Families, advocacy, and social justice in youth sport

This chapter overviews the important role that families play in advancing social justice in sport and leisure contexts. Research continues to highlight the ways in which sport and leisure sites actively exclude individuals with marginalised and minority identities. For young people in particular, the family can play an important role in negotiating and contesting mechanisms of exclusion and advocating for more socially just and inclusive sport and leisure communities. Families can also be at the forefront of driving changes in practice that lead to more inclusive sport and leisure opportunities. The chapter will review theoretical understandings of social justice and related concepts including gender and spatial justice and how these connect with an understanding of families as agents of social change. The chapter will synthesise knowledge from a range of studies outlining how families advocate for social justice and the impact this has on sport and leisure communities. Through a critical review, the chapter will illustrate how families act as agitators, advocates, and educators to highlight inequity, injustice, campaign for redistribution of resources, and create changes in practices from the micro to the macro level of sport and leisure spaces. The chapter will examine family practices in both Global North and Global South contexts, concluding by considering how families might be better supported to progress a social justice agenda and be key agents of positive change.