Establishing and delivering sport and physical activity to rural youth communities across Europe: practical learning through ‘fire soul’ stories

Abstract

Low levels of youth sport and physical activity is a concern across the world with many strategies implemented to promote its positive benefits and correlation to young people’s health and wellbeing. Little data exist on the specific context of establishing and developing sport and physical activity in rural areas, nor on the role undertaken by social actors working to facilitate this within their local communities; the ‘fire souls’. The study’s purpose therefore was to learn more about FS’ work in rural areas, especially relating to activities targeting children and young people, and provide practical insight to guide similar projects in other rural European settings. A qualitative narrative study was conducted that interviewed 42 Fire Souls in 7 European countries using the ‘Freytag Pyramid’ structure. Following Framework Thematic Analysis the higher order themes; Motivation to make a difference, Challenges to start and maintain, and Overcoming Issues and Maximising Resources were identified.
Findings support previous research exploring worker motivation and emphasise the positive role of sport and physical activity in supporting local communities’ health, well-being, and cohesion. The study provides original multi-country, multi-site and multi-activity insights, as well as practical learnings to guide future Sport for Development work in rural settings.