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Family Practices and Youth Sport

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Negotiating Fatherhood

Part of the book series: Palgrave Macmillan Studies in Family and Intimate Life ((PSFL))

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Abstract

Youth sport is not simply a youth-oriented phenomenon. Children’s activities also take up a significant part of a family’s leisure time with Hofferth and Sandberg (2001) estimating that organised youth sport takes up between 5–6.5 hours per week among children aged 6–12 (cited in Brown, 2018: 1501). Children’s participation in sport inevitably involves some form of parental participation as well; whether that be providing transport, economic support, or spectating at training and matches. Indeed, while parents are mindful that quality family time with children is imperative, much of their leisure time is actually spent servicing the needs of their children (and not necessarily in whole family pursuits) (Sparrman et al., 2016). Parents also represent a large volunteer workforce for sport all around the world: their in-kind contribution represents a de facto subsidy, without which many children would simply not be able to continue their participation (Brackenridge, 2006). Therefore, given their outlay of time, energy and money, Brown (2018: 1499) asks: ‘is it possible that parents could (and maybe even should) get something out of this?’.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Rowe (2015) has suggested that because sport possesses its own unique cultures and conventions, successful participation and progression in sport requires individuals to possess what he refers to as sporting capital. Rowe defines sporting capital as, ‘The stock of physiological, social and psychological attributes and competencies that support and motivate an individual to participate in sport and to sustain that participation over time’ (p. 45).

  2. 2.

    In his dramaturgical model Goffman (1971) described each individual’s ‘performance’ as the presentation of self, a person’s efforts to create specific impressions in the minds of others. This process is sometimes called ‘impression management’. Goffman makes an important distinction between ‘front stage’ and ‘back stage’ behaviour. As the term/concept implies, ‘front stage’ actions are visible to the audience and are part of the performance, while people engage in ‘back stage’ behaviours when no audience is present.

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  1. Leeds Beckett University, Leeds, UK

    Thomas Fletcher

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Fletcher, T. (2020). Family Practices and Youth Sport. In: Negotiating Fatherhood. Palgrave Macmillan Studies in Family and Intimate Life. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-19784-1_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-19784-1_7

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-19783-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-19784-1

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