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As research has shown, former elite athletes often struggle to adapt to aspects of their post-sport lives. This can include the management of their identities, dealing with the uncertainty of their new roles, and negotiating the changes that occur to their bodies. In this paper we discuss an under-reported challenge facing retired athletes: how to manage their ongoing relationship with exercise. To address this issue we adopted a narrative approach, based on the first author's experiences as a former football player, to provide a socio-cultural reading of the various challenges involved in the transition from exercise as a vocation to a leisure activity. We suggest that these stories demonstrate that in retirement, former athletes' docility, while seemingly advantageous, can also be a significant obstacle to developing alternative meanings for exercise, including as a potential re-creative or leisure activity that can become meaningful and important in its own right. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Leisure Studies is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper explores the interrelationship of space, the elements and the embodied experiences of water-based physical activity. It draws upon alternative forms of research and representation to draw out the embodied nature of the experiences in exploring the practices of windsurfing amongst communities of windsurfers. It proposes that ethnography and autoethnography can provide for unique insights into the embodied experiences of the life-worlds of ‘being’ in nature. These inter-related methodologies provide particular insights into understanding when the body, grounded through its senses, makes sense of and interacts with its natural surroundings. It argues that autoethnography may provide methodologies for understanding and analysing connections between personal embodied nature-based experiences, culture and nature. This paper brings into play personal experience in windsurfing and autoethnographies of other nature-based sport to uncover connections between body, affects, emotions and the senses as the body engages with natural elements. It engages with expressions of spirituality, as alternative to ‘flow’, and the speculative notion of kinetic empathy to propose the concept of body pedagogics as analytically useful in exploring social and environmental action in local and global spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Raleigh International is a British youth development charity that offers structured overseas expeditions ‘to inspire young people...to discover their full potential’. The expeditions involve three different projects: adventurous activity, community service and environmental conservation. This paper examines the experiences of a group of venturers who participated in a 10-week expedition to Ghana. Data were collected through a series of interviews and participant observation. The analysis of the participants’ motives for engaging in the projects is informed by the interactional principles of Erving Goffman. The study participants indicated that their involvement with the organisation was primarily a form of face-work: to enhance their credibility as they anticipated entering the adult world of employment. In particular, they were concerned with building aspects of character that resonate with Goffman’s elements of courage, gameness, integrity and composure. Raleigh International as the organisational body is seen to display elements of a ‘total institution’, providing the rules and values that govern the social encounter, during the time of which actors live in relative isolation from broader society. This study identifies two areas of concern for these young venturers. First, there was a failure to recognise that their desire for ‘risk’ to develop character was limited by the boundaries placed around their activities by Raleigh International, reflecting a broader culture of caution. And, second, their sense of ‘service’ to a developing nation contained elements of stigmatisation of the people with whom they worked. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It can be argued that young people’s socialisation into sport follows a general pattern of sampling, specialising and investing (Côté & Hay, 2002a). In the sampling phase children participate in a range of sports for fun and enjoyment. The specialising phase involves more sport‐specific skill development and a reduction in the range of sport activities. The investment phase signals a focus on one activity and a commitment to intensive training and competitive success. This paper develops research where we previously examined the key features of the sampling phase in the junior section of Forest Athletic Club (FAC) (MacPhail et al ., 2003). Continuing our involvement in an ethnography of FAC we are now able to report and discuss key characteristics of the specialising phase that were evident through young people’s involvement at the club. These include a reduction in the number of sporting activities being pursued, enjoyment and success, the notion of deliberate practice and the influence of family, school and club support on those moving into the specialising phase. We note that while some of the key features of the sampling phase carried over to the specialising phase there were subtle differences in how they were practised. We report characteristics of the specialising phase that were not evident when observing and interviewing the same athletes when they were experiencing the sampling phase. In concluding we suggest how the quality of the sporting experience in the specialising years can increase the likelihood that young people will remain involved in sport. