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Sport, alcohol and older athletes
Purpose: To outline new research on the ways in which older athletes incorporate drinking practices into their social and sporting identities. Drawing on research with older Australian athletes, the chapter asks us to reimagine the sport–alcohol nexus to include new sites and subjects that can shed light on wider articulations of the pleasurable and problematic relationships between sport, alcohol and social identity.
Design/methodology/approach: In the first part of the chapter, key themes in sport and ageing research are discussed. In the second, issues of alcohol, older age and sporting identities are considered, drawing on research at the 2017 Australian Masters Games. This sets the scene for a fuller discussion and analysis of some of the missed opportunities in alcohol and sport research, and their implications for sport and social policy, health promotion and social care more broadly.
Findings: The chapter reveals several under-developed opportunities in a broader research agenda on sport and alcohol, including the role alcohol plays in conferring membership and belonging to the sporting communities of older athletes. The chapter suggests that a recalibration of popular understandings of sport, ageing and alcohol – both as separate and as inter-related concerns – may provide an opportunity for addressing wider social concerns with ageing more broadly.
Research limitations/implications: Discussion of ageing and alcohol, through the lens of sport, has important implications for an analysis of drinking practices and in sport, and for sport and social policy, health promotion and social care.
History
Publication title
Sport, Alcohol and Social Inquiry: A Global CocktailVolume
14Editors
S GeePagination
83–97ISBN
9781787698420Department/School
School of Social SciencesPublisher
Emerald Publishing Ltd.Place of publication
United KingdomExtent
10Rights statement
Copyright 2020 Emerald Publishing LimitedRepository Status
- Restricted