ABSTRACT
It is a truism that sport can be good for young people. There is now substantial evidence that participation in organized physical activities can result in a wide range of benefits, including positive contribution to their physical, social and emotional well-being (Siedentop 2002; Bailey 2006). Engagement in youth sport is perceived to be so worthwhile that governments around the world invest large sums of public money in its promotion. Successive UK governments, for example, have demonstrated great faith in the potential of sport for young people, and have probably invested more per capita than any other country; school sport alone has received more than £1 billion since 2003 (Green 2006). Other countries, too, have sought to reap the perceived benefits of sport for individuals and the wider society. Indeed, one international review found that the curriculum materials of each of the 52 countries surveyed made explicit reference to a range of pro-social outcomes putatively linked to participation in sport (Bailey and Dismore 2004). However, a succession of surveys have found considerable variation in the levels of human and financial resourcing allocated to such provision, with some educational systems (predominantly in the developing world) including very little formal sporting provision (Hardman 2008).
