Date of Award

10-11-2024

Publication Type

Thesis

Department

Kinesiology

Keywords

Integration;Newcomer;Sport

Supervisor

P. Millar

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Abstract

Immigrant and refugee youth are one of the most at-risk populations in Canada, marked by loss and trauma throughout their pre and post migration experiences (Smith et al., 2021). Newcomer youth arrive to Canada with significant potential to not only heal from their past traumas, but to also become active Canadian citizens and contribute to the country’s future. That said, the social integration and inclusion of newcomer youth are not sufficiently supported, and many newcomer needs remain unmet (Smith et al., 2021). While still in its infancy, sport has been recognized for its potential to facilitate social development amongst marginalized populations, and namely, amongst the newcomer population (Gardam et al., 2017; Spaaij, 2015). However, despite its recognition and usage, sport programming and initiatives remain inadequate, presenting significant gaps at micro, meso, and macro levels, leading to feelings of exclusion, racism and bullying, and assimilation within sport (Spaaij, 2015). This study investigated mechanisms of integration and inclusion of newcomers in school sport settings. Specifically, this study aims to examine sport participation as a means of newcomer integration and social inclusion into Canadian society. Through semi-structured interviews with newcomer students and staff, the data captured staff attitudes and the lived experiences, both past and present, of newcomer girls, providing insight into their individual sport experiences in Canada. Findings suggest newcomer girls may experience less access and opportunity to sport, which related to their deep-rooted cultural norms, unique school environment, and adverse resettlement experiences. Data indicated that current sport designs may not align with the local context of newcomers. This study contributes to a greater understanding of newcomers’ sport experiences and offers recommendations for fostering more inclusive sport environments, namely, providing trauma-informed, culturally sensitive, and collaborative sport programs for newcomer youth.

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