter 2|16 pages

The public policy challenge for community sport

The need for a theoretically driven paradigm shift

chapter 5|36 pages

Sport participation over the life-course

Linking the evidence to sporting capital theory

chapter 6|16 pages

Sporting capital in England

From measurement process to painting the landscape

chapter 7|22 pages

Sporting capital in England

A level playing field? Exploring age, gender, social class, and sporting preferences

chapter 8|17 pages

Building sporting capital

Applying the theory to policy and practice