Abstract
Sports participation can confer a range of physical and psychosocial benefits and, for refugee and migrant youth, may even act as a critical mediator for achieving positive settlement and engaging meaningfully in Australian society. This group has low participation rates however, with identified barriers including costs; discrimination and a lack of cultural sensitivity in sporting environments; lack of knowledge of mainstream sports services on the part of refugee-background settlers; inadequate access to transport; culturally determined gender norms; and family attitudes. Organisations in various sectors have devised programs and strategies for addressing these participation barriers. In many cases however, these responses appear to be ad hoc and under-theorised. This article reports findings from a qualitative exploratory study conducted in a range of settings to examine the benefits, challenges and shortcomings associated with different participation models. Interview participants were drawn from non-government organisations, local governments, schools, and sports clubs. Three distinct models of participation were identified, including short term programs for refugee-background children; ongoing programs for refugee-background children and youth; and integration into mainstream clubs. These models are discussed in terms of their relative challenges and benefits and their capacity to promote sustainable engagement and social inclusion for this population group.
Highlights
Each year, Australia settles approximately 13,500 people on humanitarian visas, with recent temporary increases to these numbers announced to accommodate more refugees fleeing conflict in Syria
Findings from this research indicate that the three identified participation models were all perceived as having significant benefits for refugee-background young people
While each of the models has the capacity to support a number of domains of inclusion, integration into mainstream clubs has the additional capacity to promote the development of bridging social capital with consequent greater potential impact
Summary
Australia settles approximately 13,500 people on humanitarian visas, with recent temporary increases to these numbers announced to accommodate more refugees fleeing conflict in Syria. Risk factors for exclusion commonly experienced by refugee-background young people include residing in disadvantaged neighbourhoods, disrupted education prior to arrival in Australia, poverty, discrimination, trauma-associated mental and physical health problems, and living in families torn apart by war and violence and struggling with multiple settlement challenges This group has low participation rates with identified barriers that include costs; lack of access to transport; a lack of cultural sensitivity in sporting environments; a lack of knowledge of mainstream sports services on the part of refugee-background settlers; culturally determined gender norms; competing settlement priorities; and family attitudes (Caperchione, Kolt, & Mummery, 2009; O’Driscoll, Banting, Borkoles, Eime, & Polman, 2013; Olliff, 2007; Rosso & McGrath, 2013; Spaaij, 2013). These models are discussed in terms of their impacts and their capacity to promote sustainable engagement and social inclusion for this population group
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