“give it everything you got” resilience sports ebsco

7/27/2019 Give It Everything You Got RESILIENCE SPORTS EBSCO

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a School of Social Sciences, University of Western Sydney.

Correspondence concerning this article should be sent to Neil Hall, Lecturer in Social Work, School of So-

cial Sciences, University of Western Sydney, Locked Bag 1797 Penrith, NSW, 2751, Australia. Email:[email protected]

NEIL HALLa

Give It Everything You Got:

Resilience for Young Males Through Sport

Sport builds character is a phrase often heard throughout Australian society,

but whether it really reflects what happens for young males through sport is de-

batable. This paper reports on doctoral research with young males. The stories of

their sporting experiences provide rich insight into the ways that sport does, and

does not, build resilience to facilitate the transition to adulthood and negotiate

the adversities of adolescence.

Keywords: sport, young males, resilience, health and wellbeing

Young males in Australia face the prospect of negotiating a transition to adulthood

and developing health and wellbeing through an increasingly complex relationship be-

tween the individual and their community. Young males are presented with a diverse

range of alternatives for building resilience in order to negotiate this transition

smoothly. The doctoral research that provided the impetus for the following discussion

of health and wellbeing initially set out to explore the relationships between sport and

civic engagement for young Australian males.

The age range for participants in this study overlaps a life stage most often referred

to as adolescence, which represents a path of transition from childhood to adulthood.

Developmental psychologists (e.g., Erikson, 1968; Hegel, 1971) describe adolescence

as a life stage where, apart from struggling with the physical and hormonal changes as-

sociated with puberty, young people experience the turmoil of youth that he calls the

identity crisis. They say that this turmoil is most commonly experienced during the

teenage years, and proposes that the primary tasks to be resolved during adolescence

are those of seeking identity and moving toward independence.

This turbulent transition is often made more navigable through certain protective

factors. Atwool (2002) identifies several key factors that contribute to a young persons

capacity for overcoming adversity during this transition. First, there are individual char-

acteristics such as high self-esteem, self-confidence, communication skills, conflict


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resolution skills, cultural pride, easy temperament, and a sense of belonging. Second,

a supportive family plays a strong role, and third a supportive person, network or

agency outside the family. That is, forming attachments to significant adults outside

the immediate family system, including extended family, family friends, or adults inleadership roles such as those found in schools, church youth groups, sports teams or

youth work services, also contributes to resilience. Worsley (2005) adds that any kind

of skill that a young person has learned (and can rely on) contributes to their ability to

survive adversity, and can include creative and performing arts, technical and manual

skills, and sports skills. Finally, she argues that the peer group is an important dimen-

sion that, even when it is characterised by conflict, can still provides an environment

in which young people can learn social cues.

Atwool (2002) and Worsley (2005) both agree that young people in transition who

experience more of these protective factors are more likely to avoid or overcome ad-versity. The transition to adulthood is a complex path and young males are presented

with a diverse range of alternatives, of which sport is one, for building resilience in

order to negotiate the transition smoothly.

Cale and Harris (2005) provide a brief overview of some literature that links physi-

cal activity with psychological health. They cite research (e.g., Biddle, 1995; Calfas, &

Taylor, 1994; Mutrie & Parfitt, 1998; Tortolero, Taylor, & Murray, 2000) that shows as-

sociations between physical activity/fitness and increased self-esteem, positive self-

concept, improved self-efficacy, greater perceived physical competence, lower levels

of stress, anxiety and depression, and greater perceived health and wellbeing. Daley

(2002) reports similar results in terms of sport contributing to a higher sense of physi-

cal self-worth. Pertinently, boys reported significantly higher scores than girls on sports

competence, attractive body adequacy and physical self-worth. Coalter (2005), on the

other hand, explores some negative psychological aspects of sport, particularly related

to overtraining and exercise addiction. Furthermore, Boone and Leadbeater (2006)

found that participation in team sports partially mediated the risks for depressive symp-

toms. Thus, it is fair to conclude that, in terms of these aspects of psychological health,

resilience is seemingly enhanced by participation in sport and physical activity.

