Abstract
Dixon, Green, Anderson & Evans (2020) identified the opportunity for new sports to enter the marketplace to help cater for sport participants, particularly girls, who continue to drop out of traditional sport programmes at alarmingly high rates. The research established the need to offer female participants differentiated opportunities, utilising innovative approaches that were often outside the structural norms. Utilising Community Development Theory (a long-term value-based process underpinned by equality, empowerment, co-operation and informal learning) the research adopts a qualitative methodological approach of case studies and ethnography, analysed from site visits, in-depth interviews, and participant observation of a UK-based Female Flag American Football Community Club (the Coventry Cougars). The findings promote the argument that recomposing of socially constructed gender roles in sport can lead to opportunities for females to develop community capacity, a collective group conscience and social identity through informal learning and social bonding. This paper informs theory in community development through sport and provides insight into the socially gendered benefits of female sport participation.
Presenters
Peter EvansSenior Teaching Fellow, Business, Law, and Social Sciences, Birmingham City University, Aberdeenshire, United Kingdom
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Sporting Cultures and Identities
KEYWORDS
Community Development, Social Capacity, Women’s Sport, Sport Development, Identity
