Idrottsplatsen som målpunkt och mötesplats : En studie av idrottande ungdomars rörelsemönster och kontaktskapande mellan områden

This research aimed to study how athletic adolescents move between different areas; what the nodes are and to which extent sports fields are of importance. Furthermore, the study was constructed to investigate if sports could be a factor in increasing the movement between residential areas and produce social integration. The methodology includes surveys with four football teams in Stockholm, a group interview with three adolescents and a spatial analysis of the two sport clubs’ (to which the teams belong) catchment areas. The findings show that friends are the most significant reason for young people to move between areas, closely followed by leisure activities and school. In addition, new friends from different residential areas are made through football. Girls, in contrast to boys, spend more time at the new friend’s homes in other residential areas. To athletic adolescences the sport field is a major node even outside practices. Though the sample is too narrow to generalise, the results from this study indicate that sport fields and sport both can act as a node and produce social integration.