Some health literature seeks to broaden this relationship in order to establish a con-

nection between sport and community health. Fensham and Gardner (2005) argue that

dancingas a form of physical activityenables a person to engage of and with their

bodies in all of their lived social, physical, spatio-temporal, aesthetic and otherworldly

dimensions (p. 15). Dance classes are thus environments in which social skills can be

learned and social capital developed, providing benefits that exceed economic consid-

erations and so representing unique community capacity building opportunities. In

terms of capacity building, Hall and Banno (2001) also found that public performance

of activities such as dance (for young females) and exhibition games of rugby sevens(for young males) were effective both in developing a sense of belonging to commu-

nity and in contributing to its vibrant life where the adult community could recognise

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issues of ownership, obligations and stakeholder interests in sports at government, pol-

icy and market levels.

Community recognition of the contribution of young males will often translate into

an affirmation of their worth and, consequently, as both Woodman (2004) and Wilkin-son (2006) assert, an increased sense of health and wellbeing. Furthermore, this recog-

nition can also often result in a more keenly developed sense of belonging, participation

and ownership in decisions and social structures that impact on their lives (Easthorpe

& White, 2006). Conversely, Saggers, Palmerm, Royce, Wilson, and Charlton (2004)

and Matthews (2000) note that the inclusion and participation of young people also

makes communities stronger.

Foundational to understanding the relationship between sport, resilience, health and

wellbeing for young males is Macdonalds (2006) emphasis on the social and political

determinants of mens health, which promotes an understanding of men that is salu-togenic, that is that acknowledges mens strengths and resilience. The salutogenic

model seeks to move away from historical criticisms of masculinity, and also to avoid

building an approach to mens health based on apologies for what is masculine (Mac-

donald, 2005; Macdonald, McDermott, & Di Campli, 2004). The model acknowledges

that all people have a darker side, but focuses on mens health and health-enhanc-

ing behaviour, on what is salutogenic rather than pathogenic (Macdonald, McDer-

mott, Woods, Brown, & Sliwka, 2000, p. 4).

Wilkinson and Marmot (2003) identify ten main social determinants of health as so-

cial gradient, stress, early life, social exclusion, work, unemployment, social support,

addiction, food and transport. Macdonald (2005) draws a connection between health

and a persons or societys environment, and understands health to be the successful in-

teraction/relationship that individuals and communities have with their surrounding

environment, rather than apportioning blame to masculinity and men behaving badly

(Macdonald, 2006, p. 456).

Easthorpe and White (2006), Wilkinson and Marmot (2003), and Vinson (1999) agree

that the empirical evidence no longer supports the idea that individuals are solely re-

sponsible for their health, when individual and public health is evidently poorer in

whole communities/societies that are poorer across a number of social indicators.

Sercombe, Omaji, Frew, Cooper, and Love (2002) acknowledge that, based on mor-

tality and morbidity rates, young people are generally considered the most physically

healthy section of the community in Australia. They argue, however, that their mental

health (measured by indicators such as depression, self harm and suicide) is poorer.

They list some of the determinants of individual youth health that feature: hope for the

future, feelings of self-worth, feelings of being needed, and seeing a positive role in the

world for self. Feelings of powerlessness are basic to apathy and ill-health, and social

exclusion creates powerless groups in society (young people being one of them).Wilkinson (2006) agrees that health and longevity tend to be better in more egalitarian

societies Therefore any processes that increase equality fairness and empowerment are

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being valued for it, is highly predictive of good health (p. 713). Participation in sport

could be considered a form of broader community participation, although it is impor-

tant to acknowledge, as McKay (1990) and Kell (2000) do, that social exclusion still

exists within the sporting world.If it is considered that a young persons health can be improved by broader social

participation, then this participation should begin by finding out what they say about

health. Easthorpe and White (2006) conducted a study that sought to escape the trap of

understanding youth health through conducting purely epidemiological assessments of

it. The study also sought to avoid the misdirected technique of asking adults what they

think about the health of young people, and to sidestep current conservative approaches

to health that focus on individual responsibility to make good health choices. They

found that young people accepted public health messages about being individually re-

sponsible for their health by lifestyle choices, but that social relationships are the cru-cial influences on health behaviour. Despite the synonymy of health and wellbeing in

some political definitions, the young people they interviewed considered the two as

separate concepts, not occupying the same mind space (p. 48). Health was deter-

mined by eating well, exercising, and avoiding bad habits like smoking, drug-taking,

binge drinking, etc. Wellbeing, on the other hand, was achieved by having a circle of

friends and a supportive family, and was closely connected with feeling good. There-

fore a young person may know the health messages, and understand their individual re-

sponsibility for making health choices, but their behaviour is much more likely to be

influenced by their social relationships, because wellbeing (which outranks health

in their eyes) is determined not so much by public health messages, but by these social

relationships. They propose that it is because of this dichotomy that young people may

often engage in risk behaviours to feel good and achieve wellbeing, despite know-

ing that it is not healthy for them.

