Sports clubs as accessible developmental assets for all? Adolescents’ assessment of egalitarianism vs. elitism in sport clubs vs. school

2013

School and sport clubs are considered important public institutions in the nationwide scaffolding of developmental assets for adolescents. However, external assets’ impact on individuals’ internal assets is not given and developmental institutions do not necessarily function as the society would like to believe. Previous qualitative studies from Norway indicate that organized youth sport appears as competitive and exclusive and the purpose of the present study was therefore to assess a national sample of adolescents’ perceptions of their local sports clubs in terms of egalitarianism (inclusiveness) and elitism (exclusiveness). A comparison with their assessments of their local school was pe…