Sport is often seen as an indicator of the civic maturity of a community, an aspect of the rights of citizens to health, education and social integration. This book examines the relationships between participation in sport and physical activity, and welfare policies across Europe. It argues that the success of campaigns for the promotion of sport depend on the existence of dedicated welfare policies promoted by the European states and explores variations in cultural models and structures of governance across Europe. Addressing the function of supranational institutions such as the EU as well as voluntary networks, the book illuminates key issues in European societies such as migration, financial austerity and Brexit as they relate to sport policy. This is important reading for scholars and students in the fields of European sport and physical activity, sociology, political science and organisational analysis, as well as operators and managers of the sport systems involved in advanced training programmes.

Far-reaching in scope encompassing government regulation and sport's intersections with other government policies.

Athlete welfare should be of central importance in all sport. This comprehensive volume features cutting-edge research from around the world on issues that can compromise the welfare of athletes at all levels of sport and on the approaches taken by sports organisations to prevent and manage these. In recent years, sports organisations have increased their efforts to ensure athlete health, safety, and well-being, often prompted by high-profile disclosures of sexual, physical, and emotional abuse; bullying; discrimination; disordered eating; addiction; and mental health issues. In this book, contributors lift the lid on these and other issues that jeopardise the physical, emotional, psychological, social, and spiritual welfare of athletes of all ages to raise awareness of the broad range of challenges athletes face. Chapters also highlight approaches to athlete welfare and initiatives taken by national and international sport organisations to provide a safer, more ethical sports environment. As the first book to focus exclusively on athlete welfare, this is an essential read for students and researchers in sports studies, coaching, psychology, performance, development and management, and physical education. It is also a useful reference point for anyone working in welfare, safeguarding, child protection, and equity and inclusion in and beyond sport.

Sport Policy: a comparative analysis of stability and change builds on the growing general interest in the comparative study of sport policy and the more specific interest in processes of policy change and issues associated with policy convergence. In stark contrast to many other areas of public policy such as education, personal welfare and health care there is a paucity of theoretically informed comparative studies in sport. Over recent years there has been a steady increase in public investment in sport and frequently, as a consequence, a sharper debate about how public resources should be used. However, there has been little analysis of the factors that shape the generation of domestic sport policy and little attempt to identify the variables that might influence the policy process. Sport Policy: a comparative analysis of stability and change provides a theoretically informed analysis of the sports systems in Canada, England, Germany and Norway. These economically advanced countries are carefully selected to enable the investigation of the significance of variables and because they share a number of socio-economic and sports-related characteristics, which provides the text with a unique breadth and depth of coverage. This text is a vital addition to the general paucity of literature in this area and is written by an internationally renowned author team.

"Research Centre for Sport in Canadian Society, University of Ottawa."

Tackling social exclusion should be a central aim of any civilised social policy. In this meticulously revised and updated new edition of his groundbreaking study, Sport and Social Exclusion, Mike Collins has assembled a vast array of new evidence from a range of global sources to demonstrate how the effects of social exclusion are as evident in sport as they are in any area of society. The book uses sport as an important sphere for critical reflection on existing social policy and explores sport's role as a source of initiatives for tackling exclusion. It examines key topics such as: • What is meant by 'social exclusion' • How social exclusion affects citizenship and the chance to play sport • How exclusion from sport is linked to poverty, class, age, gender, ethnicity, disability, and involvement in youth delinquency, and living in towns or countryside • How exclusion is linked to concepts of personal and communal social capital. It uses four revised and five new major case studies as detailed illustrations, notably Be Active, Birmingham, the national PE and Youth/School Sport strategy, Positive Futures and Street Games. . Sport and Social Exclusion features a wealth of original research data, including new and previously unpublished material, as well as important new studies of social exclusion policy and practice in the UK and elsewhere. This revised edition surveys all the most important changes in the policy landscape since first publication in 2002 and explores the likely impact of the London Olympic Games on sport policy in the UK. The book concludes with some typically forthright commendations and critiques from the author regarding the success of existing policies and the best way to tackle exclusion from sport and society in the future. By relating current policy to new research the book provides an essential guidebook for students, academics and policy makers working in sport policy and development."