The Arctic Winter Games as a Liminoid Configuration: Exploring Relational Experiences in a Community Youth Sport Event

This study investigates how athletes describe relational experiences at and beyond the Arctic Winter Games (AWG). Utilizing a qualitative approach, we analyzed interviews and open-ended survey responses from young athletes at the 2023 AWG, as well as interviews with former athletes returning to the 2023 Games in a supportive or leadership role. Our analysis shows that the AWG offers a range of social and cultural opportunities that make the event especially conducive to cultivating relational experiences. We highlight athletes’ accounts of friendship and network formation, feelings of enchantment, and resonance encounters, alongside collective encounters characterized by a sense of communitas. We also highlight post-liminoid legacies in former athletes’ accounts, including enduring memories, sustained social ties, and an ongoing sense of belonging and community. Taken together, the findings suggest that the AWG’s liminoid, festive, and community-oriented character helps suspend ordinary routines and soften everyday distinctions in ways that make meaningful relational encounters more likely.