Indigenous sport and nature–a case study of a Sámi sport club

Applying a broad interpretation of education, this paper investigates how one Sámi (the Indigenous people of Northern Norway) sports club teaches traditional lingual knowledge to its youth members. Using Wittgenstein’s language philosophy and Mead’s understanding of figurative cultures as theoretical frameworks, and qualitative methods, two relatively contradictory sets of findings were revealed. First, the content of the education focusing on the accuracy and functionality of Sámi words for elements of nature based on traditional Sámi knowledge; second, the education takes modern forms. Sport club is a modern concept, as is friluftsliv – the Norwegian/Scandinavian way of nature life often aiming at recreation and experience of nature aesthetics—which is apparently challenging the traditional Sámi nature life aiming at purposefulness in every aspect. The paper also shows the dispute and actuality surrounding the Sámi accuracy of words for nature elements.publishedVersio

The role of sport organizations for local and national community: The case of Sámi sport organizations

Research question: This paper investigates (1) how representatives of Sámi sport clubs understand local and national communities, and (2) and the role of the sport organization in the creation and perception of local and national community. The study contributes to the research field by showing how sport organizations are the basis of the community, locally and nationally. Research methods: Interviews were conducted with seven board members representing five Sámi sport clubs in four municipalities. The sport clubs were all members of the Sámi sport organization, and located in core Sámi areas where Sámi language and culture is manifested in everyday life. Sámi are the indigenous peoples of the northern Norway, Sweden, Finland and north-west Russia. Results and findings: For sport club representatives, Sámi sport refers to specific activities associated with Sámi husbandry heritage, and to the Sámi sport organization. Sport clubs function as community organizations at the local level. Moreover, through affiliation with the Sámi sport organization, the sport clubs are the link to the Sámi national community. Sámi indigeneity is played out internally in the local community as well as on the borderline to other communities with other ethnic compositions. Implications: The study revealed a complex relationship between the local and national elements of indigeneity, and between the internal and the external elements. These elements of multiculturalism and sport clubs require to be taken into account in future sport management and policy-making in addition to multicultural policies towards immigrant sport participation and organization.acceptedVersio

Leisure-Time Activities in Different Contexts and Depressive Symptoms in Norwegian Adolescents: A Cross-Sectional Study

The purpose of this study was to examine the association between physical activity organised in sports clubs, non-organised physical activity, other organised leisure-time activities, and depressive symptoms among adolescents. This study was based on cross-sectional data from the Ungdata survey conducted between 2017 and 2019. The sample comprised 7656 adolescents (aged 13–16 years). Binominal logistic regression was used to analyse the association between the three different leisure-time activities and depressive symptoms. All models were adjusted for gender, family economy, parents’ higher education, having friends, alcohol intoxication, and smoking. The odds for symptoms of depression were higher for those who were less physically active in a sports club (OR: 1.34, 95% CI: 1.15–1.57) and in non-organised physical activities (OR: 1.50, 95% CI: 1.29–1.74) and lower for those who participated less in other organised leisure-time activities (OR: 0.79, 95% CI: 0.68–0.92) compared with those who were physically active (sports club and non-organised) and those who participated in other organised leisure-time activities. Our findings suggested that being physically active, both in a sports club and in non-organised activities, was associated with lower odds of depressive symptoms among adolescents. Additional research is needed to confirm a possible causal relationship.publishedVersio

Different men – similar meanings. Rural Norwegian men’s constructions of meanings related to health, body and physical activity

This paper aims to provide an understanding of why a group of middle-aged and elderly rural Norwegian men with heterogeneous backgrounds largely express homogeneous meanings related to health, body and physical activity. Data was generated through 18 in-depth interviews with men of different age, varying ethnicity and with different levels of education. With Bourdieu’s theory of practice and Connell’s theory of hegemonic masculinity as theoretical framework, the discussion focuses on how the construction and expression of these understandings is formed by the context in which the men live their lives and by dominating masculine ideals. We argue that the men’s meanings related to health, body and physical activity are practices through which they accumulate and display several forms of capital – also masculine capital. Not only does the volume of masculine capital a man holds, position him in the social space, it also positions him in the local masculine hierarchy.publishedVersio

‘The Lay Gaze’—Rural Norwegian men’s assessment of others’ health based on pictures

In this article, we explore lay men's understanding of the relationship between other's bodily appearance and health— ‘the Lay Gaze’. We applied the theoreti-cal concepts of biopower, medical gaze, bodyism and healthism— the ideology where one feature is that a slim body is equivalent to a healthy body— and interviewed 18 adult and elderly men in rural Norway, representing a heterogeneous group regarding age, ethnicity and educa-tion. To explore the interviewees’ subjective perception or ‘gaze’, the interviewees were presented with eight pic-tures of different people. Our main findings were, first, that the sample of a relatively heterogeneous group of adult and elderly lay men in rural Norway talk similarly about body appearance and health and follow the heal-thism discourse with an embedded association between body appearance and health assessment. Second, we found some variation regarding how interviewees define other standards for the elderly and black people.publishedVersio

