For the love of the game

the long version

"Exploring the complex issues of class and gender relations, community-building, and sport reform, For the Love of the Game analyses how local culture shapes the meanings of sport and examines the tensions created when athletes and sports teams become important symbols for the community. Focusing on civic holiday celebrations, the establishment of organized clubs for cricket, baseball, and lacrosse, and the rise of spirited urban sports rivalries, Bouchier shows that small towns did much more than mimic the sporting life of Canada's major urban centres."--Jacket.