ABSTRACT
This chapter identifies key themes that have become prevalent within policy making for sport and the associated management responsibilities inherent in increasing and managing sports participation. The historical and/or socio-political context of sport in not only each nation but, at times, sub-regions or specific areas of each nation, illustrates the complexity of understanding required to develop opportunities for sports participation. Policy developments, whether contemporary or historical, almost without exceptions are shaped by the historical context within which they take place. The problem with adopting the target-group approach is that it tended to misunderstand the cause of the estrangement felt by many black and Asian people towards sport. Sport England published its own equity policy and operationalised it by also producing the Sports Equity Index. Community initiatives, in any nation, with any circumstance, tend to be tailored to policy criteria rather than the needs of the local community.
