Presentation by Veli Liikanen in Children, young people and families in changing urban spaces conference, Northampton, UK. 3 September 2014. http://limuhanke.blogspot.fi/

1. Mikkelin ammattikorkeakoulu / Mikkeli University of Applied Sciences / www.mamk.fiMikkelin ammattikorkeakoulu / Mikkeli University of Applied Sciences / www.mamk.fi
You don't need legs to skate, you need
friends! Importance of social relations in
young people’s alternative sports
Veli Liikanen
Mikkeli University of Applied Sciences
Northampton 2.9.2014

2. Mikkelin ammattikorkeakoulu / Mikkeli University of Applied Sciences / www.mamk.fi
Research focus
• We’re researching young practitioners of alternative or life-
style sports in Finland
• Selection of 10 different sports: capoeira, bouldering,
parkour, street dance, skateboarding, longboarding, roller
derby, freestyle scootering, contemporary circus, and inline
skating
• Focus on the changing spatial and social ‘landscapes’ of
youth sports culture
Images: Shutterstock

3. Mikkelin ammattikorkeakoulu / Mikkeli University of Applied Sciences / www.mamk.fi
Wheaton’s (2013) descriptions of
life-style sports
• Recent, post-1960s
• Consumption of new objects and technologies
• Investment in resources, style and identity
• Thrill, buzz, being at one with the environment
• Creativity, expression, presenting self to others
• Opposition (or ambivalence) to regulation or traditional
competition
• Middle-class, white and Western, not affiliated to national
attachments
• Activities are predominantly individualistic in form or attitude
• New or re-appropriated spaces with loose boundaries

4. Mikkelin ammattikorkeakoulu / Mikkeli University of Applied Sciences / www.mamk.fi
Background and focus
• Wheaton (2013): Predominantly individualistic in form or
attitude(?)
• Maffesoli (1996), Lähteenmaa (2002): light memberships
• “Why do adolescents give up sport?” (Tiirikainen & Konu
2013): Importance of social relations
How do social relations affect alternative sports practise, its
motivation, organisation and social meanings?
Are the sports individualistic?

5. Mikkelin ammattikorkeakoulu / Mikkeli University of Applied Sciences / www.mamk.fi
Research material
• Online survey targeting young people practising alternative
sports, n = 935 (end of 2012)
– Focus on the intensity of sport practise, the practitioners’
background, social differences, attitudes
• Participant observation and theme interviews on the field
(ongoing, from 2012 on)

6. Mikkelin ammattikorkeakoulu / Mikkeli University of Applied Sciences / www.mamk.fi
How young people begin the sport?

7. Mikkelin ammattikorkeakoulu / Mikkeli University of Applied Sciences / www.mamk.fi

8. Mikkelin ammattikorkeakoulu / Mikkeli University of Applied Sciences / www.mamk.fi
With whom, where and how?

9. Mikkelin ammattikorkeakoulu / Mikkeli University of Applied Sciences / www.mamk.fi

10. Mikkelin ammattikorkeakoulu / Mikkeli University of Applied Sciences / www.mamk.fi

11. Mikkelin ammattikorkeakoulu / Mikkeli University of Applied Sciences / www.mamk.fi

12. Mikkelin ammattikorkeakoulu / Mikkeli University of Applied Sciences / www.mamk.fi
Friends and strangers in spaces
• The sports are practised in groups, including both close
friends and less familiar practitioners
• The respondents express respect, solidarity and
identification with other practitioners of the same sport
• Sport sessions commonly involve hanging-out, often in
larger part than the actual sport activities
• So the sport both tie unfamiliar young people together
around a common interest, and provide a context and an
excuse for leisure in public space and urban environments

13. Mikkelin ammattikorkeakoulu / Mikkeli University of Applied Sciences / www.mamk.fi
”Everywhere in the world you can find street dancers
with the same passion and love, we’re all one big family”
(24-year-old street dancer)
”I start to chat with new faces in the park just because
they have inline skates on.”
(18-year-old inline skater)
”We get there in the afternoon and then skate there, eat
at some point, and skate more and talk shite. So the
place is also a social meeting spot. When the evening
darkens we go to the riverboats to drink soda.”
(24-year-old skateboarder)
Images: Shutterstock

14. Mikkelin ammattikorkeakoulu / Mikkeli University of Applied Sciences / www.mamk.fi
Special relationships in the sport
practise
• Friendships: often created along the lines of age, gender
and skill level inside the sport group
• Peer learning: friendly relations provide opportunities for
learning by example and safe competition
• Motivation: sustained by active participation and close
relations between practitioners
• Acceptance: respect from older or skillful practitioners may
be important, and may be gathered by developing skills and
volunteering for the sport

15. Mikkelin ammattikorkeakoulu / Mikkeli University of Applied Sciences / www.mamk.fi
”You develop yourself, when you see, oh,
that one did that trick, I can’t do that one,
let’s do that now”
(22-year-old traceur)
Images: Maria Hopponen

16. Mikkelin ammattikorkeakoulu / Mikkeli University of Applied Sciences / www.mamk.fi
Sport in the sphere of life
• Many informants say that the group and its social relations
are the most important thing in alternative sports practice
• Communities and mobility extend to other towns, to trips
and practitioners abroad, and to online spaces
• When the practitioners integrate into the sport community,
the sport starts to permeate all spheres of life
– …affects the way the practitioners see their environment
– …is more than a hobby
– …can be practised anywhere

17. Mikkelin ammattikorkeakoulu / Mikkeli University of Applied Sciences / www.mamk.fi
”I’m open and helpful towards others. I
want to become a good derby player,
so I plan my life accordingly (diet and
other excercise, healthy life-style).”
(31-year-old roller derby player)
Images: Carlos Marko-Tapio Maria Hopponen

18. Mikkelin ammattikorkeakoulu / Mikkeli University of Applied Sciences / www.mamk.fi
I: Can anyone skate? What do you think?
S: Of course, why couldn’t they?
I: There’s no limitations?
S: No. Well, not really. I’ve seen those videos,
where someone with no legs skates, it doesn’t
prohibit him/her at all. Can’t think of other
reasons, either. Except maybe, if there’s no
people, no mates who skate. It could be a
problem. If your friends stop skating, you would
have to skate alone, not everyone wants that.
(17 year old skateboarder, interview)
Images: Shutterstock

19. Mikkelin ammattikorkeakoulu / Mikkeli University of Applied Sciences / www.mamk.fi
Conclusions
• Alternative sports may be individualistic athletically, but:
• Friends and peers are the key reason for young people to
begin practicing these lifestyle sports
• The sports are practised in groups and communities formed
around common interests
• The sports both bring strangers together and provide a
backdrop for hanging-out in public space
• Relations in the sport groups affects organisation,
motivation and hierarchies
• Deepening social relations are also a key factor in the
transformation of a sport into a lifestyle sport

20. Mikkelin ammattikorkeakoulu / Mikkeli University of Applied Sciences / www.mamk.fiMikkelin ammattikorkeakoulu / Mikkeli University of Applied Sciences / www.mamk.fiImages: Shutterstock, Wikipedia, Carlos Marko-Tapio