This study explored the dynamics of how young people make decisions about their sport participation. In-depth semistructured interviews were conducted with 34 young men and 26 young women, ages 13–23 (only 3 were older than 18), from predominantly working-class families residing in an industrial area southeast of London. Interviews focused on descriptions of sport experiences, how young people defined and interpreted those experiences, how this influenced decisions about participation, and how participation was integrated into the rest of their lives. We found that young women and men shared concerns about their transition into adulthood and had common desires to develop and display personal competence and autonomy. However, these common concerns were significantly mediated by gender. Furthermore, gender differences were found in the ways sport experiences were defined and interpreted, in the ways that constraints related to money, parents, and opposite-sex friends operated, and in the ways that past experiences in physical education and school sports were incorporated into current decisionmaking about sport participation.

The increase in participation of women in sport has not been matched by a similar increase in the involvement of women as administrators and decision-makers. In all British sports organisations studied, women remained underrepresented at administrative, controlling and decision-making levels. Analysis of trends since 1960 revealed little change in the percentage of women occupying positions of power. Women's power has been effectively lessened since the 1960s with the move towards a more professionalised and bureaucratised state-controlled sports environment since there are few women among the new professionals. The trends are further discussed in the context of the changing place of women in British society.

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Through an analysis of gender in contemporary korfball practice in Britain, this paper questions the claim that korfball is an egalitarian sport. Three aspects of the sport were studied: (a) official korfball literature, (b) formal positions of power held by men and women in the korfball organizations, and (c) the gender related dynamics of team play in international and club games. It was found that despite the ideological commitment to gender equality, korfball literature emphasized the prominence of males. Women held relatively few positions in the formal power structures of korfball organizations and men dominated in team play. Explanations for the mismatch between ideology and practice of korfball are advanced, and strategies for the future development of egalitarian sport are discussed.

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