Playing Pasts encourages contributions from all sports and leisure history enthusiasts, whether they be independent researchers or directly associated with an academic institution, so you will find on this website articles from young scholars and hobbyists sitting alongside, and given equal prominence to, articles from retired professors. One important constituency is the postgraduate student and in this podcast one doctoral student reflects on her experience of publishing with Playing Pasts and how this has helped her disseminate her work to a global audience.
If you have something you would like to share, don’t be shy, contact the Editor in chief, Margaret, to chat about how to get your work onto Playing Pasts, the global platform for sport and leisure history. To get the ball rolling just email – Contact@PlayingPasts.co.uk
After an amateur sports career in triathlon and cycling, seven years ago by coincidence I found a new challenge in doing research on sports history, cycling history in particular.
Unfortunately, accept for some local and temporarily projects and a few sports museums in Belgium there is no sports historical organization or forum to meet other amateur or professional researchers to discuss our findings and publish our articles. And except for some social and cultural historians the academic world is rather sceptical about sports history.
Anyway, after leaving a small note on the Playing Pasts website I was contacted by Mrs Roberts with the question if I was interested in writing articles for the PP-forum. And in 2019 I got the honor to be invited on the PP symposium where, after a warm welcome, I gave a lecture about cycling in occupied Belgium during the Great War. I nearly fell of my chair by the high level of knowledge on sports history, what an eye opener!
In order to broaden my knowledge and viewpoints and to learn the right skills in 2018 I started a course culture history in the Open University, and thanks to the help and guidance of some Belgian historians, Mrs Roberts and professor Day of the MMU the level of my research and writings for PP is constantly improving.
So, I can confirm that I am the living proof that the Playing Pasts project has a significant impact on sports historical research and the amateur sports research community.
Filip – thank you, what a lovely comment. Always happy to receive your contributions to Playing Pasts. Margaret, PP Editor AKA ‘Mrs Roberts’