This book presents journeys of sixteen Indigenous Australian athletes from their first touch of a
‘footy’ to the highest levels of Australian football and rugby league, conceptualized as a process
of learning. The authors challenge simplistic explanations of Indigenous success in Australian
football and rugby league, centered on the notion of the ‘natural athlete’. The book traces
the development of Indigenous sporting expertise as a lifelong process of learning situated in
local culture and shaped by the challenges of transitioning into professional sport. Individually,
the life stories told by the participants provide fascinating insights into experience, culture
and learning. Collectively, they provide deep understanding of the powerful influence that
Aboriginal culture exerted on the participants’ journeys to the top of their sports while locating
individual experience and agency within larger economic, cultural and social considerations.
Stories of Indigenous Success in Australian Sport will be of interest to students and scholars
across a range of disciplines including Indigenous studies, physical education, education, sport
management and sociology
İçerik tablosu
Part I: Introduction.- 1. Indigenous Australians and Sport.- 2. Sport, Experience, the Body and Learning.- 3. The Study.- Part II.- 4. Alvin: ‘It’s Our Life’.- 5. Max: ‘Dad Wanted Me to Try a Lot of Different Sports’.- 6. Toby: ‘Bring Your Own Flavour’.- 7. Carl: ‘Geez—I’m Not Too Bad at This Caper’.- Part II: Discussion.- Part III.- 8. Danny: ‘Rugby League’s a Religion for Aboriginal People’.- 9 Ryan: ‘Having Good Relationships with People Who Believe in You and Believe in Your Ability’.- 10. Bernie: ‘I Knew What I Wanted and I Was Willing to Do Anything to Get It’.- 11. Zac: The Road Less Travelled.- Part III: Discussion.- Part IV: What These Stories Tell Us.- Introduction to Part IV.- 12. Laying the Foundations of Expertise.- 13. Transitioning into the Culture of Professional Sport.- 14 Locating Learning in the Bigger Picture.- 15. Conclusion and Implications.
Yazar hakkında
Richard Light is Professor of Sport Coaching in the College of Education, Health and Human Development at The University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand.
John Evans is Professor of Indigenous Health Education in the School of Sport and Exercise Science, Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney, Australia.