Background Youth with intellectual disabilities usually experience poorer post-school outcomes than youth with any other disabilities and youth in the general population (McConkey, Dowling, Hassan & Menke, 2013). Youth with intellectual disabilities are often marginalized and discriminated against regarding skills development and work opportunities as society seems to place high value on an individual's intellect (International Labour Organisation, 2015). However, international experience shows that youth with intellectual disabilities can become valuable employees with adequate training (Scheef, 2016). Participation in sports has shown to have a positive correlation with quality of life, satisfaction with life, community reintegration, and mood as well as employment opportunities for persons with disabilities (Diaz, Miller, Krauz & Fredericson, 2019). Hence it became useful to explore skills development and vocational training opportunities in sports that could facilitate youth with intellectual disabilities to access work skills training and work opportunities in urban Zimbabwe. Aim The overall aim of the study was to explore how participation in activities related to sports organisations and events enables youth with intellectual disabilities to access livelihood opportunities to become economically active. Objectives The objectives of the study were: 1. To identify any possible skills development and vocational training opportunities for youth with intellectual disabilities in sports events and organisations in Zimbabwe. 2. To describe the personal factors of youth with intellectual disabilities that enable them to access skills development and vocational training. 3. To identify environmental factors that enable youth with intellectual disabilities to access self-employment, supported employment or formal employment. 4. To determine the role of family, caregivers, and guardians in shaping the livelihood options of youth with intellectual disabilities. 5. To determine the role of skills trainers in developing the pre-vocational skills and vocational training in general for youth with intellectual disabilities. 6. To determine the role of sports coaches and managers in shaping the life skills' development of youth with intellectual disabilities who partake in sports. Methodology The research was a qualitative study in the form of critical ethnography. Critical ethnography speaks on behalf of minority groups such as the point of view of youth with intellectual disabilities' by stating what is and how it can be changed (Duff, Rogers, and Ross, 2016). The design was a collective study as more than one study site was used. The research took place at two adult vocational training centres for youth with intellectual disabilities and at three sports events. Participants were recruited by purposive sampling. Six youths with intellectual disabilities, five parents, caregivers, or guardians of youth with intellectual disabilities, two sports managers or organisers, two sports coaches and two skills trainers of youths with intellectual disabilities participated in the study to make a total sample size of seventeen. Participation observations, semi-structured interviewing and reflective journaling were used as data collection methods. Findings Untapped work opportunities were identified for youth with intellectual disabilities who participated in sports; however, they remained as lost opportunities as they were not being fully utilized. The youths had potential enablers for employability, but they were not being given access to work opportunities. The youths were invisible to potential employers owing to the remote location of their vocational training centres. Female youths were being prejudiced regarding livelihoods' development owing to the remote nature of the training centres, which made it unsafe for them to travel there. There were limited resources for the livelihoods' development of the youth due to economic hardships the country was facing. The government's support for livelihoods' development of the youth was inadequate. Families, peers, and the community were segregating youth with intellectual disabilities, which had the effect of disempowering them and their parents regarding the youths' livelihoods' development. The parents had shared feelings of fear and anxiety over what would become of their youth once they finished school or if their parents died. There was a lack a collective action amongst the parents regarding the youths' livelihoods' development. The parents' support regarding their children's livelihoods' development was inadequate and their knowledge on how to enhance their youths' livelihoods development was insufficient. The parents were also not getting sufficient support from society to empower their youth. The youths with intellectual disabilities were often left out of economic activities at sports events and in the greater community. The sports coaches and skills trainers were not actively planning or advocating for the youths to participate in economic activities at sports events. Conclusion This study explored the livelihoods' developments that were possible for youths with intellectual disabilities through their participation in sports. It was necessary to find effective ways to develop youths with intellectual disabilities' opportunities to become economically active as engagement in work activities is a basic human right. This study established that the parents of the youths needed to take the initiative regarding the livelihoods' development of their children. The youths and their parents needed to take collective action and find their political voice to advocate for skills training and work opportunities to the training centres, the community, and potential employers as well as the government. The parents needed to take their negative perceptions, which were acting as indirect blocks and which were disempowering them, as motivators to enact positive change for their children's livelihoods' development. It was necessary for parents, skills trainers, and sports coaches to market the youths to potential employers. At the training centres, the administration, skills trainers, and sports coaches need to consider a curriculum change to include a work attachment for the youth in inclusive employment. Sports coaches and skills trainers need to teach life skills intentionally that are transferrable in work situations and provide the youth with opportunities to practice the skills learnt in work settings. The sports coaches and skills trainers needed further training on how to use sports participation as a medium to enhance the youths' livelihoods' development. Sports managers needed to incorporate youth with intellectual disabilities and their training schools in economic activities in sports organisations and at sports events. Female youths with intellectual disabilities needed to be encouraged to attend the vocational training centres by providing for their interests and providing them with safe transportation to attend the vocational training centres.

