Abstract:

Sports have long been recognised for their positive impact on individuals' physical and mental well-being (Sallis et al., 2012). However, there is a growing acknowledgement of the potential of sports in developing psychosocial and educational competencies, which can translate into valuable civic behaviours such as cooperation, leadership, critical awareness, responsibility, and decision-making (Hellison & Martinek, 2009; Torralba, 2017). These skills benefit individuals and shape pedagogical practices and social dimensions (Lerner et al., 2006). Despite these indicators, there is a lack of understanding regarding the influence of sports on communities and how participation in sports can foster democratic and participatory experiences among young athletes (Schaillée et al., 2019). This perspective can potentially engage politically disengaged youth and stimulate civic and political participation (Dahl et al., 2018; Marsh et al., 2007).
The main objective of this study is to identify how young athletes, when asked to think about problems present in their communities, can identify and develop responses to those problems. Specifically, we seek to:
i) Empower young people with activist tools that allow them to promote change in their community;
ii) Instigate young athletes' forms of participation.
iii) Explore how athletes view sport as a means of community change.
To harness the potential of sports and activism in youth education, a program based on youth participatory action research (YPAR) was developed (Cammarota & Fine, 2008). YPAR emphasises the active involvement of young people in the research process, empowering them to take responsibility and participate in all phases of their projects.
Participants in this study were 33 young athletes from a rugby team and a school, both from the metropolitan area of Porto. Aged between 12 and 16 years old, they met with their team once a week, working autonomously with a local interlocutor (teacher or coach) and a participant observer from the research team. A nine-member team was formed at the rugby club, and four six-member teams were formed at the school.
The program was carried out in three sequential stages:
i) Capacity building workshops (community profile, activist tools, developing projects in/with the community);
ii) Project development and intervention of the athletes in the community;
iii) Assessment and result dissemination. Data collection and process monitoring were done through individual interviews at the project's beginning and end, a focus group discussion, and participant observation.
Data triangulation was employed to ensure validity, and the member-checking process was used to mitigate bias.
The overall results reveal that the young athletes critically reflected on problems in their communities, gathered more information about the problems in their communities and through internet research, and were generally surprised by the lack of knowledge and concern about the problems. The young people also effectively developed activist intervention strategies, choosing mainly protests, demonstrations, awareness-raising, and consciousness-raising campaigns through sport.
This study highlighted young athletes' ability and interest to actively participate and contribute to the construction of fairer and more inclusive communities, as well as the socio-educational significance of sports contexts as contexts to promote citizenship in young athletes.

Keywords:

Youth Participatory Action Research, Activism, Sports, Communities, Problem-based Learning.