Care-experienced youth and before and after-school physical activity

Care-experienced youth include children and young people who have, at some point, spent time in foster care, kinship care or residential care. Internationally, the number of care experienced youth continues to grow, which is worrying considering that this group often experience negative outcomes with regard health and education. Importantly, the developmental potential of sport/physical activity may offer numerous benefits for care experienced youth, yet emerging research from the UK has identified that access to before and after-school sport/physical activity settings is somewhat problematic. For many care experienced youth, attending extra-curricular activities is dependent less on their desire to participate and more on having relevant support from the care system. This chapter therefore explores care experienced youths’ complex social landscapes, and how these shape their sport/physical activity practices, before considering how the pedagogies and practices of before and after-school programs, if informed by an awareness of the impact of trauma, may become more accessible (and enjoyable) for care-experienced young people.