Between embodied experience and educational relationships: the formative role of community sports associations in local contexts

Abstract

The contribution investigates local sports associations as contexts of inclusion, participation, and educational well-being. From a pedagogical perspective attentive to the bodily and relational dimensions of sports practice, the study explores how these settings may take shape as educational communities capable of fostering educational care and spaces of freedom. The qualitative research involves semi-structured interviews with instructors and participants. The analysis highlights educational practices and values through which sport emerges as a formative experience and a resource for local communities, moving beyond purely performance-oriented logics and contributing to the pedagogy of sport.