Five Typologies of Religious Approaches to Recreational Sport

Abstract: Although numerous typologies exist regarding the separate phenomena of religion and sport, typological distinctions related to how religious communities or organizations approach recreational sport tend to be less elucidated in scholarship. This article remedies this gap in scholarship through offering five nuanced approaches to begin categorizing how religious communities understand their relationship with recreational sport in general. The first typologies explain religious communities' rejection of recreational sport for various reasons while the last three describe reasons why religious communities embrace recreational sports in varying degrees. These typologies consist of combative, distinctive, adaptive, integrative, and innovative. In the paper, each typology is discussed with examples from within the United States exemplifying the typology. Although not meant to be completely comprehensive, these typologies could prove valuable to those within religious studies, American studies, sociology of sport, parks and recreation management, and other sports related fields.