Diversity and representation in sport governing bodies has become an issue for both public discussion and academic debate in recent times. Previous work has primarily centered on gender inequalities within the forever changing masculine terrain of sport. However, no work has yet examined the representation and participation of young people in the decision-making structures of sporting bodies. This paper holds up England’s Rugby Union for organizational analysis, using the notion of homologous reproduction as a heuristic framework. In doing so, it explores the reproduction of this governing body for the systematic exclusion of young people in decision-making processes over the last few decades. This framework is then twined with Article 11 of the United Nation’s Convention for the Rights of the Child, to make the case that the RFU desires homologous reproduction in order to avoid dealing with what youth are currently concerned with –head injuries. Given such a high proportion of rugby’s participants being under twenty-five years of age, we conclude the lack of young people within the decision-making process represents a form of willful discrimination.

中文翻译：

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英格兰橄榄球联盟治理中缺乏年龄代表

近年来，体育管理机构的多样性和代表性已成为公众讨论和学术辩论的一个问题。以前的工作主要集中在不断变化的男性运动领域中的性别不平等。然而，还没有任何工作审查青年人在体育机构决策结构中的代表性和参与情况。本文支持英格兰橄榄球联盟进行组织分析，使用同源繁殖的概念作为启发式框架。在这样做的过程中，它探索了这个管理机构的再生产，以便在过去几十年的决策过程中系统地排除年轻人。该框架随后与联合国儿童权利公约第 11 条相结合，证明 RFU 需要同源繁殖，以避免处理年轻人目前关注的问题——头部受伤。鉴于橄榄球参与者中 25 岁以下的比例如此之高，我们得出结论，决策过程中缺乏年轻人代表了一种故意歧视的形式。