Sport is more than competition and the opportunity to become physically fit. Sport and physical activity offer opportunities for people and communities to forge improved relations. Case Studies in Sport Development: Contemporary Stories Promoting Health, Peace, and Social Justice reveals how experiences from across our global community have served as the conduit to harmony within and among people. Internationally renowned co-editors Robert J Schinke and Ronnie Lidor have structured this compilation into three key sections: Remedying Marginalization; Health & Well-Being; Sport for Peace & Social Justice. The international collection of contributing authors to this book speak from the heart about personal yet widely applicable sport and physical activity experiences. These cases provide the reader with hope that sport and physical activity can provide answers to many of today's and tomorrow's societal challenges within people and communities, and among countries, races, and religions.
Robert J. Schinke, is the Canada Research Chair in Multicultural Sport and Physical Activity and Professor of Sport Psychology in the School of Human Kinetics at Laurentian University. As a Canadian Sport Psychology Association accredited practitioner, Schinke has extensive experience working with national teams and professional athletes of North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean. Schinke has authored more than 100 academic and applied articles and coedited nine textbooksincluding The Cultural Turn in Sport Psychology (2010) and Sport for Development, Peace, and Social Justice (2012), both published by Fitness Information Technology beyond authoring four books. His research is supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Indigenous Health Research Development Program, and the Canadian Foundation for Innovation. In addition, Schinke serves as editor of Athletic Insight, associate editor for the Journal of Sport and Social Issues, and as an editorial board member for the Journal of Clinical Sport Psychology. In addition, a former Canadian Equestrian Team Member and Pan American Games athlete, Schinke enjoys yoga and cross-country running. He, his wife, Erin, and their two sons, Harrison and Pierce, reside in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada.
Ronnie Lidor is a professor and the Director of the Zinman College of Physical Education and Sport Sciences at the Wingate Institute, and he is also on the faculty of education at the University of Haifa (Israel). His main areas of research are cognitive strategies, talent detection, early development in sport, and sport development. Lidor has published over 100 articles, book chapters, and proceedings chapters, in English and in Hebrew. He is the senior editor of several books, among them Sport Psychology: Linking Theory and Practice (1999) and The Psychology of Team Sports (2003), and served as a co-editor of Handbook of Research in Applied Sport and Exercise Psychology: International Perspectives (2006) and Psychology of Sport Excellence (2009), all of which were published by Fitness Information Technology. A former basketball coach, Lidor now provides psychological consultation to young and adult elite basketball players. He focuses mainly on attentional techniques used before the execution of free-throw shots. He also consults with athletes from several cultures and writes about these experiences.