Life at the track: Country race clubs and social capital

The aim of this article is to report the findings of a study that explored both the contributions of country race clubs to social capital within rural and regional communities as well as their utilization of social capital. The article reviews the key concepts associated with social capital and their relationships to sport, and presents evidence of how country race clubs contribute to and benefit from social capital in their respective communities based on a series of interviews with individuals associated with race clubs and their communities. The final section of the article discusses the implications of these findings in relation to what we currently know of social capital and community level sport clubs.