Policy, Practice, & Challenges for Inclusion in Sport

Session Submission Type: Roundtable

Abstract

Since the 1960s, countries across Latin America and the Caribbean have embraced the definition of sport as a right. From Cuba’s prohibition of professional sport and creation of an expansive national sports program in the early 1960s to FIFA’s’ guidelines for Women’s Football Development approved in 2014, national and private institutions have worked to promote participation. Yet obstacles remain to access to resources and representation on sports fields from professional sports to recreation. The origins of modern sport in a masculine market logic and in nineteenth-century narratives of nation have continued to restrict opportunities according to sex, gender, ability, and class.

Examining inclusion in sport requires consideration of economic, social, political, and cultural factors in Latin American countries and between these countries and global institutions. Taking examples from sports policies and participation in Cuba, Chile, Argentina, the Dominican Republic, and Mexico, we propose a roundtable around the theme of inclusion in modern sport. We will consider questions such as: What should be the goal of national sports policies, and how do they compare or contrast with those of private institutions such as the International Olympic Committee (IOC) or FIFA? How does official support for amateur sport and recreation shape the opportunities available to diverse groups? What are the net benefits of government support for professional sport? How do officials measure the success of their policies?

Sub Track

• Sport and Society

Session Organizer

• April R Yoder, University of New Haven

Chair

• April R Yoder, University of New Haven

Presenters

• Rodrigo Soto, Universidad Andrés Bello

• Octavio M Maza

• Gabriela N Garton, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET)/UBA

• Jhonah Díaz González