Casual sex culture, also known as hook-up culture, is an experience adversely affecting teens in America. The intent of this study was to test the association between sports participation and sexual risk behaviors among high school males. For the purpose of this study, sports participation, the independent variable, was defined by having played on a sports team in the last 12 months. The sexual risk behaviors, dependent variables, were defined by sexual engagement with multiple partners, drug and alcohol use before intercourse, and sex without condoms. The ecological model provided the theoretical foundation for the study. Secondary analysis of the 2015 Youth Risk Behavioral Surveillance System using logistic regression was employed to test if there was an association between sports participation and sexual risk behaviors in 7,749 high school males. Using regression analysis, a significant association was found between sports participation and abstinence status, number of sexual partners, and drug and alcohol use at last sexual intercourse. As the number of sports teams increased, the number of abstinent participants increased, the number of sexual partners decreased, and the number of participants who used drugs and alcohol at last sexual intercourse decreased. However, there was no association between sports participation and condom use at last sexual intercourse. Recommendations for next steps include using sports programs as a vehicle to influence behavior change. This study aimed to promote social change by improving the understanding of how sports programs benefit individuals, families, and communities from reducing sexual risk behaviors in teen males.

Studien handlade om att ta reda på vilka faktorer det är som påverkar en människas val till att börja och fortsätta spela ishockey. Författaren blev inspirerad av Bourdieu och hans kapitala teorier och fältet. Studiens syfte är att ta del av intervjupersonernas berättelser om beslutet till att börja spela och fortsätta med ishockey i Sverige. Studien grundar sig på en hermeneutisk ansats, studien samlade in data genom intervjuer då 5 personer intervjuades. Resultatet i studien var att intervjupersonernas sociala, ekonomiska, kulturella kapital och intervjupersonernas sociala omgivning alltså deras fält bidrog till att de valde att börja och fortsätta att spela hockey.

This research explores the effects of playing interscholastic sports on labor market income in the United States for males (n=5782) and females (n=6266) who participated in the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988. Previous research has explored the effects of human capital and social capital on positive life outcomes for interscholastic athletes, but little research has looked into possible cultural capital advantages gained through interscholastic sports participation. Using multiple regression analysis and controlling for the effects of human and social capital, I examine whether participation in interscholastic sports operate as cultural capital. Results indicate that after net of controls the relationship between interscholastic sports participation and labor market income remains positive and significant for males who play sports and females who play the culturally popular sport of basketball. Results also indicate that those male student athletes who play culturally popular sports (football, basketball, or baseball) report more income six years after high school graduation than their counterparts who play a less culturally popular sport. This article provides evidence that cultural capital theory is a useful tool in exploring the relationship between interscholastic sports and labor market income.

Rooted and centered within a Bourdieu-inspired understanding of how the habitus and social class of parents affects childrens’ sports choices, this paper contributes to a greater appreciation of how social capital and social background impact a family’s ability to practice the sport of ice-hockey. Historically, there has been a significant amount of research investigating the reasons for- and rates of- dropout from sports participation, but few attempts has been undertaken to study athletes who begin and continue to actively play a certain sport. Through the creation of an index which measures different variables, this paper introduces the concept of an ice-hockey habitus. This habitus was used to compare the education, occupations, economic wealth and other demographic parameters of parents of ice-hockey-playing children. With that in mind, the aim of this paper was to investigate what characterizes ice-hockey playing childrens’ parents. The results were found through looking at the above-mentioned demographics in relation to previous research, and, briefly, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Additionally, a further aim is to document the demographics of the parents of continual-participation among young ice-hockey players. To do so, a quantitative research method was utilized, through which a web-based questionnaire was formed and used as foundation for the gathering of the empirical data. The total amount of responses amounted to n=576, from four disparate cities within a geographical distribution from south to north. The findings showed that there was a correlation between families with ice-hockey playing children and highly educated parents (in some areas more than double the Swedish average) and economic wealth (as more than four out of five families earns equal to- or higher than the Swedish average). The findings also showed that for the ice-hockey habitus, level of education did not affect mothers’ index level. For the fathers’ index, the amount of highly educated fathers decreased as the ice-hockey habitus increased. A further correlation found was that as ice-hockey habitus increased, so did the amount of families with higher economic wealth.

No description available.

