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Exploring Critical Alternatives for Youth Development through Lifestyle Sport: Surfing and Community Development in Aotearoa/New Zealand

Author

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  • Belinda Wheaton

    (Te Huataki Waiora/The Faculty of Health, Sport and Human Performance, The University of Waikato, Private Bag 3105, Hamilton 3240, New Zealand)

  • Georgina Roy

    (Te Huataki Waiora/The Faculty of Health, Sport and Human Performance, The University of Waikato, Private Bag 3105, Hamilton 3240, New Zealand)

  • Rebecca Olive

    (School of Human movement and Nutrition Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia 4072, Australia)

Abstract

While competition-based team sports remain dominant in community and sport-for-development programs, researchers are exploring the value of alternative, less “sportized” activities such as lifestyle/action sports. In this paper, we explore the ways in which surfing is being used in development programs in Aotearoa/New Zealand, examining the perceived social benefits and impact. Our methods involved: (a) mapping the range of surfing projects; and (b) 8 in-depth interviews with program personnel. Widespread conviction in the positive developmental benefits of surfing was evident, and that surfing had a “special” capacity to reform or heal those who participate in it. However, the ways in which individuals’ self-developments were promoted appear to be following the traditional sport/youth development path. They focus on policies aimed at improved life chances, equipping youth with the tools for self-improvement and self-management, inculcating self-governance and self-reliance. However, a counter narrative co-existed, highlighting surfing as a freeing experience, which, rather than restoring social order, works to instigate a personal transformation or awakening. Despite the range of challenges presented by surfing as a tool for positive development, surfing presents a potentially “critical alternative” which if sport-for-development programs are to be a form of social change, we should remain open to exploring.

Suggested Citation

  • Belinda Wheaton & Georgina Roy & Rebecca Olive, 2017. "Exploring Critical Alternatives for Youth Development through Lifestyle Sport: Surfing and Community Development in Aotearoa/New Zealand," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(12), pages 1-16, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:9:y:2017:i:12:p:2298-:d:122498
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Jenny Roe & Peter Aspinall, 2011. "The Emotional Affordances of Forest Settings: An Investigation in Boys with Extreme Behavioural Problems," Landscape Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(5), pages 535-552.
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    Cited by:

    1. Pedro Danilo Ponciano Núñez & Iago Portela-Pino & María José Martínez-Patiño, 2023. "Understanding the Characteristics of Community Youth Sports Programs Interventions: A Systematic Review and Recommendations," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(2), pages 21582440231, June.
    2. Clifton Evers & Cassandra Phoenix, 2022. "Relationships between Recreation and Pollution When Striving for Wellbeing in Blue Spaces," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(7), pages 1-14, March.
    3. Belinda Wheaton & Jordan Te Aramoana Waiti & Rebecca Olive & Robin Kearns, 2021. "Coastal Communities, Leisure and Wellbeing: Advancing a Trans-Disciplinary Agenda for Understanding Ocean-Human Relationships in Aotearoa New Zealand," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(2), pages 1-20, January.
    4. Jamie Marshall & Paul Kelly & Ailsa Niven, 2019. "“When I Go There, I Feel Like I Can Be Myself.” Exploring Programme Theory within the Wave Project Surf Therapy Intervention," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(12), pages 1-17, June.
    5. Nora Wiium & Reidar Säfvenbom, 2019. "Participation in Organized Sports and Self-Organized Physical Activity: Associations with Developmental Factors," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(4), pages 1-16, February.
    6. Reidar Säfvenbom & Anna-Maria Strittmatter & Guro Pauck Bernhardsen, 2023. "Developmental Outcomes for Young People Participating in Informal and Lifestyle Sports: A Scoping Review of the Literature, 2000–2020," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-28, May.
    7. Lyndsay M. C. Hayhurst & Lidieth del Socorro Cruz Centeno, 2019. "“We Are Prisoners in Our Own Homes”: Connecting the Environment, Gender-Based Violence and Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights to Sport for Development and Peace in Nicaragua," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(16), pages 1-29, August.
    8. Kerry Griffiths & Larissa Davies & Catherine Savage & Madeline Shelling & Paul Dalziel & Elizabeth Christy & Rebecca Thorby, 2023. "The Value of Recreational Physical Activity in Aotearoa New Zealand: A Scoping Review of Evidence and Implications for Social Value Measurement," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(4), pages 1-23, February.

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