Marianna Melenteva

Short description

PhD project: Transformative sporting experiences of teenagers with a lacking sense of belonging

My project sheds light on whether and how local sports in the Inland region can be understood as inclusive arenas for the teenagers with a lacking of sense of belonging. I explore how organized sports activities facilitate young people's identity formation and whether this process impacts young people's participation in social life outside sports. The objective is to obtain  an improved understanding of whether and how sports can be understood as having transformative potentials. Methodically, I combine observations and interviews to shape "biographical narrative cases" where the teenagers' stories are combined with their parents, coaches and teachers' stories about the teenagers. The aim is to explore what inclusive measures are used by coaches in local youth sports teams and how young athletes experience participation in youth sports. This approach opens up for an understanding of possible transformation processes, as well as when and how transformation is impacted by and impacts the social life of teenage athletes outside sports.