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Participation in risky leisure activities (including so‐called ‘extreme’ sports) has increased in recent years, along with a concomitant growth in the related supporting industries, and in media coverage of events and associated lifestyles. The rise in popularity of dangerous leisure pursuits has led to questions about whether these activities should be regulated, or whether legislation should be enacted to prohibit particular activities. Arguments have centred on harm to individuals, and on the potential costs to others, such as families, rescue workers, and society at large. Very little work has been done on the moral legitimacy of dangerous leisure pursuits, and this paper attempts to address this, using a multidisciplinary approach. The paper evaluates both paternalistic and libertarian approaches, and pursues solutions to the moral problem from both utilitarian (consequence‐based) and deontological (duty‐based) perspectives. It is concluded that mature, rational individuals ought to retain the right to pursue activities that have potential deleterious consequences for themselves. While recognising that individuals ought to concern themselves with the effects of their actions on others, the paper accepts arguments based on autonomy, and defends the right to engage in dangerous leisure activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is a position paper. It seeks to set a new and distinctive approach to the study of leisure that combines theory, practice and ethics. It stands on the shoulders of 'action sociology', as represented in the Weberian tradition, and symbolic interactionism. But it offers a radical renewal of this perspective by relating action to 'embodiment', 'emplacement', 'location' and 'context', and repositioning leisure studies in relation to 'care for the self' and 'care for the other'. The paper is concerned to elucidate a renewed action approach and to demonstrate its value for the study of leisure. It does not aim to compare or contrast this approach systematically with other positions in the field. The action approach identifies 'testing' to be a duty of all theoretical propositions. It regards leisure to be intrinsically political. The paper distinguishes the differences between postmodernism and the action approach. The paper ends with a suggested research agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increased academic attention on the gendering of leisure pastimes in recent years has highlighted the centrality of the gendered body in influencing how leisure is accessed, experienced and transformed. To date, however, little attention has been paid to how women experience aquatic leisure activity, the second most popular form of leisure activity in the UK, and where female participation predominates. This paper presents results from research investigating the aquatic leisure experiences of 22 women, with children aged under 3, in the North-East of England. A number of key themes emerged from the data, which highlighted the centrality of the gendered, lived body as a key social construct contouring participant perceptions in the swimming pool environment. Women reflected upon their self-perceived physical deficiencies when wearing revealing swimming costumes, particularly under the critical gaze of ‘other’ bodies, whether present or imagined. The co-presence of other bodies was also central in shaping lived experiences, and the presence of ‘dependent’ children’s bodies shifted bodily intentionality away from the self towards perceived maternal responsibilities and the management of perceived risks, including ‘dirt’ and ‘germs’ and the negotiation of the tacit rules of the swimming pool. Results also suggest that the emphasis on maternal responsibility in aquatic leisure activity and timing of parent-toddler sessions could lead to reproduction of gender inequalities and the exclusion of some fathers from participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Leisure Studies is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The present paper considers the issues surrounding the social, professional and family (re-) integration of end-of-career professional athletes in France. Drawing on the case of French rugby player Marc Cecillon, a former captain of the national team whose descent into alcoholism culminated in his conviction for murder of his wife in August 2004, it examines how sports institutions fail to meet athletes' aspirations and needs for support. Drawing on a series of interviews with representatives of sports institutions and analysis of print media coverage, the research investigates the issues surrounding career-change difficulties for professional athletes. It demonstrates through the story of Marc Cecillon why the career of professional sportsmen and women cannot be divorced from their social trajectory. Rather than acknowledging this, however, the sports institutions concerned are seen to attribute blame for any ills affecting French rugby to exterior causes, such as individual weakness. By rejecting responsibility in this way the sporting 'family' falls apart, removing any support system and denying athletes the information and guidance necessary to manage their career change effectively. This is particularly significant for team players, who have been in a subservient position in relation to their clubs and can therefore suffer identity uncertainty from this lack of guidance. The case study suggests that French sports institutions do not play their role in preparing athletes for the realities of a new life based on different values and different social relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Skateboarding raises an interesting dilemma in the field of health promotion. While public health institutions are engaged in unprecedented efforts to counter the sedentary lifestyles of youth, the promotion of lifestyle sports and active leisure practices, such as skateboarding, is tempered by the potential risks of injuries. The health-risks associated with skateboarding have generally been viewed through the lens of epidemiology. Sociology, on the other hand, has yet to provide research on injuries that meshes with this literature. This paper addresses this absence by drawing on the works of Pierre Bourdieu to present a different perspective on the health benefits and injuries associated with skateparks. Using his concepts of 'physical capital' and 'social capital', the analysis consists of 388 days of observation (mean of 35 days in 11 skateparks) and 23 in-depth interviews with male and female skaters in Montreal, Canada. Its findings indicate that few serious injuries occurred in these skateparks and that these spaces do not correspond to the image depicted of skateboarding in previous research. From this, we