Woodman (2004) also acknowledges the existence of young peoples understandings

of their individual responsibility for future health choices. However, he says that this

responsibility also weaves in and out of the centrality of finding time to enjoy the pres-

ent. He found that young people will rarely include risk behaviours (such as alcohol

and other drug use) in their descriptions of wellbeing, even though they are regularly

used as outcome measures in health research. He saw young peoples understanding of

wellbeing as connected to overload and the constant burden of the future (p. 92). It

may be the case that devolving responsibility for health decisions solely to the indi-

vidual may, in fact, add to their feelings of overload and therefore detract from their

overall sense of wellbeing. Woodman proposes that, for young people, the important el-

ement in life is balance between responsibility for their future and having time to enjoy

the present. Consequently, he argues that those who work with young people, and those

in research and policy, need to make room in their work for a young persons under-standing of health and wellbeing, and how it connects to other aspects of their social

world which may include sport

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sion about their roles and consequences, and that society as a whole needs to accept

some responsibility for these consequences in order for the social and cultural envi-

ronment to have a positive impact on young peoples wellbeing.

METHOD

The research relates the experiences of fourteen young males, aged 16 to 25, who ei-

ther lived or studied in the Western Sydney region of Australia. Participation was vol-

untary, with no intention to target a representative demographic spread of participants,

other than to focus primarily on Western Sydney. Twelve participants were from an

Anglo background, with two from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) back-

grounds, and almost all lived in working-class/lower middle-class suburbs. All partic-

ipants had been involved in some form of sports participation from an early age and hadplayed a range of sports, either serially or in parallel.

The purpose of the research was to explore the connections between sport and civic

engagement for young males. Based on a phenomenological research framework, which

Finlay (1999) describes as a means of seeking to capture the richness of individual ex-

perience, the research utilised semi-structured interviews that allowed opportunities

for investigating patterns gleaned from literature together with the participants own

sport-related stories. Groenewald (2004, p. 5) advises to refrain from any pre-given

framework and cites other works (e.g., Holloway, 1997; Hycner, 1999) that argue the

inappropriateness of overlaying a technique or method that will fit all situations. How-

ever, it is important to note that the research did not start with a blank slate. The notion

of exploring connections between sport and civic engagement in young males does, to

some extent, suggest an embryonic form of a hypothesis, particularly in pursuing some

of the correlations emerging from previous literature. As a piece of qualitative research,

though, and as recommended by Walter (2006) and Ploeg (1999), the priority was to

gather narrative style data through semi-structured interviews, with open-ended ques-

tions. Gollop (2000) considers that the key to the research interview is offering younger

participants an opportunity to be heard. Whether they take this opportunity depends

largely on the researchers careful attention to the interview process, and on the extent

to which they hone their listening and attending skills in the context of a positive rela-

tionship. Because of this potential opportunity, and the need to address issues of power

imbalance in the research process with young people, the research framework needed

to offer young males an arena in which to explore their own lived situation and gener-

ate a change environment for themselves.

Although this study was not wholly based on a grounded theory approach, it can be

argued that the research was informed by some of its broad principles, such as Strauss

and Corbins (1998) indication to regularly move back and forth between data collec-tion and analysis, and a focus on the findings from interviews, with that focus forming

the basis of further argument about the issues raised especially in relation to the spe



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ularly in the representation of the participants language used to construct meaning

about their experience of sport and civic engagement (Alston and Bowles, 2003) and

an understanding of difference, that is that difference is not deviance, and does not nec-

essarily need to be explained away (Kapitzke, Cheung, & Yu, 2000).As the study aimed to capture the richness and complexity of some young males

lived experiences, the main method of analysis used in this study was one of thematic

analysis which, according to Willis (2006), is an appropriate and effective form of

analysis in qualitative research, especially if interviews were the main technique for

data collection. Boyatzis (1998) says that thematic analysis is a process for encoding

qualitative data that looks for common patterns, in order to, at the least, describe and

organise the data and, at most, interpret aspects of the data. Furthermore, Bernard and

Ryan (2000) propose that major cultural themes can emerge when applying thematic

analysis to research data, for example, around dimensions of maintaining social status,cultural contradiction and social conflict. Thematic analysis was applied to the data by

looking for common phrases, ideas, experiences and opinions, and grouping them

around a range of interim labels (over 50). Being qualitative in nature, it was possible

to begin the analysis before all data was collected, and so a method of constant com-

parison was utilised to maintain the authors immersion in the material. As more data

was collected, the analysis continued until the point that no new material appeared to

be emerging, referred to by Strauss and Corbin (1998) as saturation.

