Engaging in Socially Just Youth Sport Inquiry: Critical Interrogations and Possible Pathways for Youth Sport Scholarship

Youth sport scholars continue to advocate for the use of social inquiry to foster a more socially just society. The purpose of this critical commentary is to provide insights concerning how youth sport scholars can engage in socially just inquiry processes. To achieve these purposes, several suggestions are proposed regarding how youth sport scholars, regardless of the methodology and methods they use, can deliberately engage in inquiry through socially just processes. These ideas are grounded in four key components of the dynamic inquiry process: (a) scholars’ ontology and positionality, (b) the foundations of the inquiry process, (c) data collection and analysis, and (d) results and their implications. Ultimately, in attempts to investigate contemporary realities of youth sport, a diversity of complex challenges within a dynamic sociopolitical climate awaits those vested in social-justice promotion. To address such demands, equally nuanced approaches are necessary.