Abstract
This paper examines the role of school physical education in guaranteeing “Diversified Sport
Participation” for children and proposes creating new club services during the policy transition in which junior high school extracurricular sports activities are shifting into local communities. Historically, extracurricular sports activities in Japan have imposed a uniform sporting experience on children by emphasizing single-sport specialization and competitive results. More recently, evidence shows that Diversified Sport Participation, characterized by engagement in multiple sports, multiple organizational affiliations, and varying orientations, has a positive impact on adult sport participation and civic engagement. Building on these findings, this paper offers a theoretical and critical examination of the structural transformations that this regional shift in extracurricular sports activities brings to school physical education.
Through a review of relevant policies and prior literature, this paper analyzes the structural limitations inherent in this regional shift. Shifting operational responsibility to local communities, which promotes industrialization and a beneficiary-pays principle, risks widening the sports divide because of disparities in families' economic capital and regional resources, thereby undermining the guarantee of Diversified Sport Participation. Furthermore, if local coaches who are not professional educators lean toward performanceoriented instruction, there is a high likelihood of a substantial decline in the development of children's competence to create sports environments, including autonomously managing groups and collaborating with diverse others.
In light of these arguments, fully delegating extracurricular sports activities to local communities while reducing school physical education to curricular classes alone may hinder the development of autonomous lifelong sports participants. Because the regional shift introduces market principles and efficiency pressures into the sports environment, it is essential to maintain and rebuild a school-based system that guarantees Diversified Sport Participation for all children, supported by the school’s role in ensuring equal educational opportunity.
Therefore, this paper proposes viewing the regional shift of extracurricular sports activities not merely as an end, but as a catalyst for creating a new club service, specifically, after-school activities based on student autonomy, within school physical education. This approach enables students to participate in multiple sports across different groups over defined periods and allows diverse values, ranging from a competitive focus to a recreational orientation, to coexist. Building on this foundation, this paper outlines future research agendas in the management for physical education and sport.
