“What does skateboarding mean to you?” An exploratory study of Brazilian skateboarders’ developmental experiences

ABSTRACT

Despite the widely held belief that participation in organised sport promotes Positive Youth Development (PYD), the evidence supporting this notion remains limited. Alternatively, scholars have investigated the potential for action sports to contribute to young people’s development. In particular, skateboarding may represent a more accessible and inclusive option compared to traditional sports as evidenced by its increasing popularity amongst youth in Brazil and worldwide. While the potential to promote positive development warrants attention, as development through sport should be an option for all, it is particularly important to understand the experiences of historically marginalised groups such as women. The purpose of the current study was to (a) explore the developmental experiences afforded by skateboarding, and (b) women’s unique experiences within this setting. Reflexive thematic analysis was employed to analyse Brazilian skateboarders semi-structured interviews and responses to a commensurate open-ended survey. Taken together, results suggest skateboarders were able to develop both individual (e.g. resilience) and collective-level outcomes (e.g. social capital) due to this sport’s peer-centred, self-structured, and community-oriented nature. While female skateboarders were faced with a consistent set of gender-related constraints, they employed both individual and collective strategies to navigate these constraints and empower women within this setting. Overall, skateboarding provided different developmental experiences and outcomes when compared to traditional sports. The nature of skateboarding encouraged participants to reflect on and engage in sociopolitical processes (e.g. protesting), empowering this group of young people and situating them as capable of enacting social change within their communities.

KEYWORDS:

• Youth
• development
• skateboarding
• female
• peer
• community

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.2012

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Guilherme H. Costa

Guilherme Hebling Costa is currently a PhD student in the Performance Lab for the Advancement of Youth in Sport at Queen’s University. Guilherme’s research focuses on positive youth development through sport/physical activity and the role of different social agents in this process. He is particularly interested in exploring the contribution of parent-child relationships towards youth development.

Jill Kochanek

Dr. Jill Kochanek is currently an assistant professor of physical education and director of the athletic leadership master’s program at Springfield College. Her research and applied work centers on the promotion of inclusion, equity, and social justice through sports. Through her integrative research line, she critically examines status quo sport dynamics and their marginalizing effects, and explores how youth and adult leaders can engage in a more socially responsible practice.

Karl Erickson

Dr. Karl Erickson is currently an assistant professor of sport psychology within the School of Kinesiology and Health Science at York University. His research addresses two primary questions: how does participation in sport and movement contexts contribute to psychosocial development and well-being; and how can this contribution be optimized toward positive development, learning and growth? He is interested in the integration of performance, health and psychosocial outcomes, and how interpersonal processes in sport, particularly involving coaches and coaching, influence these developmental outcomes for youth.