Social Issues in Canadian Sport

Study the role, impact, and influence of sport in Canada.

As an introductory text, Social Issues in Canadian Sport encourages students to use critical thinking in analyzing the historical, current, and future trends of sport in Canada. It explores the world of sport through the lens of social theory, sociological concepts, and the reproduction of and resistance to social norms and values in and through sport.

Designed to provide readers with diverse perspectives, editors Marty Clark and William Bridel strengthen the contextual discourse by bringing together chapter contributors who are from equity-deserving groups, emerging and established scholars, and undergraduate and graduate students. The result is a foundational resource exploring the vital narratives of sport and broader Canadian societal underpinnings with chapters discussing gender, sexuality, race and ethnicity, settler colonialism and Indigeneity, class, health, all abilities, and sustainability, among others.

Social Issues in Canadian Sport includes many features designed to enhance the reading and learning experience. Chapter introductions have anecdotes from contributors that emphasize the importance of the chapter themes. Case studies throughout the text touch on contemporary research, activism and advocacy, and intersectionality. Pedagogical aids include chapter objectives, chapter outlines, key terms, summaries, and reflection questions that aim to make the book engaging and enjoyable. Adopting instructors gain access to a suite of ancillaries that includes an instructor guide, test package, and presentation package.

Help students critically examine sport in Canada through sociological perspectives with Social Issues in Canadian Sport.

Marty Clark, PhD, is an associate professor in the department of health and physical education at Mount Royal University. His teaching and research engage with historical and sociological perspectives on health, physical activity, physical literacy, and sport. He is currently a coinvestigator on three research projects: a critical study of golf in the United States; a collaborative inquiry into sport experiences of trans, non-binary, and gender-diverse people in Alberta, Canada; and a Scholarship of Teaching and Learning project on freewriting in academic contexts.

Clark began a five-year term as chair of the department of health and physical education in 2025. A student-focused educator, he is deeply committed to equity, diversity, inclusion, accessibility, and the ongoing work of Indigenization and decolonization in post-secondary education.

William Bridel, PhD, is an award-winning associate professor in the faculty of kinesiology at the University of Calgary. He began a five-year term as senior associate dean of academic programs in 2025. His teaching and research focuses on sociocultural aspects of sport, physical activity, and the body. With a distinct interest in studying sex, gender, and sexuality in sport and the larger cultural context, Bridel’s research has included a focus on 2SLGBTQIA+ people’s inclusion in sport historically and in contemporary times, along with broader questions about equity, diversity, inclusion, accessibility, and safer sport.

Bridel’s advocacy work includes being a founding member of the LGBTQI2S+ Sport Inclusion Task Force. He has also worked with and spoken to various community, provincial, and national sport organizations, challenging athletes, coaches, administrators, volunteers, and officials to address inclusion in multidimensional and meaningful ways. Beyond sport, Bridel was a member of a local advisory group for a research and advocacy project addressing the restrictions of blood and plasma donation placed on gay, bisexual, queer, and other men who have sex with men in Canada.