Eventually, six major themes emerged from participants stories, which were labelled:

Meanings of sport; Health and wellbeing; Identity; Belonging; Contribution; and Po-litical pathways. The themes overlap to some extent and this interplay between should

be acknowledged, but this article focuses on the connections between sport and health

and wellbeing, with particular reference to notions of resilience and transition.

DISCUSSION

Not surprisingly, and in line with sports science literature (e.g., Allison, Dwyer, Gold-

enberg, Fein, Yoshida, & Boutilier, 2005; Cale & Harris, 2005), every participant de-

scribed one of the benefits of being involved in sport was that it kept them active,healthy and fit. Most participants referred to physical health, generally alluding to sports

participation making them more aware of choices about food, exercise (and how that

makes them feel good), strength, muscle tone, smoking and laziness (for example, as

one participant put it, keeping my arse off the lounge). Interestingly, apart from one

comment about exercise being a way to balance out the drinking, no one made a di-

rect association between making healthy choices and curbing alcohol consumption,

with some speaking of drinking regularly and sometimes to excess.

The broader definitions of health discussed in the literature review, such as mental

health or social health, were not labelled as health or even as wellbeing by the par-ticipants. However, they did refer to them in other ways such as feeling good, con-

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Acting as a thematic bridge between activity/fitness and feeling good was a small

number of comments about looking good (i.e., physical appearance), in that sports con-

tributed to fitness and muscle tone, resulting in them being noticed by others and, as one

felt, being more attractive to girls. The other aspect of looking good was more alignedwith the spectacle of the performance, for example in making a big hit in rugby or

in accomplishing a major trick on a mountain bike. That people would see it and think

it looked good was also related to recognition and reward. In this context, though, the

findings appear to match Daleys (2002) findings that, for boys, sport contributed to a

higher sense of physical self-worth and attractive body adequacy.

Participants also said that being able to look good gave them a good feeling, although

feeling good through sport was achieved in a number of other more significant ways.

For example, simply being active had the effect of lightening their mood, as they ac-

knowledged the internal bodily effects of adrenaline and endorphins. Furthermore, win-ning made them feel good, but of equal importance was the feeling experienced from

knowing that they had done all they could to achieve their goals, even if they did not

win. Feeling good was also derived from helping others to play their best, and com-

monly from the sensation of being part of a team. The sensation of feeling good also

seemed to have an ongoing effect, in that many of the participants were able to recall

great moments from the past of playing well, winning or having an impact on their

team or on the game. For one participant, the memory of a past moment actually ap-

peared to produce a similar sensation even when recounting it during the interview.

Pedro (who interestingly isolated this feeling to Rugby union as distinct from othersports he had played) said:

The team just really pulls together and you go out there like one game that al-

ways sticks out in my head when I think back is the game we played against Camp-

belltown. We played em like four other times and we lost and we played them at

the stadium and we finally beat them. That game was just one of the best games,

just awesome. The thing that sticks out is not that like you did this mad try, what-

ever. It was the way the team pulled together and the way that everyone just be-

lieved in each other. Those are the things, and they give you that tingly feeling. Itslike a rush. (Pedro, 20 years)

For some participants, the team environment also provided opportunities to feel good

by playing well and earning the respect of the older guys. The recognition and respect

of peers, both within the team and with the broader peer group, was an important source

of feeling good.

I like getting praise, like, cause you put in a lot of hard work to be good at play-

ing footy and when you get, Oh you did really well when you did such and such, you always get a buzz out of it. (Mungo, 19 years)



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emerged through participants thoughts about confidence, pushing through pain and

coping with hard times.

