The Spatial Organisation of Women's Soccer in Adelaide

Another Tale of Spatial Inequality

Bibliographic Data

ID5877249
AuthorsEdoardo Rosso (0000-0001-6276-8291, Flinders University, corresponding author)
Year2008
Volume46
Issue4
Pages446-458
Publication date2008-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueGeographical Research (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1745-5863 • E-ISSN: 1745-5871
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.1745-5871.2008.00538.x
OpenAlexW1989757860
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited22

Although sport is considered an important component of Australian society and a precious vehicle of social interaction, sports geography remains in many ways a neglected field of investigation. Nevertheless, geographical studies of sports can add valuable insights to more acknowledged geographical discourses. They can also contribute to regional sporting success. This paper analyses the current spatial organisation of women's soccer in Adelaide and outlines the unequal spatial expression of its recent professionally-oriented approach, the achievement phase. A significant proportion of Adelaide's female population experiences limited opportunity to participate fully in the sport. The sport therefore fails to maximise its human resources and its spatial organisation constitutes a limit to the competitiveness of South Australian women's soccer as a system. The paper uses the concept of social capital to explore the unequal engagement of four sub-regions in women's soccer. Many of the areas experiencing relative exclusion from women's soccer are the same ones that suffer the most from disengagement from the global economy. In those areas, socio-economic disadvantage is matched by limited opportunities for self-fulfilment through sport, and the effectiveness of social networks is weaker. This work aims to provide information for South Australian women's soccer institutions to foster enhanced equity in terms of access to the sport in metropolitan Adelaide. It also provides a base from which to investigate the reasons behind sub-regional differences in the ability to produce quality players, knowledge that, if applied to these less productive areas, may contribute to the general enhancement of overall sporting outcomes

Disadvantage · Economic geography · Geography · Inequality · Metropolitan area · Political science · Population · Regional science · Social capital · Social science · Sociology · Spatial inequality · Strengths and weaknesses · Demography · Nonprofit Sector and Volunteering · Psychology · Recreation, Leisure, Wilderness Management · Social Psychology · Sport and Mega-Event Impacts