The social becoming of family memberships and physical activity careers.

Explanations of sport participation inequalities over the life course emanate from the economic cost of continued and progressive involvement in sport and the necessity for a childhood socialisation that includes developing the appropriate embodiment essential for habitual sport engagement (Evans & Davies, 2010). As being regularly active is not limited to sport participation and does not always require economic outlay, physical activity participation ‘inequalities’ would appear to be more complex and lean more towards a socialisation explanation. This is evident in studies of parental influence on children’s physical activity habits, where parental modelling is a more powerful correlate than the socio-economic status of families (Gustafson & Rhodes, 2006). Survey investigations of general physical activity inclinations between families have produced ambiguous and sometimes contradictory correlates. Based on the oral history interviews of people’s family memberships and physical activity careers that I have employed for my PhD study, this paper argues that physical activity socialisation and engagement is better understood as an ongoing process of social becoming. This will be supported through discussion of some of the findings made so far by presenting the physical activity careers and storied experiences of people who see themselves as ‘sporty’ but have been inactive for a several years and those who have been regularly active across the life course with little sporting involvement. These unique stories would also appear to feed into a collective tale about the existential liminality of becoming an independent and responsible adult or parent while leaving childhood physical activity behind.