Routledge Handbook of Sports Development

Now in a fully revised and updated new edition, the Routledge Handbook of Sports Development is still the only book to fully map the discipline of sports development, covering theory, policy, academic research, and professional practice.

Spanning the whole spectrum of activity in sports development, from youth sport and mass participation to the development of elite athletes, the book identifies and defines the core functions of sports development and its interface with cognate fields such as politics, economics, social welfare, coaching, and education. This new edition includes expanded coverage of important and emerging topics such as sport-for-development, evaluation, older adults, women’s sport, informal sport, athlete welfare, human rights and professionalisation, as well as a completely new section examining connections between sports development and international and global issues.

Featuring the work of leading international scholars and practitioners, and now with more international case studies, including from the Global South, the Routledge Handbook of Sports Development is essential reading for all students, researchers, and professionals with an interest in this important and rapidly evolving discipline.

Iain Lindsey is a Professor in the Department of Sport and Exercise Sciences at Durham University, UK. He has published widely in sport, development, and politics journals. He was co-editor of the International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics from 2009 to 2018.

Anna-Maria Strittmatter is an Associate Professor of Sport Management at the School of Health Sciences at Örebro University, Sweden. Her range of expertise encompasses sport political processes, sports’ internal organising, social inclusion in decision-making, and sustainable development in and by sport organisations, as well as Olympic legacy and leverage.

Mike Sam is a Professor at the University of Otago, New Zealand, and co-director of the New Zealand Centre for Sport Policy and Politics. Mike serves on the editorial boards of the International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics, the International Review for the Sociology of Sport, and the International Journal of Sport Management and Marketing.

Kyle Rich is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sport Management at Brock University, Canada. Kyle’s research looks at the impact of policy, community, and inclusion/exclusion on experiences in sport, recreation, and physical activity programming.