“It’s like half-sport, maybe even a bit more than half-sport” : The sport for all programme in school - a practice forming sport childhoods

The aim of the dissertation was to investigate children’s views on and experiences of The Sport for All programme in school (SAP) (idrottsskolor) and the significance of the activities for children’s ”sports childhood”. The study is anchored in the so-called “new sociology of childhood”. Such a standpoint is based on that children are competent social actors with agency. Following that, childhood is constructed both by actors in specific fields and by the children in these social practices. The dissertation is based on three interview studies from three different SAPs. In study I fifteen individual interviews were conducted with: the programme manager, three school teachers, two sport club leaders and nine children (aged 9-10). Study II was based on repeated focus group interviews with 15 ten-year-old Swedish children participating in a SAP. In study III individual interviews were conducted with eight children, four years after they completed their participation in a SAP.   In all three studies the children described the SAP as a different sport practice in relation to traditional organized sport. In the SAP sport was offered in a new context with other meanings and functions compared to conventionally organized sport. But, study II showed that children with a strong performance ethos had the capacity to influence and control the practice in the SAP, which contribute to a “competitive atmosphere” in the SAP activities. Further, study III showed that children with a weak interest in sport enjoyed the activities. However, it was not something this certain group of children wanted to continue to practice outside the program. While other participants with an already established interest in sports, experienced a deepening and widening of their sport interest through the SAP. In terms of agency, the children’s individual and collective views of sport are important to consider in regard to understanding the SAP practice. The children brought prior knowledge, understanding and skills into the SAP, which can contribute to the experience of the practice.   I Sverige domineras barns idrottande av den organiserade föreningsidrotten. Samtidigt har det under senare år framkommit att idrottsföreningarna tappar medlemmar. Det finns också en kritik i samhället mot att föreningarna bedriver en verksamhet enbart för de bästa barnen och inte för barnens bästa. Riksidrottsförbundet och staten har sett ett behov av att utveckla alternativa verksamheter för att den organiserade föreningsidrotten ska behålla sin position i samhället. En del i att utveckla idrotten är att organisera idrottsskolor, där barn under lekfulla former ska få prova på olika idrotter. Det har saknats kunskap om hur barn upplever idrottsskolor. Avhandlingens syfte är att öka kunskapen om och fördjupa förståelsen för barns upplevelser av idrottsskolan och verksamhetens betydelse för barns idrottande. Studien tar stöd i vad som kallas för den ”nya” barndomssociologin, vilket innebär att barnet sätts i centrum som en aktiv agent i de sociala processerna. Avhandlingen bygger på tre intervjustudier av tre skilda idrottsskolor, innefattande individuella intervjuer med barn och deltagande vuxna, fokusgruppsintervjuer med barn och individuella intervjuer med barn fyra år efter att de avslutat sin medverkan i en idrottsskola. Resultatet från studierna analyseras och diskuteras utifrån frågan om idrottsskolor är för alla barn, och vad det kan betyda att vara med i en idrottsskola. Utmaningen i framtida satsningar ligger i att utveckla idrottsskolor utifrån barns skilda syn på och upplevelser av idrott

”Vi kallade oss alltid SMARTISARNA” : En uppföljningsstudie av ett hälsofrämjande skolprojekt

De flesta barn och ungdomar i Sverige är inte tillräckligt fysiskt aktiva. I Sverige idag är det få barn som når den rekommenderade mängden fysisk aktivitet på 60 minuter per dag. Forskningsgenomgångar har dokumenterat att skolbaserade interventioner har möjlighet att förbättra den fysiska statusen hos elever. Värmlands Idrottsförbund och Friskvården i Värmland beslutade 2004 att göra en satsning på ett hälsofrämjande skolprojekt – som fick namnet SMARTIS. Huvudmålet med SMARTIS var att öka barnens fysiska aktivitetsgrad i skolan och på fritiden samt att förbättra den fysiska förmågan. I föreliggande rapport studeras elevers beskrivningar av SMARTIS betydelse för deras levnadsvanor under och efter projektet. Studiens design omfattade individuella intervjuer och en gruppintervju med elever som tidigare deltagit i SMARTIS. Resultatet analyseras och diskuteras utifrån hur eleverna upplevde SMARTIS under sin tid på skolan och vilken betydelse SMARTIS har haft för det liv de lever idag. I rapporten synliggörs att för att ge alla elever möjlighet att utveckla varaktiga beteenden och vanor utanför skolan bör hälsofrämjande arbete i skolan vara relevant för eleverna och att de kan relatera de aktiviteter som genomförs till sig själva och deras vardagliga liv.Värmlandsidrotten ska ha sin logga med på titelsidan.</p

A sport for all programme in school : girls’ experience.

