The Syrian Canadian Sports Club: A Community-Based Participatory Action Research Project with/for Syrian Youth Refugees

Abstract

In this paper, we share the rationale, process, and results related to a community-based participatory action research (PAR) project in which we, among other things, aimed to attend to the underrepresentation of newcomer youth in community sport and recreation pursuits. By way of engaging with one rural county's Syrian youth refugee population while also attending closely to a social ecological framework, we first identified obstacles and opportunities related to multiple systems (i.e., individual, social/interpersonal, organizational/community, public policy). Drawing upon multiple data sources (i.e., photos and photovoice, participants' drawings and notes, participant-researchers' field notes, and focus group interviews) to inform our subsequent plan-act-observe-reflect action research cycles, we and our Syrian youth participants co-created and implemented the Syrian Youth Sports Club. In addition to describing the rationale and process related to this Syrian Youth Sports Club, we focus herein upon the results, which primarily relate to participants' experiences becoming (physically literate) and belonging.

Sport, Refugees, and Forced Migration: A Critical Review of the Literature

“…Herein lies a vitally important issue for future research and debate. In this regard, lessons can be learned from the handful of studies that adopted participatory research approaches (Stone, 2013;Robinson et al, 2019) and critically reflexive approaches (Doidge, 2018).…”

‘Like, what even is a podcast?’ Approaching sport-for-development youth participatory action research through digital methodologies

“…Following the work of Frisby and colleagues, a host of other scholars have since used PAR approaches to varying degrees within sport and physical activity (e.g. Bundon 2017;Hayhurst, Giles, and Whitney 2015;Hayhurst 2017;Holt et al 2013;Meir and Fletcher 2019;Robinson et al 2019;Rosso & Grath, 2017;Rich and Misener 2019;Spaaij et al 2018, among others). Some recent studies have utilised PAR to design, implement, and evaluate SfD programming for marginalised populations.…”

“…Some recent studies have utilised PAR to design, implement, and evaluate SfD programming for marginalised populations. This body of work has tended to conclude that PAR can facilitate the design and delivery of needs-based SfD programming for specific populations (see Holt et al 2013;Rosso and McGrath 2017;Robinson et al 2019), yet also expressed caution about the sustainability and impact of SfD programming particularly after the research team exits the field and funding expires (Holt et al 2013;Rich and Misener 2019). As a result, Rich and Misener (2019) highlighted the importance of PAR research that progresses from community interaction to community capacity building, so that researchers can ultimately exit while ensuring sustainability of SfD programming.…”

Inside the black box: A micro-sociological analysis of sport for development

“…The IR experiences related to the use of this symbol were not explicitly investigated in Nols’s study (2018) due to its critical pedagogy approach. Yet, a recent study by Robinson et al (2019), using a social ecological approach, suggests that sports club uniforms can be a strong cultural marker that heightens experiences of group solidarity among its members within as well as outside the sporting context. This is reflected by the Syrian Canadian youth in the study by Robinson et al (2019), who voluntarily wore their club uniforms on a regular basis to school and not merely when they had an after-school activity.…”