Playing on the periphery: troubling sport policy, systemic exclusion and the role of sport in rural Canada

Abstract

In policy contexts, social exclusion can be experienced through the systematic marginalization of groups by inhibiting their ability to access resources and support. In this article, we consider the context of community sport development in rural Canada to discuss the implications of rationalized policy systems for rural citizens. We discuss instances where engagement with the sport system was constrained as well as the way that rural people responded in order to continue engagement in sport both within and outside of policy frameworks. A more inclusive sport policy system requires the acknowledgement of diverse social outcomes which may be realized through sport. But, in order for this to take place, policy makers and practitioners must acknowledge that these outcomes can exist outside of athlete development and must re-consider the ways that resources and support can be allocated.

Keywords:

• Sport policy
• rural
• community sport development
• social exclusion
• social outcomes

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Desirea Agar as well as two anonymous reviewers for their feedback and support on the development of this manuscript. This work was supported by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Canada Graduate Scholarship (Doctoral Scholarship) as well as a Sport Canada Research Initiative Doctoral Research Stipend.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. We would like to acknowledge the many contributions of individuals and groups from the Municipality of Powassan who participated in the research processes involved in the production of this manuscript. In particular, thank you to those who participated in the activities of the Municipal Recreation Committee who helped to shape, direct, and inform this project. Without your many contributions and ongoing support and feedback, this research would not have been possible.

2. We would like to acknowledge that there is no agreed upon definition of rural that adequately captures the diversity of lived experiences of rural settlers in Canada and around the world. In this paper, we focus specifically on the context of rural Canada, a developed nation and former British colony. Therefore, these discussions should be considered as uniquely contextual and distinct from discussions of sport in international development as well as the implications of sport in and for Indigenous communities in Canada.

3. For a thorough overview of the history, development, and renewal of Canadian Sport Policy, see Thibault and Harvey (2013).