Now in a fully revised and updated new edition, the Routledge Handbook of Sports Development is still the only book to fully map the discipline of sports development, covering theory, policy, academic research and professional practice.

Spanning the whole spectrum of activity in sports development, from youth sport and mass participation to the development of elite athletes, the book identifies and defines the core functions of sports development and its interface with cognate fields such as politics, economics, social welfare, coaching and education. This new edition includes expanded coverage of important and emerging topics such as sport-for-development, evaluation, older adults, women’s sport, informal sport, athlete welfare, human rights, and professionalisation, as well as a completely new section examining connections between sports development and international and global issues.

Featuring the work of leading international scholars and practitioners, and now with more international case studies, including from the Global South, the Routledge Handbook of Sports Development is essential reading for all students, researchers and professionals with an interest in this important and rapidly evolving discipline.