This article examines a Swedish Sport for All Programme (SAP) in school. We use a case study to discuss girls’ debut in alternative sports programme organized in collaboration between school and the sports movement. The empirical data are derived from repeated focus group interviews with one group of seven 10-year-old girls participating in one SAP. The analyses focus on their subjective experiences and how broader gender structures influence these experiences. Drawing on the results of this study, we argue that certain sports can be interpreted as oppressive activities that produce asymmetric power relationships between different groups of children. Simultaneously, the girls see the idea of sports as joyful activities, without male abuse and oppression or hierarchical gender relationships. Based on the girls’ accounts, we claim that both the leaders and the children actively reproduce gender stereotypes in the SAP

Inkludering av unga med flyktingbakgrund i värmländsk idrott

Mot bakgrund av den ökade invandringen till Sverige under 2015 beslutade regeringen samma år att stötta Riksidrottsförbundet (RF) med extra medel på 64 miljoner kronor per år mellan 2015 - 2018. Syftet var att ge möjligheter till att skapa fysiska aktiviteter och arbeta med grundläggande introducering av nyanlända flickor och pojkar i det svenska föreningslivet. I föreliggande studie presenteras resultat om hur idrottens inkluderingsarbete genomförts i värmländska idrottsföreningar. Resultatet analyseras och diskuteras utifrån ledarnas idéer och övertygelser om inkluderingsarbete samt vilka möjligheter unga med flyktingbakgrund har att börja och fortsätta idrotta i svensk föreningsidrott. Rapportens syfte är att öka kunskapen om och fördjupa förståelsen för idrottens arbete med inkludering av unga med flyktingbakgrund. Utmaningen i framtida arbete med inkludering är att idrottens aktörer diskuterar och ser över organiseringen av idrotten och vad som är ”ordinarie” verksamhet

Sports and mobile imperatives in the lives of rural youths

This paper explores the mobility processes of rural youths in relation to sports. The mobility imperative has its basis in the fact that rural youths must be mobile to gain access to the resources they need to shape their lives and create their own identities. The mobility imperative is analysed as a constellation of interrelated processes in which material inequalities, symbolic hierarchies and entanglements between bodies and places interact in a process that constitutes the mobility of young rural dwellers. This study is based on research conducted in a rural community in Sweden. We conducted interviews with eight individuals and one focus group. The analysis, inspired by biographical interviews framed according to a critical realist perspective, focused on the interviewees' subjective experiences and how broader social structures affected these experiences. The results of the analysis indicate that mobility is an inevitable necessity for sports participation during childhood. The rural sport mobility imperative is an interaction of related processes, such as a limited supply of sports clubs and facilities, limited access to sports activities that are highly valued in contemporary youth culture and an affective conflict in establishing a connection to urban places for sport interactions

Understanding participation experiences in sport programs for the acculturation of refugee youth: a comparative study of two different programs in the US and Sweden

Sports can help refugees mitigate traumas, connect with others, and learn positive values. In this illustrative comparative study, we compare two sport programs for the acculturation of refugees in the US and Sweden. Our aim is to describe both programs, compare them with the literature, and present suggestions for the field. Hence, we placed the program participants at the center of their acculturation process and used interpretivism to understand their experiences of joining the program and engaging with the sport culture in their countries of resettlement, as well as to account for the benefits they perceived from participation

Causes and consequences of dropping out from organized youth sports

The purpose of this study is to examine dropout reasons and various types ofdropouts in relation to demographic variables, various types of sports, physicalactivity, and underlying motivational processes. Retrospective data was collected fromthree cohorts including 1,176 participants, of which 712 stated that they hadsometimes dropped out of organized sport. Findings showed that time-related reasonswere the primary causes for dropping out. It was also revealed that athletes with lowversus high levels of perceived physical competence dropped out to a higher extentbecause of experiencing too much pressure, and athletes reporting low versus highsocial competence withdrew to a higher extent because they did not like theirteammates. Results also showed that girls with a foreign background had a higher rateof dropouts compared to boys with the same background. Girls with foreignbackgrounds were also found to be less physically active after dropping out fromorganized sports

To deviate from the expected : a collective story of physical activity among inactive rural children

Physically inactive children in rural areas are overlooked in research because of the dominance of urban perspectives focusing on physical activity rather than inactivity. The aim of this article is to examine an emerging collective story of how physically inactive children (aged 9-11 years) in two rural areas experience their relationships with physical activity. Based on praxis-oriented sociocultural theorising, this study focuses on how practical physical activity is understood by rural children as part of their sociocultural environment. Five focus group interviews with 21 physically inactive rural children in western Sweden were conducted. Experiences and behaviours that the children emphasised as central to their inactivity were analysed as sociocultural expressions in a collective story about physical activity. To underline the importance of narratives for behaviour in the sociocultural environment, the collective story is presented through three composite narratives told by three fictional characters: 'Robin, the shy one', 'Kim, the farm kid', and 'Angry Alex'. Characteristic of these inactive rural children is a lack of self-confidence, a lack of meaning, and difficulties in managing social physical activities. Common to the behaviours that follow from the children's experiences is that they are perceived as deviating from what is expected of them in accordance with the cultural story about a physically active child. The analysis shows that the underlying cause is the discrepancy between the children's understanding of physical activity and the understanding conveyed via institutions informed by urban perspectives such as, for example, school. For instance, children view physical activity as part of daily labour at the same time that the school teaches physical activities intended for recreational purposes in spare time. Institutions should make room for more interpretations, including rural ones, of the meaning of physical activity and, thus, contribute to reconstructing the cultural narrative about physical activity

Let the right one in. Sports leaders\u27 shared experiences of including refugee girls and boys in sports clubs

This study investigated how gender and sports capital are expressed in sports leaders\u27 talk about sports for young people with a refugee background. Empirical data were derived from four focus group interviews representing 21 sports club leaders in Sweden. The leaders defined boys and girls as distinct groups but also as groups within which there are differences. Compared with the boys, the girls were presented with lesser possibilities to participate in sports. According to the leaders, the differences in the group of girls rested on that the sports culture in the girls\u27 country of origin, which may be more or less permissive for girls to be engaged in sports, whereas differences within the group of boys were understood in terms of bodies and mentalities. (DIPF/Orig.