Full Contributors:
Dr. Peter Adler, University of Denver, USA, Dr. Becky Beal, University of the Pacific, USA, Ms. Wendy Berg, Prof. Janet S. Chafetz, University of Houston, USA, Jay Coakley, University of Colorado, USA, Dr. Todd Crosset, University of Massachusetts, USA, Ms. Anna Dacyshyn, University of Toronto, USA, Peter Donnelly, Toronto University, Canada, Dr. Doug Foley, University of Texas, USA, Prof. Mark Grey, University of Northern Iowa, USA, Prof. Cynthia Hasbrook, University of Wisconsin, USA, Prof. Alan Ingham, Miami University, USA, Dr. Alan Klein, Northeastern University, USA, Dr. Michael Messner, University of Southern California, USA, Ms. Kitty Porterfield, USA, Dr. Chris Stevenson, University of New Brunswick, Canada, Dr. Derek Swain, Canada, Dr. Nancy Theberge, University of Waterloo, Canada, Dr. Shona Thompson, University of Auckland, New Zealand, Dr. Anita White, The Sports Council, England, Dr. Philip White, McMaster University, Canada, Prof. Kevin Young, University of Calgary, Canada

In today's culture, sports wield a weight influence; this influence, however, is rarely examined. Similar to the first edition, this second edition of Learning Culture Through Sports provides coaches, educators, parents, and others dealing with students and athletes with an engaging and critical context for probing the sociological basis of this influence. The book's sections each address a particular issue in sport: youth and sport; gender and sexuality; race and ethnicity; sport, media, and big business; and international perspectives on sport and participation. Leading experts in the field present new and exciting avenues for exploring sport in our world, allowing us to recognize its tremendous influence, both positive and negative, in our lives and in our world. This new edition also includes cutting-edge research examining contemporary issues and controversies surrounding sport today. These issues, analyzed from multiple perspectives, will inspire readers to change the game in positive ways.

How do people become involved in sports? What can their experiences teach us?
These are two of the many questions asked by this unique collection of personal stories of people involved in sport. Told by researchers who have interviewed participants and observed what happens in the setting where people play sports, the contributions not only show how sport studies contribute to the wider study of society, but also describe the difficulties and challenges faced when doing research of this kind.
Inside Sports is divided into four main sections reflecting the social processes and developments over time that make up the experience of sport for most people, however diverse their circumstances may otherwise be:
* Early experiences: being introduced to sports
* Experience and identity: becoming an athlete
* Deep in the experience: doing sports
* Transition experiences: facing life beyond the playing field.
In its extensive coverage of the sporting experience from within, as well as its discussion of research methods, Inside Sports will be essential reading for all students studying sport in society.

In today's culture, sports wield a weight influence; this influence, however, is rarely examined. Similar to the first edition, this second edition of Learning Culture Through Sports provides coaches, educators, parents, and others dealing with students and athletes with an engaging and critical context for probing the sociological basis of this influence. The book's sections each address a particular issue in sport: youth and sport; gender and sexuality; race and ethnicity; sport, media, and big business; and international perspectives on sport and participation. Leading experts in the field present new and exciting avenues for exploring sport in our world, allowing us to recognize its tremendous influence, both positive and negative, in our lives and in our world. This new edition also includes cutting-edge research examining contemporary issues and controversies surrounding sport today. These issues, analyzed from multiple perspectives, will inspire readers to change the game in positive ways.

"This handbook contains useful reviews of major theoretical frameworks and research topics in sports studies-especially sport sociology-written by a star-studded array of internationally recognized experts. The scope and depth of this volume demonstrates the intellectual maturity of this area. Each chapter provides an informative historical context and an organized conceptual framework for making sense of the relevant scholarly literature. The book will be particularly useful to graduate students, advanced undergraduates, and college and university faculty who are seeking to gain rapid, informed access to the literature." --Janet C. Harris, Professor and Chair, Dept. of Kinesiology and Physical Education, California State University, Los Angeles This vital new Handbook marks the development of sports studies as a major new discipline within the social sciences. Edited by the leading sociologist of sport, Eric Dunning, and author of the best selling textbook on sport in the USA, Jay Coakley, it both reflects and richly endorses this new found status. Key aspects of the Handbook include: an inventory of the principal achievements in the field; a guide to the chief conflicts and difficulties in the theory and research process; a rallying point for researchers who are established or new to the field, which sets the agenda for future developments; a resource book for teachers who wish to establish new curricula and develop courses and programmes in the area of sports studies. With an international and inter-disciplinary cast of contributors the Handbook of Sports Studies is comprehensive in scope, relevant in content and far-reaching in its discussion of future prospect.