Developing and Implementing a Community-level Para-Swimming Program

The purpose of this study was to examine the basic conditions required to implement a para-swimming program at the community level. This was undertaken using a qualitative benchmarking approach based on documents/literature and semi-structured interviews with representatives from 13 countries as well as from the International Paralympic Committee’s Agitos Foundation. Results indicate that successful community-level para-swimming programs should focus on promoting the inclusion of para-swimmers in swimming clubs, with integration being a step towards inclusion. The basic conditions needed to do so include facilities and logistics, financial, and human resource needs. Findings also highlight the importance of the local context and culture. Based on these findings, guidelines are offered for implementing a para-swimming program at the community-level, notably: following inclusion principles, following a sport development pathway, and developing a stakeholder network. Funding remains an overarching barrier that must be addressed for such a program to be successful

Accommodating (global-glocal) paradoxes across event planning

The aim of this research note is threefold: 1) to introduce the concept of paradox and its numerous applications to the study and management challenges associated with the planning and delivery of events, with a specific look at large-scale events like the Olympics to provide an extreme case; 2) to present a new paradox entitled the Global–Glocal Paradox that interrogates how inherent global and local stakeholder interests and tensions are managed; and 3) to present a series of conceptual and practical ways events can accommodate as opposed to resolve this paradox to help balance stakeholder interests instead of pitting one against the other

Governance and knowledge management and transfer: the case of the Lillehammer 2016 Winter Youth Olympic Games

This paper examines the relationship between knowledge management/transfer processes and (good) governance practices in sports events. The research was undertaken at the Lillehammer 2016 Winter Youth Olympic Games, with data collected through interviews and document analysis. Findings include: 1) the significance of horizontal as well as hierarchical accountability; 2) different event logics for the event rights holder-organising committee relationship; 3) the importance of culture as well as structure in relation to governance; 4) the significance of tacit knowledge, person-to-person informal knowledge transmission and knowledge transfer timing

Young people and sport: from participation to the Olympics – introduction to the special issue

The aim of this paper is to provide a context for the contributions which follow in this special issue. Attention is drawn to the range of possible motives for the increase in interest in youth sport evinced by a selection of major stakeholders including international sport federations, domestic federations and event organizers. The paper draws attention to the changing relationship between young people and sport where the former are seen increasingly as a resource to help meet the organizational objectives of the latter. The paper concludes with a summary of, and commentary on, the nine papers in the special issue

Examining social media adoption and change to the stakeholder communication paradigm in not-for-profit sport organizations

The purpose of this study was to examine social media adoption within not-for-profit sport organizations to illuminate the impetus for change, the type of change undertaken, and change resistance. Using a contextualist approach depicting the external and internal forces as well as the change process, semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten Canadian national sport organizations (NSO) representing varying degrees of social media presence. The findings suggest that, although social media is espoused as a radical, transformational vehicle, NSOs have only made incremental adjustments to their stakeholder communication and have situated social media within their extant organizational condition due to capacity constraints and resistance from staff and reticent stakeholders. Adopting social media in light of limited organizational capacity thus diminishes the utility of the communications tool. Theoretical and practical implications include how to improve social media-related capacity and the importance of continuing the social media and sport domain’s organizational theory agenda

The Youth Olympic Games: a facilitator or barrier of the high-performance sport development pathway?

© 2017 European Association for Sport Management Research question: This paper examined the impact of participation in YOG on Norwegian team members with a particular emphasis on differences between those who continued in elite sport and those that dropped out. Research methods: We used a retrospective survey design to collect quantitative and qualitative data from former Norwegian YOG participants (from 2010, 2012, and 2014), with 58 of the 64 athletes responding to the survey in December 2015. Results and findings: Ericsson, Krampe, and Tesch-Roemer’s [(1993). The role of deliberate practice in the acquisition of expert performance. Psychological Review, 100(3), 363–406] typology of constraints and their concept of deliberative practice provided the framework for the data analysis. Key findings include: (a) the dropout rate was lower than that reported for similar groups; (b) the main reasons for dropout were school pressures and poor relations with the coach; (c) there was little difference in the perceived level of support from schools, parents and coaches between those who dropped out and those who did not; (d) participation in the YOG was a significant motivating factor for staying in elite-level sport for some athletes; (e) medal winners were as likely to dropout as non-medal winners; and (f) the national context for elite youth development may play a larger role in deeper engagement in sport than YOG participation. We derive hypotheses/propositions based on our results, which should be tested in future studies. Implications: Our findings suggest the entourage’s support is critical for continued engagement in sport, but is not sufficient for preventing dropout. The national context, in terms of the sport and education systems, must align to ensure young athletes do not need to choose between elite-level sport and school. The national context may play a larger role in deeper engagement in sport than YOG participation/success

State of the art. Overview of concepts, indicators and methodologies used for analyzing the social OMC.

This paper is a detailed analysis about the literature on the Social OMC from 2006-2010, focusing on how OMC research has been carried out. It specifically points to which theoretical framework/concepts are used, and how change is conceptualised and measured. It is organised in five sections. The first concerns visibility and awareness about the OMC; the second analyses research on the EU level coordination process; the third scrutinizes how features of the OMC have been analysed. The fourth and fifth sections, addressing how national integration of the OMC has been researched, respectively address substantive policy change as well as national policy-making. Strikingly, virtually all OMC research adopts theoretical frameworks derived from literature on Europeanisation and/or institutionalisation. Also, as the OMC is voluntary and sanction-free, it depends heavily on how and the the extent to which actors use it (agenda-setting, conflict resolution, maintaining focus on a policy issue, developing a policy dialogue, etc). OMC research has become nuanced and does highlight how, for which purpose and with which outcome actors engage with the OMC. Another finding is that there is data on policy issues addressed through the OMC, learning does take place and there is knowledge about domestic policy problems. However, the linkage between knowledge of an issue and direct use of the OMC for policy change in social policy is weak, but that may change with EU2020, where social policy has received a higher profile. Most research covers the EU-15, much more research needs to be undertaken in newer EU member states

The impact of governance principles on sport organisations’ governance practices and performance: A systematic review

Objectives: The objective of this systematic review was to determine what impact governance principles and guidelines have had on sport organisations’ governance practices and performance. Methods: Following the PRISMA, PIECES and Warwick protocols, we conducted a search of academic, grey literature and theses in sport and broader social sciences and humanities databases. We excluded studies that only proposed governance principles and did not actually measure their use by sport organisations, as well as those studies which did not consider the governance principles in relation to organisational performance. Results: From the initial 2,155 studies reviewed, 19 met the inclusion criteria. A wide range of governance principles or guidelines have been considered by the relatively small number of studies included in the analysis. We did find a variety of researchers from mainly developed countries examining the issue, often using case studies as a means to explore the topic. Although the link between board structure and organisational performance has been empirically found, the link between other governance principles and organisational performance remains lacking. Conclusions: Despite an increased interest in good governance principles and guidelines in sport, there is a clear need for both the international sport community and researchers to develop an agreed set of governance principles and language relevant for international, national, provincial/state and local level sport governance organisations. The multidimensionality of the concepts of governance and organisational performance, as well as their interrelationship and the potential positive and negative impacts of implementing governance principles render this need all the more critical