Focusing on youth in community sport, this research prompts new questions about how climate change is impacting the next generation. It also raises new questions about the role of sport in the lives of young people in the context of a changing climate.

About Our Guest:

Holly Thorpe (PhD) is Associate Dean Research in the Division of Health and Professor in the School of Sport and Human Movement at the University of Waikato, New Zealand. She isan award-winning sociologist of sport, physical culture, and gender. She has received Fulbright and Leverhulme Fellowships and, in 2018, was awarded the Royal Society of New Zealand Te Apārangi Early Career Research Excellence Award for Social Sciences and became a Fellow of the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport. She works closely with national and international sport organisations, including the International Olympic Committee, High Performance Sport New Zealand, and Sport New Zealand. Her research interests include gender, action sports and youth cultures, women athletes’ health and wellbeing, social media and new media technologies, and sport in development and recovery contexts. She has published over 150 articles and chapters on these topics, and many books. Most recently her research is focused on the health and wellbeing impacts of extreme weather events, and community sport in a changing climate.

Resources & Mentions:

Thorpe, H., McClutchie, J., Williams, H., Nemani, M., & Hikuroa, D. (2026). Postcards From the Future: Polluted Sport in a Changing Climate. Journal of Sport and Social Issues, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/019372352614501

Find more about Dr. Thorpe at her institution's website: https://profiles.waikato.ac.nz/holly.thorpe

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