There was consensus amongst the participants that being involved in sport had sig-

nificantly increased their confidence. Participants were keen to point out that this in-creased confidence from sport affected their broader lives as well. For example:

It brings out so much confidence. I mean I wouldnt be where I am today without

sport, because I just feel like Ive got so much confidence over where I am, today,

and doing what Im doing. (Maverick, 18 years)

The nuances of this increased confidence added some richness to its meaning in this

context. First and foremost was the notion that they had greater verbal confidence. Al-

most all the participants said that being involved in sport had given them, for example,confidence to speak in front of other people, to express their opinions, confront others

with whom they disagreed, problem-solve by talking through issues, motivate others,

and to speak easily about themselves in job interviews. Below are some samples of

sport acting to build confidence:

Its just something I find I feel a lot more confident. Like, if I look back, when I

was 13 or 14, I was a pretty quiet kid. Around friends and family I was loud, but

not around people I didnt know or werent particularly associated with. But now

Im happy to get right into it and get involved in discussions and that type of thing.(Fisher, 21 years)

Through playing a lot of team sports, I have become much more extroverted and

easier to talk to people. Ive definitely learned a lot of communication skills

through like different types of sport and different levels, and, like, even different

positions and how much you have to talk. (Stretch, 20 years)

I think sport makes you more confident; it makes you more confident in life; it

makes you get up and say what you want to say; youre not scared of what peo-

ple think, not scared of what people see, just you want the eyes on you. People thatdont play sport I think theyre a little bit less confident. (Maverick, 18 years)

Another element of verbal confidence was that some of the participants would use

sporting analogies in other types of discussion. For example, in debates or tutorials at

university, Fisher said:

Its weird because I find that all my analogies in anything are related back to sport.

Like, it doesnt matter what. I did debating and I got criticised because thered be

a political topic and somehow Id use an analogy to relate it back to sport. (Fisher,21 years)

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of others, or of being in the limelight. This confidence is related to resilience, but also

to the increased sense of control that they had gained. Having more control helped them

to feel that they could achieve anything, whether that came from control over the equip-

ment (like a mountain bike) or from a position of leadership.

On the bike, its just like youve got control over the bike and you can go where

you want. I reckon its good to be in control. Makes you feel a lot better. (Rookie,

15 years)

I built a lot of confidence up with footy like being able to talk in front of people

or get everyones attention, like make everybody be quiet and listen because thats

something you get taught when youre captain. (Pedro, 20 years)

The lessening of fear also related to an increased level of interpersonal confidence,that is, the self-assuredness to meet new people. Joining sports teams inevitably means

having to meet new people, so the increased exposure to unknown social situations led

them to develop their confidence in building relationships. The building of social net-

works is central to developing a sense of belonging and a means of contributing to

community. It is also a key ingredient for developing resilience. This aspect of inter-

action with, and control over, their surrounding environment is, according to Macdon-

ald (2005), central to the meaning of health. Resilience was something that almost all

the participants felt that they had taken from sport into general life. They felt that sport

had made them stronger and more able to handle hard times or adversity. In other words,

it had built their resilience. For example:

Go in and give it everything youve got. If you get knocked off at least you can

say, Well, I tried. (Pedro, 20 years)

I can lift my head up higher and not be afraid of other things. Ive been used to

going through pain or hard training and that helps with everyday life, to accom-

plish obstacles that are in your path. Ive always felt that I can overcome battles

and that, but the sport has helped me physically do it. (Sonny, 20 years)They all sort of bring the same thing, like they bring the character out of you; they

bring things out of you that you didnt know you had. (Maverick, 18 years)

You take the sports mentality out with you in life. You just keep going. (Mungo,

19 years)

A few participants had experienced loss or hard times during their teenage years and

felt that their involvement in sport had helped them cope with these times. For exam-

ple, involvement in outdoor and adventure sports gave one participant, as already noted,

a way of handling his ADHD, by having the freedom to move rather than having to sitstill in formal education. Another participant experienced the loss of his mother when

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Atwool (2002) and Worsley (2005) both conclude that, for young people, resilience

is derived from characteristics such as high self-esteem, self-confidence, communica-

tion skills, conflict resolution skills, cultural pride, easy temperament, a sense of be-

longing, or any kind of skill that a young person has learned that they can rely on andcontributes to their ability to survive adversity. Furthermore, broader factors such as a

supportive family, a regular peer group (even if it is characterised by violence), and a

supportive person, network or agency outside the family also contribute to resilience.

