Where Are the Kids?

Abstract

Huge numbers of children participate in sports. However, kids and sports are rarely seen, much less systematically studied by sport sociologists. Our survey of the past decade of three major sport sociology journals illustrates a dearth of scholarly research on children and sport. While noting the few exceptions, we observe that sport studies scholars have placed a disproportionate amount of emphasis on studying sport media, and elite amateur, college, and professional athletes and sport organizations, while largely conceding the terrain of children's sports to journalists and to a handful of scholars whose work is not grounded in sport sociology. We probe this paradox, speculating why sport scholars focus so little on such a large and important object of study in sport studies. We end by outlining a handful of important scholarly questions for sport scholars, focusing especially on key questions in the burgeoning sociological and interdisciplinary fields of children and youth, bodies and health, and intersectional analyses of social inequality.Un très grand nombre d'enfants participent à des sports. Cependant, les enfants et les sports sont rarement considérés et encore moins systématiquement examinés par les sociologues du sport. Notre enquête sur la dernière décennie dans trois journaux majeurs en sociologie du sport illustre la rareté de la recherche académique sur les enfants et le sport. Alors que nous soulignons quelques exceptions, nous observons que les chercheurs en études du sport ont surtout porté attention aux médias sportifs, aux athlètes élites de niveau amateur, collégial ou professionnel, et aux organisations sportives, tout en concédant le domaine du sport pratiqué par les enfants aux journalistes et aux quelques chercheurs dont le travail n'était pas directement en sociologie du sport. Nous questionnons ce paradoxe, nous demandant pourquoi les scientifiques s'attardent si peu à un si grand et important objet d'étude dans le domaine du sport. Nous terminons en soulignant les enjeux académiques importants pour les chercheurs en études du sport, en nous concentrant en particulier sur les questions clés dans les domaines sociologiques et interdisciplinaires en pleine expansion que sont les enfants et la jeunesse, le corps et la santé, et les analyses inter-sectionnelles des inégalités sociales.Alarmist news and political discourses in recent years have warned of an "obesity epidemic" among youth, a fear fueled in part by cultural images of inactive

Gender Construction in Sports, Family Habitus and “Gender Regime”

“…They rarely analyze the effects of social class. Furthermore, research on social differentiation of sports practices generally does not focus on children's activities (Messner and Musto 2014). Studies on this topic have shown that the family's socioeconomic status has an impact on children's participation in sports (White and McTeer 2012).…”

“Sport is community:” An exploration of urban Aboriginal peoples' meanings of community within the context of sport

“…As demonstrated by Douglas (2014), other arts-informed research methods (e.g., stories, poems, songs) may also provide a unique avenue for exploring and understanding subjective and emotional aspects of sport experiences. Through such deep and critical research engagement, Messner and Musto (2014) argue that children and youth can play a central role in supporting scholarly sport research that is relevant to the everyday concerns of people.…”

Some kids are left behind: The failure of a perspective, using critical race theory to expand the coverage in the sociology of youth sports

“…According to Messner and Musto (), scholars in sport studies tend to concentrate a majority of research on sports media, elite amateur, college, and professional athletics and institutions that are visible in society (the proverbial “tip” of the iceberg). This work consists of nearly half (46.7%) of the articles published in the three most recognizable sport journals.…”

“…Moreover, what is considered the underside of the iceberg tends to consist of research on youth sports, which is less likely to be visible and acknowledged by sociologists and is often addressed by scholars and journalists whose work is not grounded in sociology. Messner and Musto () further indicate that a major concern in the field of sport sociology is that researchers tend to overlook children and adolescents as whole persons, which presents a serious problem in the understanding of childhood development, identity, child experiences, and other essential aspects. “One reason for this lack of understanding is that scholars of sports have largely ignored kids as active participants—as athletes and fans—and have mostly failed to study the ways in which sport, both for good and for ill, is so often an important and meaningful part of the larger landscape of childhood” (Messner & Musto, , p. 103).…”

“…Messner and Musto () further indicate that a major concern in the field of sport sociology is that researchers tend to overlook children and adolescents as whole persons, which presents a serious problem in the understanding of childhood development, identity, child experiences, and other essential aspects. “One reason for this lack of understanding is that scholars of sports have largely ignored kids as active participants—as athletes and fans—and have mostly failed to study the ways in which sport, both for good and for ill, is so often an important and meaningful part of the larger landscape of childhood” (Messner & Musto, , p. 103). They continue, “we argue that it is crucial for sport scholars to study kids not simply as future adults, but as active subjects who create their own social worlds…” (Messner & Musto, , p. 107).…”