Abstract
Conflicts for gender equality manifest in public spaces, including sports facilities. Notwithstanding the historical evolution of sports to become inclusive, ball cages, skate parks and sports fields in parks remain male-dominated spaces. Individuals identifying as female, trans*, inter*, and non-binary encounter symbolic violence and barriers to participation in sports spaces. This article expounds upon the findings from the author’s 2024 master’s thesis and engages in a discourse surrounding the ramifications for a field of practice that is garnering mounting interest within the realm of open youth work. An analysis of three open youth work programs that are explicitly geared towards girls, women, and, in some cases, trans*, inter* and non-binary individuals was conducted. It reveals the potential of sports-related spatial interventions in the realm of socio-spatial and gender-sensitive youth work. A qualitative analysis of their experiences with sports spaces challenges the persistent narrative that women appropriate spaces more passively than men. The study interprets the identified strategies of space appropriation as acts of resistance and spatial competence.
Keywords: appropriation of space, sport in public spaces, gender-specific appropriation of space, open youth work, social work with girls, social space