The findings of this study show, in line with the factors that contribute to resilience as

understood by Atwool (2002) and Worsley (2005), that sport has proved to be a source

of these factors for the young males in developing their resilience, since almost all the

factors listed were cited by the participants as part of their sport experience.

The findings of this study do mesh nicely with the theoretical understanding of re-

silience, and show that sport is indeed a source of its development, not the least ofwhich is that it helped the young males to feel good. The importance to the participants

of feeling good also uncovered something of the thrilling and risky nature of sport, and

their resilience displayed their capacity for handling the risk. This feeling primarily re-

lated to the sensation experienced from the rush of adrenaline, or the effect of endor-

phins being released during exercise. The terms release and natural high were used

a number of times. Extreme sports such as downhill mountain biking and jumping, and

adventure sports like abseiling, were most associated with thrills and sensations aris-

ing from adrenaline, although some of the rugby players also spoke of the rush of

pulling off a big tackle.There were various perspectives on the operation of these hormones, with some say-

ing that they calm you down, rev you up, release your stress and help you think

straight. Whatever the variant, the general attitude was that the natural high was

preferable to, for example, an alcohol or drug-induced one. Blue, who had experienced

both, was particularly adamant that sport gave him:

[A] natural high. It eliminates having to go out and do stupid stuff. You can have

fun doing stuff thats good for you and doesnt hurt anybody else. You have heaps

more fun, you dont get in trouble for it and you get heaps more out of it. (Blue,18 years)

This aspect was developed further by others, in terms of sport being a preferable re-

placement for other risk-taking behaviours. It seems that they felt the period of ado-

lescencewherein risk-taking is most commonis made easier by the managed risk

involved in sport. This finding concurs with Booth (2000), who argued that young peo-

ple value risk-taking behaviour (that is, behaviour that is likely to jeopardise health

and wellbeing, and where there is poor or no risk management) as a release from an oth-

erwise boring routine. Sport was important for the young males in this study, particu-larly in terms of the goal of managing risks and therefore minimising harms associated

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time, has a function in reducing the anti-social behaviour of young people. So, in ef-

fect, sport becomes pro-social almost by default, although for the participants in this

study there was something more intentional about their involvement, and therefore

something possibly more intentional about their pro-social behaviour, despite their risk-taking.

Taking risks and seeking thrills sometimes lead to levels of harm and injuries. Par-

ticipants had no qualms talking about injuries that they had received from sport, tak-

ing it for granted that it was part of the game. For some, bad injuries meant being out

for the season and for a few serious injuries meant the end of their playing days in their

particular sport. Some mentioned that because of injuries they had learned ways of

treating them which they had then been able to administer to other athletes, and apply

to other areas of their life as well (for example, at work). At the same time as the dis-

appointment about getting injured there was, in some of the young males, almost asense of pride about the types of injury received. One participant was awarded an end-

of-season trophy for being knocked down so often during his rugby league season, and

so the injury almost became a badge of honour. Additionally, stacking it in mountain

biking, for example, added to the fun and the entertainment of the activity, although se-

rious injuries were never laughed at.

In these findings on risks and thrills there is nothing out of step with the literature on

adolescence as a life stage (e.g. Eriksson, 1968) with its goals of identity and inde-

pendence, although the connection between the findings and aspects of Hegels per-

spective on subjectivity is less convincing. Hegel (1971) describes youth as regardingthemselves as representing all that is true and good, consumed in their own subjectiv-

ity. To some extent, this analysis accounts for the participants pursuit of feeling good

and their dissatisfaction with sports clubs that dont meet their ideals of inclusion and

fairness, but it does not sufficiently explain the often altruistic nature of their values sys-

tems. It is conceivable, of course, that this balance is an indication of their having

moved beyond the stage of adolescence. Although Hegel does not set any age limit on

the life stage, the age of the sampleand their preoccupation with feeling good and the

element of riskwould suggest that this is probably not the case.

Discussion and policy on risk in the context of the health and wellbeing of youngpeople often settles upon the topic of alcohol use and the concerns about adolescent

binge drinking (e.g., NSW Health Youth Action Plan, NSW Police Safe Party Strat-

egy). Some participants in this study regularly referred to their own alcohol use as part

of the social nature of their sport. All but two of the participants were over 18, and

there was no mention offrequentdrunkenness or binge drinking on their part, but that

a drink after the game was an expected and welcome aspect of being involved, es-

pecially in a team sport. The pub offered a site for reflecting on the highs and lows of

the game, putting aside differences and conflicts, and enjoying the company of friends.

