The feeling of belonging matters to humans. At a cellular level. The release of oxytocin, the hormone which evokes feelings of contentment and security, makes people feel happy to be part of a group. It helps explain why identification with a family, town, school or team is such a fundamental part of the human experience. It also explains the appeal of team games.

Sharing interests and endeavours, collaborating to greater gain and combining to vanquish a foe are experiences which are as old as humanity. Whilst the rules of games may be artificial, the foundation on which they are...

The tension between the pursuit of high performance and the goal of wide sports participation has complicated the landscape of school sport for about twenty years. Prior to that, the sector was comfortable that the legitimate purpose of school sport was to seek success in competition with a small number of able pupils. Provision was entirely meritocratic: the most able got coaching, competition and recognition, the majority could have a much less positive experience. Since then, the rising tide of democracy and inclusivity has created pressure to involve more children in school sport - first by expanding the number...

"How did you get on?" is a frequently asked question. It is routinely asked of pupils and staff returning from matches. The information that this innocuous enquiry requests reveals a lot about the culture of sport in a school, and the nature of what the organisation values.

If the answer to this question is always a sequence of scores and numbers, winning and losing are clearly the principal programme drivers. Perhaps they are the obvious responses, as they certainly would be in professional sport. Possibly, they are the default responses in the absence of other identified success...