Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Reproduction And Opportunity: A Study Of Dual Career, Aspirations And Elite Sports In Danish Sportsclasses, Lotte Stausgaard Skrubbeltrang, David Karen, Jens Christian Nielsen, Jesper Stilling Olesen

Sociology Faculty Research and Scholarship

This paper analyzes the patterns of retention in SportsClasses of promising young athletes in Denmark. Since 2005, SportsClasses have provided extra training for potential elite athletes in Grades 7-9 in designated Danish public schools. They were introduced after the Danish Ministry of Culture lowered the age of recruitment for athletes from 15 to 12 in response to increased competition in the world of elite sports. The SportsClasses attempt to balance collaboration between two different organizations: Danish public schools and sports clubs. Using a survey of the student population in 2013 and a follow-up sample in 2015, we explore the respondents’ …