This article reports on a study conducted in Australia and France that inquired into the meaning and the nature of children's experiences of being in swimming clubs with a focus on the positive aspects of membership that keep them in their clubs. Three-month long case studies were conducted in a club in Australia and in a club in France, employing Lave and Wenger's (1991) analytic concepts of communities of practice and situated learning. Conducting case studies within two different socio-cultural settings allowed for the identification of common themes that transcend very different institutional and cultural settings while highlighting contextual factors and the situated nature of learning.