suggest that skateparks should be conceived as a valuable health-resource for youth because they provide various social, psychological and physical resources that encourage a safe and active lifestyle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper extends the constraints of leisure literature by demonstrating how materials are circulated to regulate and constrain leisure behaviour in the countryside. It is argued that constraints in the form of moral regulation should be recognised as part of the constraints literature. The development of the Country Code in England is regarded as part of a long-term and ongoing effort to extend governance and control by means of informal and semi-formal codes of conduct. Crucially, however, the Code has changed over time and may act as a means of placating different interests in the countryside as much as observably constraining them. The Code is seen as a constraint project mediated between groups and is found to be contested and reworked over time. Drawing on key concepts expounded in Bourdieu's post-structural social theory it is argued that actors occupy positions within social fields and draw on their own habitus, other dispositions of power and imaginations to co-construct leisure regulation and behaviour. Such conceptual devices should more properly be viewed as contingent dispositions that are subject to challenge and revision. As such the more diffuse and circulatory constraints affect practices differentially. A need for more attention to this in leisure studies research and a recognition of how different constraints are experienced and responded to is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper applies choice experiments (CE) to value the utility visitors derive from various sections of the National Arts Festival held once a year in Grahamstown, South Africa. A brief survey of the method and its use to date in valuing cultural goods is provided. The CE conducted at the 2003 South African National Arts Festival is described. The results show that a conditional logit model performs very well in valuing Festival attributes and provides interesting insights into the value that different gender and ethnic groups place on the various elements of the Festival. Such detailed information can help organizers to allocate resources more efficiently; particularly in South Africa, where the emphasis is on attracting previously excluded sectors of the population to cultural events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rooted in the UEFA Men's Euro 2020 as a case study, this article examines the coalescence of futuristic and retrospective assessments in the governance and construction of security in the context of sport mega-events (SMEs). SMEs require large-scale security efforts to ensure safety for event tourists and spectators and scholars have suggested that SME security governance and risk assessments post-9/11, shaped by wider processes, have become increasingly precautionary, future-oriented and guided by the question 'what if?'. Concurrently, scholars also note how SME security is based on the reproduction of previously tested practices and models. Building on these existing insights, this article locates these distinctive processes within the under-researched context of Euro 2020's pre-planning and introduces a concept called the 'troika of security', which captures precautionary and reproduction-based mechanisms that assist security constructions and governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cities have long been a focus of interest for social scientists, flâneurs and writers of fiction. Having commented on the contribution made by each of these, the article proceeds to argue that insights into urban leisure activity can best be portrayed through a combination of flânerie and fiction. With this in mind, two partly imagined cities are presented here, with an emphasis on exclusion in the first and the lives of the excluded in the second. Although exclusion from leisure spaces may be morally questionable, this does not mean that the excluded necessarily miss out on pleasurable experiences. Indeed, in the light of the sterility of so many of our new downtown entertainment zones as presented in this article, the excluded may well have lessons to offer on how to enjoy life better. The article argues that we should continue to do research– as flâneurs if need be or even as writers of fiction – that can provide ‘evidence’ from which such lessons may be learned. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This research note offers a brief discussion of insider research and insider-outsider controversies in disability research. It then focuses on the extent to which researchers of disability in sport and leisure reflect on two important issues in their research findings: their experiences as disabled or non-disabled researchers and conducting inclusive and emancipatory disability research. It suggests that whilst there are many ethical challenges associated with doing disability research in sport and leisure settings, scholars in this area have offered limited detailed reflexive accounts of their experiences. By addressing this, we may learn from each other how to improve the action and political potential of research in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Club studies are sociological investigations of youth drug use in the social context of the club. By being present at the club, the researcher tries to gain access to a somehow hidden population of drug users who only to a lesser extent - or not at all - perceive their drug use as problematic. This is the large group of people who primarily consider their drug use as a leisure activity, and thus as a means for deriving pleasure. In spite of impressive club studies conducted in both Great Britain and the USA, it seems that, broadly speaking, previous efforts can be characterised as either very broad and/or quantitative or very particular, sub-cultural and exclusively qualitative. Through a methodological discussion of these studies, this article suggests a mixed-methods approach to club studies that combines quantitative data, qualitative interviews and ethnography conducted in the club space. By introducing the concept of 'socionautics', this article