Friendship and competition : teenage girls' experiences of organised sport

Background: Organised sport is the most common leisure activity among Swedish children and youth. One of the aims of organised sport is to teach the participants how their body function and how they can acquire a healthy lifestyle. Engström (1999) argues however that the connection between participation in organised sport and a lifelong healthy lifestyle is not self evident. There are other criteria that are more important for the continuation of physical activity.Objectives: The aim of this study is to describe and understand ten female teenagers’ lived experience of organised sport and what role movement plays in their current lifeworld.Methods: Ten female teenagers, with a broad experience of organised sport, that had been playing in he same team for many years were interviewed about their experiences of sports and their notion of the body and physical activity. The interviews analysed with the help of lifeworld phenomenology (van Manen, 1990) and the theory of the lived body as an undivided unit (Merleau-Ponty,1997).Results: Three different themes appeared in the interviews:“Friendship and competition”: were important values for participating in the team.“Pushes and rewards”: were important stimulus for the choice of activity and the development of necessary skills.“Sport girl and life enjoyer”: are metaphors used for describing their relation to sport and physical activity.Conclusion: The paper will describe and discuss the differences in the respondants lived experiences from organised sport and the role sport and movement play in their current lifeworld respectively by drawing on Merleau-Ponty and lifeworld phenomenology.References: Engström, L-M.(2009).Idrott som social markör. Stockholm:HLS.Merleau-Ponty,M.(1997). Kroppens fenomenologi. Daidalos.vanManen,M. (1990).Researching lived experience. The State University New York.Godkänd; 2011; 20110629 (inka)