Sviluppare reti sociali inclusive e sostenibili attraverso la pratica sportiva: una ricerca in Lombardia

[Autom. eng. transl.] In the last decade, sports projects have been increased to support the social inclusion of socially disadvantaged people such as children with adaptation difficulties, immigrants, disabled people and women (Dukic, McDonald, & Spaaij, 2017). This explosion of projects highlights a mythization by modern society of sport that is ideally represented as a valid tool for solving complex situations and diversified social problems such as social inclusion. In terms of research, this translates into a lack of reflection on the design and implementation conditions that allow sport, a powerful but not a saving means, to become an effective tool for inclusion (Coalter, 2002). Within this panorama, the central challenge of sport for social inclusion seems to be to integrate into the community and territorial tissues of the users to whom the projects are aimed to promote inclusion in groups and organizational contexts at different levels ( sports team, the club, the oratory, the neighborhood, the school), thus creating social capital as a result of the project at different levels and between several parties (Gozzoli & D'Angelo, 2017). In this regard, many sports studies focus on the development of the social ties of individuals, few are interested in widening their gaze to the network that is created around institutions that host projects of this type (Dacombe, 2013). This contribution is part of this theoretical framework.