It is widely accepted that the transition from youth to adulthood in western industrialized societies brings with it a series of tensions and dilemmas in terms of identity formation. One of the areas where such formational issues often manifest themselves is through the faith journeys of young people. This paper presents empirical evidence from a small-scale qualitative study of one faith–sport initiative—Run the Race Well—a US-based venture which, through an annual retreat program, aims to provide theological support for high school athletes involved in the higher echelons of sport in their age group. Utilizing the “voices” of retreat participants, the paper uncovers some of the issues surrounding the Christian identity of the young people who have participated in the program and explores how the prioritization of lifestyle activities (e.g., education, sport, and faith) has the potential to give rise to particular problems and anxieties. The paper discusses some of the complexities of this prioritization process to reveal how young people seek to navigate and negotiate their identities, both as elite athletes and Christians, and how the tensions and dilemmas of teenage life shape their views of the overall relationship between sport and faith. The paper concludes by suggesting that amidst the wider anxieties of youth transition, intentional investment by others (via theological teaching, sports coaching, and one-to-one, group, and peer mentoring) can provide a catalyst for identity formation and personal/faith development.

Empirical research on the lives of Christian elite athletes has focused primarily on their appropriation of faith-based behaviours and practices, and the ways in which their value and belief systems impact their performance. While these accounts provide useful insight into personal experience and practical application, they are largely devoid of theological underpinnings. Drawing on the findings of a small-scale qualitative study of the faith journeys of 15 ex-professional footballers, this paper seeks to present a theologically informed understanding of identity formation within elite sport. We begin by problematising the disjuncture between theocentric and anthropocentric approaches to the ways in which the specific identities of Christian elite athletes are often formed. We then explore the key issues that shaped the contours of the respondents’ experiences as they sought to negotiate their faith amidst the harsh realities of professional footballing life. The paper concludes by highlighting the importance of appropriate support networks to identity formation in Christian elite athletes.

It is often assumed that chaplains who serve in elite sports settings inhabit a position which facilitates a significant level of influence. Yet, in reality, sports chaplains routinely experience a sense of marginality within their host organizations, which is commonly perceived (both by themselves and others) as highly restrictive and constraining. Drawing upon the findings of a small-scale, qualitative study of chaplaincy within the US-based National Football League (NFL) and the English Premier League (EPL), this paper explores the contribution that a sports chaplain might make to their host organizations irrespective of the marginal position which they inhabit. Utilizing the anthropological work of Van Gennep (1960) and Turner (1969) on rites of passage, findings illustrate the level of ambiguity which often accompanies the ‘liminal’ role of the sports chaplain and the freedoms which this might afforded in terms of organizational impact. This paper concludes by suggesting that, whilst it is often viewed in a negative light, the sense of marginality which commonly characterizes chaplaincy has the potential to be re-configured as an opportunity to positively impact workplace relationships and organizational cultures.

The sport/faith interface has long been a site of contention for religious youth who routinely experience two significant obstacles to living out their faith amidst the complexities of sporting locales. The first is a general problem that pertains to the character of adolescent spirituality and is typified by a subscription to a compromised, diluted religious belief system known as Moralistic Therapeutic Deism (MTD). The second concerns the way in which the Christian religion functions as a servant to sport and when the reality of the gospel becomes subordinate to the identity, power, and cultural meaning and norms of the institution of sports and is commonly termed ‘sportianity’. This paper maps the contours of a high school retreat for Christian student-athletes—Baylor University’s Faith and Sports Institute (FSI) retreat- that intentionally seeks to address these problems. The paper is theological in that we interpret MTD as a religious belief system and how it structures and orients reality and the lived experiences of Christians in general and religious youth in particular. As contributors to the original design of the retreat, we unpack some of the relevant working cultural and religious presuppositions that have the potential to dominate how Christians think about and practice the integration of faith and sports. In turn, we explain key aspects of the baseline narrative for the design and development of the retreat and tease out how these presuppositions are antithetical to orthodox Christianity. In conclusion, we suggest a number of immediate implications that frame how the FSI retreat has moved forward in relation to the integration of Christian faith and sports.

Sport is often promoted as a vehicle through which a variety of social policy outcomes can be achieved, one of the most common of which is the prevention of crime among marginalised and disadvantaged youth populations. However, some scholars have questioned the potential of sport-based interventions to act as a ‘panacea’ for such social ills and have called for more nuanced research that examines the mechanisms within these programmes that may enable positive outcomes. Drawing upon research findings from a study of one sport-based intervention that aims to prevent young people from engaging with paramilitary or criminal networks in Northern Ireland, this article seeks to examine some of the key mechanisms within such interventions that may alleviate the propensity for young people to become involved in paramilitary and/or criminal activity. In doing so, the article seeks to reveal how sport may be used for ‘good’ within diversion/prevention strategies, highlighting how those involved in the operationalisation of sport-based interventions are critical to the harnessing of ‘the power of sport’ in terms of social integration.

Utilizing Erving Goffman’s conceptual framework of impression management, this paper interrogates the everyday lives of sports chaplains as they navigate the multifaceted, high-performance context of men’s professional football (soccer). Drawing on the findings of a small-scale, qualitative study undertaken within an English Football League (EFL) club over the course of one competitive season (July 2024–May 2025), the paper seeks to present a theoretically informed account of the role of chaplaincy within this context. Our analysis comprises three main themes: (i) how chaplains navigated the physical spaces which they inhabited within the Club, (ii) how they experienced and managed issues of marginalization amidst the sub-cultural routines and expectations of professional footballing life, and (iii) how they viewed their role theologically as volunteer workers with wider ministerial responsibilities. We conclude by suggesting that robust analyses of chaplaincy practices have the potential to contribute to a range of institutional agendas in elite sport.