For some, this company regularly included opponents as well. However, the drinkingculture of sports such as rugby league and rugby union was identified by a number of



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One of my mates, he was playing for Jersey Flegg sides, and came into C-grade

and then got with the drinking culture and all that sort of stuff within rugby league

and just started to go downhill, like hes still but hes not nowhere near what

he used to be. (Stretch, 20 years)

In an additional dimension of drinking, some participants alluded to the connection

that a team or club may have with the local (i.e., the favoured public venue to meet

and drink alcohol together). This connection was seen not just as a place to meet but

also a way of engendering a sense of belonging to the local community. For example:

The cricket clubs close affiliation to the local leagues club helps to create a

sense of belonging to the community. In our area the local bowling, RSL and

leagues clubs are often both a community meeting point and symbol. Meeting in

the team colours after the game at the local best reflects that feeling of belonging.(Skipper, 25 years)

The participants opinions on alcohol seemed to be less related to physical health and

much more to do with socialisation, which was spoken of commonly as mateship or

friendship. Mateship was, in fact, the second most common response about the bene-

fits of sport (after fun). All participants related the experience of positive social re-

lationships as the best part about playing sport. Terms like mates, mateship,

social, networks, being with friends and camaraderie were frequently used in

describing their sport experiences, and indicated the level of importance that was placedon friendship as part of their experience, whether by playing sport with existing friends

or by making new friends through sport.

Interestingly, many participants intimated that they had developed qualitatively dif-

ferent types of friendships through sport, acknowledging the positive experience of

meeting new people but keeping such encounters at a fairly shallow level. They dis-

cussed the social networks formed through sport that were slightly deeper than intro-

ductory, and finally they spoke of bonding and the closeness of friendships that had,

for them, gone beyond sport and moved into other life experiences. Many felt that the

friendships that they had gained through sport were much closer than those that theyhad developed in other ways. The following quotes provide some examples of sports

contribution to making friends:

A lot of my friends have been met playing sports, when I look at it. A lot of my

mates are from footy, and athletics, and a lot of my good friends Ive spent time

with doing sport. You see them more often; you learn to work as a team with them.

I talk to those blokes almost every day. (Mungo, 19 years)

Theres things to do with union and league that you dont get from any other sport,

nowhere near. Like the mateship you get from playing. The thing you get from

footy you cant replace with it anything. (Pedro, 20 years)

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gunna come up and introduce themselves, in one week you almost know the whole

team, and theres another group of mates. (Link, 20 years)

It is this affirmation of the social dimension of sport that most closely relates to thehealth/wellbeing dichotomy discussed by Woodman (2004) and Easthorpe and White

(2006). They found that young people viewed health and wellbeing as separate

concepts. Health was determined by eating well, exercising, and avoiding behaviours

like smoking, drug-taking, binge drinking and major risk-taking. The participants in

this study similarly spoke of sport contributing to health along these lines. Wellbeing,

according to Easthorpe and White (2006), is more related to social networks and a sup-

portive family. In this study, the prominence of friendship, social networks and feeling

good (which sometimes involved risk) shows that sport was not just a source of health

but also a source of wellbeing. Whilst, there was also a large number of commentsabout belonging, there was no obvious connection made by the participants in this study

between belonging and health or wellbeing. Despite this lack of conscious connection,

it would still be fair to argueas supported by other literature (e.g., Berkman & Glass,

2003; Konopka, 1973; Macdonald, 2006; Wilkinson, 2006; Wilkinson & Marmot,

2003)that, for these participants who overwhelmingly found their sense of belong-

ing through sport, their health/wellbeing was enhanced. Furthermore, as Woodman

(2004) proposed, young people are trying to balance responsibility for their future and

having time to enjoy the present, parallelling the tension in the health and wellbeing di-

chotomy. Some sense of this balancing act also emerged in this study, in that the youngmales rated enjoyment as a highly important element of their sporting experience, and

yet also displayed a concern for their health together with a concern for broader social

issues. Although the participants in this study were not specifically surveyed about their

understanding of the terms health and wellbeing, it is important to note that in their

descriptions of sport, the two termsas understood via Easthorpe and White (2006) and

Woodman (2004)find a playing field in which to meet and merge.

