Alternative sports : unveiling the pedagogical kaleidoscope from Homo ludens to Homines iocosi

The Homo sportivus ideologies and ideals have pervaded the world. Even in contexts such as Sport for Development and Peace programs, where educational and social objectives should overrate competitive intentions, the sport performance model is so strong that it often overshadows other potential positive objectives. In this paper, by taking into account Huizinga’s Homo Ludens’ play concept, combined with Paulo Freire’s emancipatory and dialogical practices, I introduce the Homines iocosi, a collective persona who, by creating a pedagogical kaleidoscope for alternate games, establish educational principles that are central for communities to build their playful culture, thus overcoming the oppressive body control that comes from the Homo sportivus. I show how the Homines iocosi will supplant the Homo sportivus and bring back the joyful community moments of playing for play’s sake.