Lifelong Engagement in Sport and Physical Activity ─ Participation and Performance Across the Lifespan

Sport and physical activity should now be understood as lifelong activity, beginning in childhood, and accessible to participants of all levels of ability. This book offers an overview of some of the core concerns underlying lifelong engagement in sport and physical activity, encompassing every age and phase of engagement. The book explores key models of engagement from around the world, as well as specific areas of research that will help the reader understand this important topic.

In adopting a lifespan approach, the book pays particular attention to sport and physical activity during childhood and adolescence as well as transitions into adulthood, the developmental periods when participation in sport and physical activity are most likely to decline. Understanding more about participation during these early years is important for sustaining participation during adulthood. The book also addresses issues relating to sport and physical activity during adulthood, across a range of different populations, while a final section examines sport and physical activity among older adults, an often overlooked, but growing segment of society in this context.

Lifelong Engagement in Sport and Physical Activity is important reading for undergraduate and postgraduate students in teacher education, sport and coaching science, and for health promoters, coaches, teachers and relevant bodies and organizations in sport and education.

This book is published in partnership with ICSSPE, and is part of the Perspectives series

Nicholas L. Holt is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation at the University of Alberta, Canada, where he directs the Child and Adolescent Sport and Activity laboratory. He is also the Associate Editor of The Sport Psychologist journal and recently edited a book titled Positive Youth Development through Sport (Routledge, 2007).

Margaret Talbot is President of the International Council of Sport Science and Physical Education (ICSSPE) and Principal of Margaret Talbot Consulting. She is currently leading a team of experts developing a twenty-first century physical education curriculum for schools in Egypt; and is Physical Education Champion for SportsXtra. Professor Talbot was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to physical education and sport in 1993.