LETS Sport! Life Experience Through Sports and its impact on adults in socially vulnerable positions

Sport is widely recognized for a range of benefits to physical, mental, and social health outcomes. Participating in sports can also facilitate the development and transfer of life skills, such as discipline, teamwork, and coping skills. One group that can benefit from these positive outcomes is adults who find themselves in socially vulnerable positions. These adults may face challenges such as homelessness, unemployment, social isolation, addiction, or mental health difficulties. To make sports accessible for these adults, community sports programs have been developed that offer low-threshold, inclusive, and supportive environments. This PhD thesis examines what adults in socially vulnerable positions gain from community sports programs, with a particular focus on the development and transfer of life skills.

The research was carried out in collaboration with the Life Goals Foundation in the Netherlands. The thesis integrates a systematic literature review, in-depth interviews, focus groups, and a Group Concept Mapping study to understand which life skills are developed and transferred, the mechanisms that facilitate the development and transfer of life skills, and the elements that are necessary for sports programs to be successful.

Chapter 2 presents what is currently known in the literature about life skills development and transfer. Chapter 3 provides a detailed overview of the life skills that were developed and transferred by adults in socially vulnerable positions who participated in the Life Goals activities. In Chapter 4, the mechanisms that facilitate the development and transfer of these life skills are identified. Chapter 5 shows which elements of community sports programs are necessary for their success.

This thesis concludes that community sports programs can contribute meaningfully to improving the well-being of adults in socially vulnerable positions through the development and transfer of life skills. Importantly, participants do not necessarily learn these skills from scratch, but rather rediscover or refine existing skills that had been overshadowed by difficult life circumstances. Sports participation offers structure, social connection, and a context in which life skills can be practiced. The findings underline the value of integrating community sports into broader social and health policies and provide guidance for practitioners and policymakers seeking to strengthen the role of sport in promoting inclusion and personal development.