Competitive talent – or play?
It is a generally held viewpoint that children are, have been, and shall be physically active.
| 25.05.2009 
Oskar Solenes, Photo: Jens P. Straumsheim
Oskar Solenes (b. 25.06.1972) originally comes from Batnfjordsøra in Møre og Romsdal in western Norway. He studied sport at Volda College, the University College at Sogn og Fjordane, and The Norwegian School of Sports Sciences.
His doctoral study was financed by the Norwegian Research Council through the program ‘Sport, Society and Voluntary Organisation’. His main supervisor was
Professor Matti Goksøyr at The Norwegian School of Sports Sciences. Oskar Solenes is currently on the staff at Molde University College.
How should children be physically active?
It is a generally held viewpoint that children are, have been, and shall be physically active.
But why should they participate in organised sport and competitions? And in what way and within which framework should this activity occur? These questions appear to have been of interest to both sports leaders and politicians at various times throughout the twentieth century. This, combined with the desire to reveal the role of children in the Norwegian history of sport, was part of the motivation for Solenes’ doctorate study.
It is essentially organised children’s sports within voluntary sport which is the focal area for the current project.
Children’s sports and self-esteem
Today, children and youth comprise a major part of membership in The Norwegian Olympic and Paralympic Committee and Confederation of Sports (NIF), and the role of children in the organisation is manifest. In the 1920s, children were in no manner a part of organised sports – on the contrary.
Organised sports was regarded as an activity of little relevance to children (and women). Solenes’ study had as its objective that of showing how children became increasingly involved in sports in the 1920s and 1930s, and how the voluntary sports organisations progressively distanced themselves from sports organised in the school.
Science and the inactive child
Science – initially medicine – played an important role in the establishment of children’s sports as a distinct area within sport generally. This was based on medical knowledge concerning the development and growth of the young body, and among other things restrictions on certain activities were imposed.
There was a particular scepticism of the effects that demanding sports activities would have upon the developing child’s physique. After the Second World War, the science of psychology was also involved in understanding and explaining the motivation of the child actively engaged in sport. Science played an important role in understanding the child’s sports activities. Central to this scientific approach was the recognition and understanding of the child who was physically inactive and who, in extreme situations, could be seen as a threat to the fabric of society.
Continuity, not rift
Traditionally, the introduction of ‘Guidelines for children’s sports’ by the Norwegian Confederation of Sports in 1976, and even more so the ‘Children’s sports provisions’ of 1984, marked a clear break with previous practice. Throughout the entire period 1920–1973, the organisation of children within the sphere of sports occurred between what was essentially two polarities.
The hunt for talent – or play?
At the one extreme were those who maintained that the most important objective of children’s sports was the hunt for talent. The organisation and training of children largely took place under the belief that young, talented performers could develop so as to become future champions within their particular sport.
In opposition to this were those who considered that children’s sports had to be structured and organised in a manner which was in the best interests of the children. This implied a philosophy that the child had to be protected against the logic and rationale of competitive sports as long as possible and that the child should be allowed to remain as a child. Play and versatility were to be given the utmost priority.
Even today, the controversy around the organisation of child sports is clearly seen. Optimism concerning the future provided the basis for an understanding of the current and historical conception and practice of organised sports for children.