It's all about winning, isn't it? Competing discourses in children's sport in New Zealand

Children participating in organized team sports are both the objects and subjects of competing discourses, which can create contradictory and sometimes confusing experiences for those involved. Influenced by Foucault's concept of discourse and drawing upon the experiences related by a focus group of sports administrators, this article argues that the construction of children's sport is heavily influenced by the collision between three dominant discourses each of which constructs sport in a particular way: one of sport as a long term development of sport specific skills (progressive-developmental discourse); another of sport with a pre-occupation with winning (competitive discourse); and another of sport that is more child-centred (fun discourse). This analysis increases our understanding of the complexities and tensions that shape a child's sporting experience.