Kroppsøving og idrett i Norge – overlappende men distinktive felt

Organized and voluntary sport and the school subject physical education have historically been tightly interwoven in Norway. In this study, organized and voluntary sport and physical education are considered as two fields as described by Bourdieu, in the search for answering the research question: How can physical education and sport be understood as overlapping and distinctive fields? In order to answer the question, we analysed the two last steering documents in each field; the curriculum in physical education from 2015 and 2020, and the sport policy documents of 2015 and 2019 (the latter referred to as a long-term plan) from The Norwegian Confederation of Sports. The two main findings of the analysis are, first, that the historical relationship where sport is the dominant part is still identifiable in the contemporary steering documents. The overlaps between the fields can be explained by several and interdependent causes: one is that many of the same actors operate in both fields – sports people are physical education teachers and physical education teacher educators; moreover, the establishment of the physical education field was initiated by powerful people in the sport field. In that respect, it has been a mode of doxa that physical education to a large degree has resembled sport. However, second, we identified an emancipation process in the field of physical education; there are formulations in the steering documents supported by other research, indicating heterodoxic discussions within the physical education field, leading to change. All in all, we identified two fields with various levels of maturity.publishedVersio

National and Organizational Culture in Norwegian Elite Sport: The Account of National Handball Head Coaches

The present study looks at the organizational culture of Norwegian elite sport which we capture as the meeting point of the national and elite sport cultures. Two successful national teams, the women’s and men’s handball are the point of departure. The selected elite sport contexts are apparently similar but at the same time distinctive. Informed by theories of culture and high reliability organizations, we analyzed in depth semi-structured interviews with the national team coaches and found that their organizational cultures were characterized by three common elements: a process-oriented approach, an athlete-centered approach, and a value-based approach towards development. Variations between teams were noticed, such as how the athletes partake in the team’s value-anchoring processes. Overall, we learned that at the international level results can be achieved even when embracing, and performing, under humanistic and social-democratic values, which deviates significantly from the commonly embraced win-at-all-costs approach. Norwegian elite sport culture appears to exemplify this cultural approach by actively employing a value-system in the development of its athletes, teams and sport. In that respect, the study contributes to the international elite sport organization literature as it relates daily practices with the overall culture theory and the specific theory of high reliability organizations. The study provides a detailed account of how national Norwegian values (and further overarching Scandinavian values) pair up with elite sport demands, in team and backstage practices within two elite sport contexts.publishedVersio

Leading and organising national teams: functions of institutional leadership

National team coaches are tasked to increase athlete capacity for success – a key task of theirs is leading the athletes and team’s entourage. Few studies have detailed empirical accounts of leadership at the organisational-, team-, and individual level. This qualitative case study of institutional leadership examined how three national team coaches, who also have the role of high-performance directors, organise and lead their teams. Within the context of these successful Norwegian national teams, we identified how the coaches lead in ways that are consistent with leadership functions captured in institutional leadership, which focuses on the creation of structures and interactions that promote and protect the key organisational and societal values. Still, the coaches pursued this structuring and interactions in distinct ways, leading to distinctive organisational practices. The findings of the study stress the importance of considering contextual elements when leading athletes and entourage that pertain to national teams.publishedVersio

The meaning of democracy in an era of good governance: Views of representation and their implications for board composition

Contemporary sport governance contexts are marked by a trend towards efficiency-based board composition and an increasing use of instruments aimed to (re)shape boards. Yet, democratic governance is integral to many countries’ sport systems, and research tells us that representation still matters in sport governance. Considering this, the aim with this paper is to provide researchers and practitioners with a vocabulary to understand and address issues of representation in board composition. The paper builds on interviews with nomination committee representatives of 62 Swedish national sport federations (NSFs). The analysis provides insights into the meaning and implications of four distinct views of representation, along with an interpretation of potential responses to board-shaping instruments engendered by these views.The meaning of democracy in an era of good governance: Views of representation and their implications for board compositionpublishedVersio

Private football academies—friend or foe? An analysis of Norwegian media's framing of arguments about private football academies and the monopoly of organized sport

Private football academies challenge the monopoly of Norwegian voluntary and democratic sport. Using field theory and framing approach as analytical perspectives, this article presents a media analysis that reveals that, first, association football and private academies agree on the fact that Norwegian football is not good enough and must improve. Second, they disagree on whether to improve it within association football exclusively or supplemented by private actors that are inspired by the international football field. Third, there is a negative popular view of private academies as too expensive, unconcerned with children's best interests, in violation of Norwegian sport's regulations for children's sport, and—in sum—thus being accused of destroying ‘sport for all’. However, by employing the analytical concepts of habitus and fields, the article also shows how actors partake in several subfields—often on both sides of the private—association border.publishedVersio