Can sport include people? Risks and chanches

This paper aims at contributing to the reflection on sport regarded as a potential tool for the development of community bonds and social inclusion. First of all the variety of existing experiences in the field are outlined. What stands out is a wealth of initiatives and projects, but the use of sport often appears to be scanty and frequently there is incoherence between declared aims and taken actions. Aim of the contribution is adding to the debate on the theme, highlighting certain theoretical and methodological focal aspects that should be considered in order to provide the real potential of sport as a tool for social inclusion and community development. To this purpose, a specific experience will be taken into account (an experience carried out in the township of Manenberg in Cape Town –South Africa–) re-reading it in the light of such focal aspects , highlighting theoretical and methodological assumptions, dilemmas and open questions that investigate the researcher on the subject.