Adult minority women's experiences of belonging through sport and recreational activities

This paper explores how female participants with diverse cultural backgrounds construct experiences of belonging through participation in a community sport and recreation programme in Norway. The paper builds on data from two focus groups with 11 female participants who regularly followed programme activities and on direct observation field notes. In the presentation of the results, four composite characters are developed to ensure participants’ anonymity. The findings demonstrate experiences of belonging played out at the intersection of social identity markers such as cultural background, religion, language, education, socioeconomic status, gender, and/or age. Participants indicated that programme activities provided distractions from the reality of their situations and an arena to build friendships. The paper aligns with previous research by demonstrating that participation in sport activities can foster a sense of belonging among individuals with diverse cultural backgrounds but calls for more research illuminating how belonging may extend beyond the immigrant–non-immigrant divide.