CONCLUSION

In summarising the place of health and wellbeing as a major theme emerging from

the findings it has been established that, for these young males, sport is a source of fac-

tors promoting both health andwellbeing (as defined earlier by Easthorpe and White

(2006). Sport was clearly seen as a healthier and more civically committed alternative

to anti-social risk behaviours, and an obvious source of physical health and fitness.

Furthermore, their sports experiences contributed to the development of confidence,

accomplishment, self-esteem, relaxation and feeling good as key aspects of mental and

emotional health. The social nature of sport and the centrality of friendships in their

sports experiences show that it is also an important contributor to wellbeing, in termsof building support networks and encouraging a significant level of reliance on team-



14/18

was the most significant contributor for the young males in this study, to almost all the

dimensions of resilience outlined by Atwool (2002), Daley (2002), and Worsley (2005).

Individual characteristics (self-esteem, self-confidence, communication skills, conflict

resolution skills, perceived physical competence and a sense of belonging) were height-ened through sports participation. Many participants rated supportive family as a lead-

ing factor in their sport, and almost all the participants were able to identify a significant

adult (outside the immediate family system) from their sporting world that added to

the strength of their support system. Additionally, all the participants reported learning

new skills as a motivating factor for playing sport, and were able to name ways in

which they could rely on some sport-based learning in other areas of their lives.

It was also very clear how dimensions of the participants sports experiences ran in

parallel with identified social determinants of health and wellbeing. For example, com-

munity recognition of participation and achievements (Hall & Banno, 2000, Wilkinson,2006; Woodman, 2004) salutogenic approach to strengths of males in developing re-

silience and interacting/developing control within their surrounding environment (Mac-

donald, 2005); reduced stress, social inclusion and support (Wilkinson & Marmot,

2003); and fair and egalitarian community/group experiences (Wilkinson, 2006), were

all developed and sustained through sport participation.

The findings not only add to an understanding of the health and wellbeing of young

males, but also provide something of a challenge to policy makers, health practition-

ers and youth service providers on a number of levels.

The experiences of the young males indicated that sport was a form, and facilitator,

of belonging, due to, for example, the feelings associated with being in a team of club,

or the camaraderie and shared effort that form part of memorable team performances.

Sport is also a facilitator of belonging in that, for example, it enables the participants

to develop broader social networks, and also provides them with a means of recogni-

tion, reward, and being valued by their local communities. A sense of belonging is a sig-

nificant social determinant of health (Berkman & Glass, 2003).

The significant area of difference in the findings of this study from other research in

the area was that, for the participants, contribution took on many forms. Altruism was

at the core of their contribution, whether that was helping team-mates, friends or oth-

ers in the community, but the most significant aspect was in the participants self-de-

fined notions of participation that incorporated contribution by playing sport,

contribution to community through sport-affiliated activity, and broader contribution to

community as a result of what they had learned/developed through sport.

There are some pivotal findings that enable revised conceptualisations of youth par-

ticipation, and have particular relevance for youth work practitioners. A major point to

highlight here is related to the participants own definition of contribution. These young

males felt that they contributed to community life simply by playing a sport in, or for,their local community. For some, playing sport was enough for them to be sufficiently

engaged in community life That is not to say that young males should not be encour

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a young males sense of identity. If their identity is derived substantially from sport, and

their contribution through sport participation is unappreciated or even mocked, they

can be left with the impression that they as peopleas men in the makingare, in

fact, unappreciated, the result of which may detract from their health and wellbeing, andperhaps become more marginalised.

The revised viewpoint of youth participation leads to a consideration of the implica-

tions of this thesis for human service delivery to young males, and to young people in

general. Apart from self-determination and passion, another implication centres on life

balance. As Woodman (2004) has argued, to attain wellbeing, young people require a

balance between responsibility for the future and time to enjoy the present, both of

which are also important features of a civically engaged person. The implication of this

struggle for balance is that researchers and policy-makers need to make provision in

service planning and priorities to accommodate this process. At the face-to-face levelof service delivery, workers need to be conscious that the activities in which young

people are being encouraged to participate (whether educational, recreational, devel-

opmental or civically oriented) do not detract from a young persons experience of re-

sponsibility and enjoyment. The findings of the study indicate that sport is conducive

to achieving this balance of responsibility and enjoyment for young males, which adds

not only to their individual resilience, health and wellbeing but also potentially to the

health, wellbeing and resilience of the communities in which they live.

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