Project summary
This study explores how parenthood and childhood are enacted within the context of organized youth sport in one rural and small-town British Columbia region. Studies of organized youth sport, childhood, and parenthood have primarily emphasized the experiences of (sub)urban dwellers. This has resulted in limited knowledge on how where one lives informs experiences of organized youth sport in rural and small towns.
Data from this project reveal that place is at the centre of participants’ practices and meanings of childhood, parenthood and organized youth sport. Living in this rural and small-town region exposes participants to, and roots them in, place-based practices and ideologies of parenthood and childhood (e.g., “parenting and growing up in the countryside”) which can be at odds with support of/participation in organized youth sport. Making a life in this region also requires participants to negotiate, and work with/in, place-based material conditions (e.g., geography, low population, isolation, precarious employment) which can be prohibitive in their pursuit of organized youth sport opportunities. This rootedness in rural and small-town living does not, however, shelter these residents altogether from dominant cultural narratives (and the social expectations attached to them) which link successful parenthood and childhood to young people’s participation in organized youth sport. What results is a constant negotiation between what parents and children hope to/are expected to achieve by living rurally and what they hope to/are expected to achieve through organized youth sport participation. Taken together, these material and ideological conditions drive parents’ and young people’s actions and ultimately impact the landscape of organized youth sport in this rural and small-town region.
Research methods
This project is based on ethnographic research carried out between 2012 and 2015 in the West Kootenay region of British Columbia. It draws on fieldnotes, open-ended interviews, and participant observation to capture the lived experiences of over a hundred young people (ages 12-18), parents, and sport administrators involved in organized youth sport in the region. I conducted 110 interviews, spent hundreds of hours on the road with young people and adults, and attended countless community and sporting events.
Research results
First, small populations, distance to population, and precarious employment are central to many of the reasons young people, parents, and sport administrators behave in the ways they do. They also help explain the shape of organized youth sport programs in the region. Living in a place with a small population and unstable economy makes it hard to populate teams, retain coaches and volunteers, and build sustainable programs. It also requires participants to commit considerable personal resources to travel. This significantly impacts the choices people make about, and the experiences they have, of organized youth sport.
Second, people’s ideas about rurality – that is, what they imagine or represent rural places to be and feel like – are imprinted upon the decisions they make about, and their experiences of, participation in organized youth sport. For some, organized youth sport is entirely incompatible with what they imagine the West Kootenays/rural living to be and therefore opt out entirely or create alternative opportunities for themselves/their children. Others have an entirely different idea of the West Kootenays/rural living, one that is rooted in rich traditions of hockey and baseball success. The tensions between these views play out in schoolyard and local politics.
Third, what participants consider “good parenting”/“successful childhood” also drives decisions and behaviours around organized youth sport. Four place-based patterns of child-rearing vis-à-vis sport arose from the data, each a result of negotiating culturally dominant and place-based narratives. Some families pursue the dream of sporting success at the expense of developing roots in the region. Others try to make organized youth sport work within the confines of rural and small towns, not wanting to give up rural living altogether. A third group opts out of organized youth sport altogether because it does not fit their vision of rural living. Finally, some families are pushed out of organized youth sport because they lack the resources and networks to participate.
Limitations
I did not compare my research with other rural and small-town regions. Much could be learned by extending this research to regions characterized by greater distances between towns, more extreme isolation and weather, as well as more ethnic and racial diversity.
Another limitation of this study is that it did not capture the lived experiences of those who opt out of organized youth sport; I was only able to capture their existence through second-hand stories from those participating in organized youth sport.
Timing of the research was also a factor. Weather limited visits to the region between November and April, which means that information on hockey and skiing was gathered primarily through interviews rather than participation observation.
Finally, I did not collect quantitative data on historical and current registration numbers for existing sport organizations in the West Kootenays. This would have helped contextualize what many participants expressed as “changing times.”
Policy and program implications
This research should encourage coaches, recreation programmers, sport policy writers, and funders to see merit in a place-based approach to policy, programming, and delivery. Places should receive different levels/types of services, resources, and programming. Rather than simply tailoring programs or policies to local conditions, the goal should be to continue recognizing the influence of local conditions on the nature of services and programs offered. It should also be to deliberately and consciously identify and harness local assets (people, culture, environment) for the benefit of durable and sustainable programming.
Next steps
One avenue to explore is how childhood, parenthood, and organized youth sport come together in more remote and geographically isolated places, especially Indigenous communities. What has also not been explored thoroughly is what role participation in organised youth sport may play in developing a sense of place, and with that, a likelihood of wanting to settle down in that place as an adult? While this project has focused on young people who participate in organized youth sport, it has also drawn attention to the fact that some young people actively avoid or are pushed out of organized youth sport in their rural and small towns. It would be worthwhile to consider how these young people develop a sense of place outside of organized youth sport and how their pathways into adulthood may differ from their peers’.
Knowledge translation
Funding bodies (e.g., Community Gaming Grant, ViaSport) would benefit from knowing the place-based barriers rural and small-town sport organizations face in application and reporting processes.
All organizations who have a mandate to implement standard programming and expectations across the province (e.g., PacificSport, viaSport, PSOs) should take note of these findings. Doing so will help them recognize that, in light of resources and priorities, young people/programs in rural and small towns will rarely be able to compete with their urban peers. Having a system that expects them to do so is doomed from the start. A place-based approach will require these stakeholders to think about what can reasonably be achieved in specific places. This might include having regional championships rather than provincial championships, tiered championships based on population size, or rural and urban championships.
Rural-specific sport organizations (e.g., MSOs) would benefit from the findings which speak to the reasons parents and children participate, the challenges they face, and the strategies they employ to minimize barriers.