Routledge Handbook of Youth Sport

The Routledge Handbook of Youth Sport is a comprehensive survey of the latest research into young people’s involvement in sport. Drawing on a wide diversity of disciplines, including sociology, psychology, policy studies, coaching, physical education and physiology, the book examines the importance of sport during a key transitional period of our lives, from the later teenage years into the early twenties, and therefore helps us develop a better understanding of the social construction of young people’s lives.

The book covers youth sport in all its forms, from competitive game-contests and conventional sport to recreational activities, exercise and lifestyle sport, and at all levels, from elite competition to leisure time activities and school physical education. It explores youth sport across the world, in developing and developed countries, and touches on some of the most significant themes and issues in contemporary sport studies, including physical activity and health, lifelong participation, talent identification and development, and safeguarding and abuse.

No other book brings together in one place such a breadth and depth of material on youth sport or the engagement of young people in physical activity. The Routledge Handbook of Youth Sport is therefore important reading for all advanced students, researchers, practitioners and policy-makers with an interest in youth sport, youth culture, sport studies or physical education.

Ken Green is Professor of Sociology of Physical Education and Youth Sport and Head of Sport and Exercise Sciences at the University of Chester, UK, as well as Visiting Professor at Hedmark University College, Norway, and the University of Wolverhampton, UK. He is Editor-in-Chief of the European Physical Education Review and his books include Understanding Physical Education (2008) and Key Themes in Youth Sport (2010). His main research interests revolve around physical education and youth sport.

Andy Smith is Professor of Sport and Physical Activity at Edge Hill University, UK, where he is also Associate Head of the Department of Sport and Physical Activity. His research interests and publications focus on sport, physical activity and health and on youth, sport policy and development. He is co-author of Sport Policy and Development (with Daniel Bloyce, 2010), An Introduction to Drugs in Sport (with Ivan Waddington, 2009) and Disability, Sport and Society (with Nigel Thomas, 2009), and co-editor of Doing Real World Research in Sports Studies (with Ivan Waddington, 2014). Andy is also a?former co-editor of the International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics, which he launched with Barrie Houlihan and Daniel Bloyce in 2009, and an Editorial Board member of Leisure Studies and the European Physical Education Review.