Abstract
Diversity and representation in sport governing bodies has become an issue for both public discussion and academic debate in recent times. Previous work has primarily centered on gender inequalities within the forever changing masculine terrain of sport. However, no work has yet examined the representation and participation of young people in the decision-making structures of sporting bodies. This paper holds up England’s Rugby Union for organizational analysis, using the notion of homologous reproduction as a heuristic framework. In doing so, it explores the reproduction of this governing body for the systematic exclusion of young people in decision-making processes over the last few decades. This framework is then twined with Article 11 of the United Nation’s Convention for the Rights of the Child, to make the case that the RFU desires homologous reproduction in order to avoid dealing with what youth are currently concerned with –head injuries. Given such a high proportion of rugby’s participants being under twenty-five years of age, we conclude the lack of young people within the decision-making process represents a form of willful discrimination.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 300-310 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| Journal | Sociology of Sport Journal |
| Volume | 36 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| Early online date | 27 Jun 2019 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Dec 2019 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Accepted author manuscript version reprinted, by permission, from Sociology of Sport Journal, (2019), https://doi.org/10.1123/ssj.2018-0149. © Human Kinetics, Inc.Copyright © and Moral Rights are retained by the author(s) and/ or other copyright owners. A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This item cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the copyright holder(s). The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.