Small pond, big opportunities: rethinking social mobility through niche sports in Latin America

This study investigates whether niche sports, relative to mainstream ones, can better improve social mobility for marginalized youth in contemporary Latin America. Sports in general, especially mainstream sports, have often been presented as engines of empowerment for youth. However, critical analyses have shown that contrary to expectations, athletic pathways are often overcrowded, unevenly structured, and incapable of delivering broad mobility. Testing soccer as mainstream against badminton, this comparative study analyzes a core data-corpus of 47 media sources along with three semi-structured primary interviews; Bourdieu's field-capital framework and Sen's human capability approach lens guide the discussion. The study's results identify how smaller-scale sports hold mechanisms that effectively widen one's options. Specifically, badminton is found to (i) offer quicker visibility in a less congested field; (ii) improve simpler access to stipends, scholarships, and institutional posts; and (iii) increase gains in identity, confidence, and networks that translate into further opportunities. While badminton's economic upside is thinner relative to soccer, opportunities are more reachable and less dependent on prior advantage, a key aspect to achieving higher mobility. Overall, this study concludes that while badminton offers smaller absolute rewards than football, these rewards are more realistically obtainable due to greater accessibility and hold more long-term value for advancing social mobility. Thus far, this has been an overlooked route for challenging entrenched inequalities. As global sport becomes increasingly commercialized, this paper sets a foundation for expanding research on how niche sporting environments can offer more inclusive and effective pathways for social mobility in the Global South.