Participation versus performance Managing (dis)ability, gender and cultural diversity in junior sport

This report presents the results of the three-year research project titled ‘Participation versus performance: Managing (dis)ability, gender and cultural diversity in junior sport’ (2014–2017). The research was conducted collaboratively by Victoria University, Swinburne University, Curtin University and Monash University, in partnership with the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation (VicHealth), Australian Football League (AFL) and Centre for Multicultural Youth (CMY). This study fills a significant gap in understanding diversity in junior sport and, specifically, the relationship and tensions between
diversity and the pursuit of performance and competition in junior sport. Junior sport is an important activity through which children and young people learn about social norms and develop attitudes towards people with diverse backgrounds and abilities. How diversity is managed in junior sport can affect how participants are socialised to understand and respond to diversity throughout their lives. The research focuses on how different forms of diversity are understood, experienced and managed by junior sports participants within the context and social network of their club and sport. Instead of isolating one type of diversity, the study covers a broader spectrum of (intersecting) social relations and markers of differentiation that are relevant to understanding diversity in sport and society, including race/ethnicity, gender and ability.