ABSTRACT
This chapter starts from the premise that physical education needs to be seen as a cultural and political practice with the capacity to impact powerfully on the lives, lifestyles and well-being of young people. The impact with which I am concerned relates to participation patterns in physical activity and sport. More specifically, my focus is upon issues that underpin, but are often obscured in analyses and debates about, young people’s current and prospective future involvement in physical activity and sport. My emphasis is that although ‘impact’ may be widely recognised as undeniable and, furthermore, a lived reality for many young people, its subtleties remain inadequately acknowledged in arenas of policy and practice.
