Youth at risk

As the Sochi Winter Olympics of 2014 and the Football World Cup of 2018 show, sporting achievements enhance the image of the state, unite the community, and inspire people to achieve success. ¹ However, participation in physical recreation is becoming more diverse, with a reduction in state support, the commercialization of public services, the division of sports at élite and mass levels: as professional occupation, as active recreation, and as passive entertainment. Contemporary sport has many functions, with the socialization of young people prominent. This is understood as how people learn the rules, patterns, knowledge, and attitudes they need in society. Socialization through sport has essentially three forms: behavioural, cognitive, and emotional or affective involvement. These determine the direction and content of socialization. It depends on how sporting values match those of society and of the individual. Participation in student sports clubs affects group identity, social structure and even the balance of political forces. Youth sport, especially in its traditional forms, reproduces dominant norms, values, and beliefs. The participation of young people in sport is thus important to socialization, as are the family and the school and relates to both. It has also its own purposes and content.