suggests that the researcher travels into the social landscape of young people, clubs and drugs and utilises her ethnographic observations in interviews. An approach like this would cast light upon this very central part of youth leisure life in a systematic and detailed way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the last 20 years, a remarkable new type of service has been developed in the world of sports, which can be described as the indoorisation of outdoor sports. Typical outdoor sports like climbing, skiing, surfing, rowing and skydiving, which used to be exclusively practised in a natural environment of mountains, oceans, rivers and the air, are now being offered for consumption in safe, predictable and controlled indoor centres. The present article emphasises the rise of indoor lifestyle sports, such as rafting, snowboarding, skydiving and surfing. It discusses the conditions under and ways in which commercial entrepreneurs in the Netherlands have created this market, the meanings that they have ascribed to their centres and the dilemmas with which they have been confronted. It is argued that the rise of this economic market cannot be understood if it is solely interpreted as the result of economic, technological or natural developments. These economic activities were also embedded in and influenced by shared understandings and their representations in structured fields of outdoor sports, mainstream sports and leisure experience activities. A better understanding of the indoorisation of outdoor lifestyle sports can be achieved by recognising how these structures and cultures pervaded the rise of this new market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the fact that tourists constantly interact corporeally with things and physical places, tourist studies have failed to understand the significance of materiality and objects in modern tourism. Like much theory and research influenced by the ‘cultural turn’, tourist (and leisure) studies have melted everything solid into signs. This article is inspired by current calls for a renewed engagement with the ‘material’ in social and cultural geography and sociology. It introduces questions of materiality and material culture into cultural accounts of contemporary leisure and tourism, in particular in relation to space and ‘human’ performances. In doing so it stresses the inescapable hybridity of human and ‘nonhuman’ worlds. It is shown that leisure and tourist practices are much more tied up with material objects and physical sensations than traditionally assumed and that emblematic tourist performances involve, and are made possible and pleasurable by, objects, machines and technologies. Thus we suggest that further engagement with the ‘material’ would be the constructive path to follow for future leisure and tourist studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents and discusses the findings of a survey designed to assess two issues. First, it considers the extent to which Scottish local authorities have sought to discover and provide for the specific needs of their black and minority ethnic (BME) populations. Second, it provides preliminary reflections on the impact of political, organisational and legislative change upon the policy and practice of Scottish local authorities in their delivery of services to their BME populations. It raises questions about the potential for improvement in local authority leisure services following the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2002. The study was carried out in the context of previous research by Horne (1995) and thus sought to assess the extent to which there had been change during the intervening period in the approaches of Scottish local authorities. Results suggest that the environment in which local authority leisure providers operate has changed significantly since 1995. All local authorities now have formalised equal opportunity policies and race equality schemes. Whilst there exist examples of good practice, the degree to which local authorities seek to discover and meet the needs of their BME populations varies considerably. Analysis of the discourses of local authorities suggests that the extent to which the ethos of equality has permeated organisations remains uneven. Scotland, a country of some five million people, is actively seeking a flow of Fresh Talent to flourish alongside native-born Scots and secure its place as an essential part of the global economy(Scotland is the place to be for opportunities www.scotlandistheplace.com). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Starting from the overwhelming welcome that Putnam’s (2000) treatise on social capital has received in government circles, we consider its relative merits for examining and understanding the role for leisure in policy strategies. To perform this critique we identify some of the key points from Putnam’s work and also illustrate how it has been incorporated into a body of leisure studies literature. This is then extended to a discussion of the methodological and theoretical underpinnings of his approach and its link to civic communitarianism. We suggest that the seduction of the ‘niceness’ of Putnam’s formulation of social capital not only misses the point of the grimness of some people’s lives but it also pays little attention to Bourdieu’s point that poorer community groups tend to be at the mercy of forces over which they have little control. We argue that if the poor have become a silent emblem of the ways in which the state has more and more individualised its relationship with its citizens, it is they who also tend to be blamed for their own poverty because it is presumed that they lack social capital. This in turn encourages ‘us’ to determine what is appropriate for ‘them’. As a critical response to this situation, we propose that Bourdieu’s take on different forms of ‘capital’ offers more productive lines for analysis. From there we go on to suggest that it might be profitable to combine Bourdieu’s sociology with Sennett’s recent interpretation of ‘respect’ to formulate a central interpretive role for community leisure practitioners – recast as cultural intermediaries – if poorer community groups are to be better included. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]