From Sporting Past to Future Well-being: Sport Heritage and Intergenerational Learning in Glasgow

Abstract

This article focuses on the context of private sporting clubs, previously referred to by sports historians as ‘the long residuals of sport’, as important sites of sporting culture and sport heritage in local communities. The project explores the history and meaning of sport through intergenerational collaboration between the academic researcher, primary school children and experienced members of Glasgow Southside's sports community. The research reflects on the process of intergenerational learning, reminiscence and heritage activities to inform future cultural histories of sport, as well as sports development and future wellbeing. Through a focus on interpreting cultural and social change in Glasgow sport by educating children and elder members of the community in the use of sport media archives, as well affording opportunities to examine the usefulness of intergenerational communication in community settings, the project investigated the cultural transmission of sporting cultures of the past, and its influence over, or disconnection from, contemporary sporting practices of young people. The article concludes that by acknowledging and sharing the heritage of private sport clubs, such ‘communities of practice’ have an important role to play in fostering stronger socio-cultural ties between clubs, their members and young people.