”Det är halvidrott, kanske lite mer än halvidrott” Idrottsskolan som en praktik för formandet av idrottsbarndomar

Sammanfattning: The aim of the dissertation was to investigate children’s views on and experiences of The Sport for All programme in school (SAP) (idrottsskolor) and the significance of the activities for children’s ”sports childhood”.The study is anchored in the so-called “new sociology of childhood”. Such a standpoint is based on that children are competent social actors with agency. Following that, childhood is constructed both by actors in specific fields and by the children in these social practices.The dissertation is based on three interview studies from three different SAPs. In study I fifteen individual interviews were conducted with: the programme manager, three school teachers, two sport club leaders and nine children (aged 9-10). Study II was based on repeated focus group interviews with 15 ten-year-old Swedish children participating in a SAP. In study III individual interviews were conducted with eight children, four years after they completed their participation in a SAP. In all three studies the children described the SAP as a different sport practice in relation to traditional organized sport. In the SAP sport was offered in a new context with other meanings and functions compared to conventionally organized sport. But, study II showed that children with a strong performance ethos had the capacity to influence and control the practice in the SAP, which contribute to a “competitive atmosphere” in the SAP activities. Further, study III showed that children with a weak interest in sport enjoyed the activities. However, it was not something this certain group of children wanted to continue to practice outside the program. While other participants with an already established interest in sports, experienced a deepening and widening of their sport interest through the SAP.In terms of agency, the children’s individual and collective views of sport are important to consider in regard to understanding the SAP practice. The children brought prior knowledge, understanding and skills into the SAP, which can contribute to the experience of the practice.