Swedish sports clubs are becoming more concerned with how to attract young people to participate in organized sports. Young people with low socio-economic status and individuals with ethnic background are especially in mind as it has become clear that these individuals are excluded in the various activities of sports clubs. The aim of this study was to examine the possible obstacles for young adolescents to participate in organized sports. By identifying the visible and invisible obstacles through a gender- and socio-cultural perspective the four research questions were examined. The questions concerned within this qualitative study was how accessibility was described by the respondents; how the obstacles to participate in organized sport were experienced by the respondents; how the difference in sport participation was explained by the respondents from a cultural and socio-economic perspective and; how the differences in sport participation were explained by the respondents from a gender perspective. Through six focus groups encompassing 16 individuals between the age of 14–20 years old a Bourdieu approach was applied in order to interpret the content of the responses. The results showed that the youth experienced obstacles to participate in sport in two different ways. One was described as the physical means of being able to get access to sport which was transportation facilities, sports fees and costs for equipment. The other form of obstacle was described as underlying factors such as norms and expectations regarding participation in organized sports and a lack of perceived sense of belonging. Cultural background and gender were discussed as the two most contributing factors as to why some of the youth are not participating in organized sports. Swedish sports clubs should focus on how to include the youth needs into their day-to-day work rather than ensuring their participation in their current offered activities.

Abstract Improving the academic success and graduation rates of African-American males has been a major focus of both scholars and practitioners in the United States. Locally, African-American males at an urban Title 1 school were experiencing the lowest grade point averages, American College Test scores, and graduation rates in the district. In response to these academic declines, this study focused on the tenets of Bechtol's sports participation theory, which holds that students who play sports experience greater academic achievement and adult success in life. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between total hours of high school athletics participation and earned GPAs for African-American male students at the school under study for 1 academic year and across each term (4) of the school year. A correlational research design was used to identify if a relationship existed between hours of sports participation and the GPAs of African-American male student-athletes from the 2012 ' 2013 school year (N = 36). The results of the 5 Pearson correlation analyses indicated no statistically significant relationship between the total hours African-American male student-athletes spent participating in sports and their GPAs. The sample size was a limitation of the study design, therefore it was recommended to conduct the investigation with a larger sample size. The results of the study prompted the design of a professional development program for local administrators, faculty, and staff called Championing Higher Achievement Matriculation, Preparation, and Success for Student Athletes (CHAMPS). The CHAMPS program prepares school personnel to more effectively mentor, coach, tutor, and teach African-American male student-athletes. The program can improve the quality of education that can serve as the stimulus for social change through improved educational outcomes for African-American male student athletes.

I studiens inledning framgår att fysisk aktivitet är en förutsättning för god hälsa, både för individen och folkhälsan. Samtidigt framkommer föreningsidrotten som en viktig aktör för att öka den fysiska aktiviteten i samhället. För att öka den fysiska aktiviteten och minska avhopp inom föreningsidrotten krävs det en förståelse för ett flertal faktorer varav sociala relationer utgör en. Syftet med studien var att undersöka betydelsefulla sociala relationers betydelse för deltagande i lagidrott bland föreningsaktiva tjejer i övre tonåren. Metoden som användes för studien var kvalitativ, där semistrukturerade intervjuer genomfördes. Urvalet utgjordes av ungdomstjejer i åldersspannet 17-19 år som är aktiva medlemmar i ett lag inom föreningsidrott. Analysen av materialet gjordes med hjälp av kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Resultatet visade på att betydelsefulla sociala relationer är avgörande för idrottsdeltagande. Beroende på relationens betydelse påverkar relationen idrottsdeltagandet i varierad utsträckning. Resultatet visade tre kategorier: Primär relation som omfattar familj, partner och vänner, sekundär relation bestående av lagkamraterna och tertiär relation bestående av ledaren. Relationernas betydelse, stöd, prioritering, förståelse, engagemang, lagsammanhållning och delaktighet uttrycktes av respondenterna vara viktiga faktorer för fortsatt idrottsdeltagande. Konklusionen är att sociala relationers närhet är en av de faktorer som påverkar idrottsdeltagandet och bör därför vara centralt i föreningsidrotten, samt användas i arbetet för att behålla och öka ungdomars deltagande i föreningsidrott. / In the introduction of the study, physical activity is seen as a prerequisite to good health, both for the individual and for public health. At the same time, club sports appear as an important player to increase physical activity in society. To increase physical activity and reduce drop-outs in club sports, an understanding of a number of factors, of which social relations constitute one, are required. The aim of the study was to investigate the importance of important social relations for participation in team sports among girls in the upper teens participating in sports clubs. The method used for the study was qualitative, in which semi-structured interviews were conducted. The sample consisted of girls in the age of 17-19 years, who are active members in team sport. The analysis of the material was made by using qualitative content analysis. The result showed that important social relationships are crucial for sports participation. Depending on the importance of the relationship, the relationship affects sports participation to a varied extent. The result showed three categories: Primary relation includes family, partner and friends, secondary relation includes teammates and tertiary relation includes coach. The importance of the relationships, social support, priority, understanding, the cohesion of the team and participation are vital factors for continued participation in club sports. In conclusion, social relations are one of the factors that affect participation in club sports and should therefore be central to and used in the work to keep and increase youth’s participation in club sports.