Eivind Å. Skille

Understanding sport clubs as sport policy implementers: a theoretical framework for the analysis of the implementation of central sport policy through local and voluntary sport organizations.

This article aims at developing a theoretical framework for analysing the implementation of sport policy, as it is conducted by voluntary sport clubs at grassroots level. First, three options are presented and discussed: i) a classical top-down implementation model, ii) the governance theory of policy tools, and iii) the Advocacy Coalition Framework. Second, the theoretical perspectives are discussed, and criticized for failing to take sufficiently into account the implementing body of sport policy, namely the voluntary sport clubs. In that respect, an alternative theoretical framework is suggested as a possible solution for analysing the implementation of sport policy; which is the translation perspective of neo-institutionalism. It stresses that, if elements of central policy influence the implementation process at the local level, it does so by the active import, interpretation and implementation of it in the local context. The autonomy of the local sport club in relation to central policy is reinforced by the fact that the activity in sport clubs is mainly done on a voluntary basis.

Competitiveness and health: The work of sport clubs as seen by sport clubs representatives - a Norwegian case study:

This article is study of sport club representatives’ considerations about the work of sport clubs. Sport clubs are first and foremost providers of sport activity. However, when it came to the work of sport clubs, it is discovered that the focus is on competitiveness, but sport clubs were also seen as a vehicle for promotion of ‘social goods’ such as health. Based on documentary analysis, observations and interviews with board members of sport clubs, and with a neo-institutional perspective of translation, this article discusses how local agents combine different institutional elements such as competitiveness and health and assemble them into a wholeness of sport activity. Without claiming to have found the final solution to this complex phenomenon, the article discusses whether health is utilized — or exploited — for legislation purposes only, or whether it can be combined with competitiveness.

State Sport Policy and Voluntary Sport Clubs: the Case of the Norwegian Sports City Program as Social Policy

Abstract This article scrutinizes the relationship between state policy and voluntary sport clubs. While the latter development is to consider sport as social policy, the case of the Norwegian Sports City Program (SCP) was initiated by the state and implemented by voluntary and competitively orientated sport organizations. The research question concerns whether the logic of integration in social policy is compatible with the logic of competition in sport. With new institutionalism as the theoretical framework, and based on a case study of multiple methods, the analysis reveals how processes of isomorphism and translation take place in sport clubs. While the general picture shows that sport clubs resemble the competitive script which seems perceived as immanent in sport, the representatives of the SCP clubs respond to requirements in their local communities and—at the same time—translate the incentives of the state. In so doing, the state policy fits the philosophy of SCP clubs’ social work and these clubs get subsidies for implementing sporting activities with a social profile, but the motive for the work of sport clubs representatives is anchored in the local community and is limited only to a degree influenced by state policy.

The conventions of sport clubs: enabling and constraining the implementation of social goods through sport.

In order to shed light on the possibilities for using sport as a vehicle for the realization of social goods—understood as sport having a wider social role—this paper scrutinizes Norwegian sport clubs. The study is guided by the concept of convention, which refers to individuals’ cognitive structures, and to social structure. Three sport clubs were investigated and three qualitative methods, including document analysis, observation and interviews, were employed. First, in the results section, the main sport convention is identified as being competitiveness. Secondly, it is argued that as a consequence of the main convention for sport there are limited possibilities for the realization of social goods such as health. The possibilities of sports clubs combining the convention of competitiveness with others is discussed, considering the former as substantial for practice and discussing whether the latter is mere rhetoric.

Harmonization of anti-doping work: myth or reality?

In order to examine the implementation of the World Anti Doping Agencys (WADA) policy of global harmonization of anti-doping work, a survey was conducted among the members of the Association of National Anti-Doping Organizations (ANADO). It was revealed that in many countries, the Code was not implemented in accordance with the prescribed policy, with regard to (i) the requirement on national anti-doping organizations (NADOs) having a registered testing pool, (ii) the requirements of availability for testing of the athletes, and (iii) the requirements on sanctions. Only 23 of the 32 NADOs in the sample had a registered testing pool, only 11 NADOs required availability for testing every day, and one in five NADOs did not have any procedures for dealing with athletes who had not provided information about their whereabouts. Further, two in five did not count an incomplete test as a missed test, although this is WADAs definition. WADAs goal is harmonized anti-doping work. The implementation of anti-doping policy is challenging and is to a certain extent underpinned by processes of globalization. Even among NADOs that are considered to be among the global frontrunners in the struggle against doping significant variations exist. There is reason to believe that the global picture is even more diverse. One of WADAs key challenges is to define clearly and in operational terms which rules and sanctions are to be uniform and globally implemented, and which regulations can be open to interpretation depending on economic and socio-cultural contexts.

Sport for all in Scandinavia: sport policy and participation in Norway, Sweden and Denmark

While sport for all is a popular topic in both policy and research, and leaning on the egalitarian policies and culture of Scandinavian countries, this article discusses sport for all within the Scandinavian sport and sport policy context. First, sketching the national political and organizational arrangements of sport in the three Scandinavian countries, the main part of the article discusses the limitations of the possibilities for reaching sport for all through the established institutional arrangements. The main findings are that, although more inclusive in participation terms than many other countries, the sport organizations in Scandinavia are exclusive in at least two ways. During adolescence, most people quit organized sport, and the patterns of participants follow socio-economic division lines favouring the middle class. Second, sport for all is difficult to achieve because other conventions, such as the competitive one, dominate the sport organizations. In sum, the balance between focusing on competition and providing sport for all is extremely difficult, and alternatives are vulnerable since sport subsidies from the state traditionally go to monopolistic umbrella organizations in Scandinavia. Nevertheless, there are indications that in order to get closer to sport for all, differentiation is needed to challenge the hegemonic structures and institutional relationships.

Alternative sport programmes and social inclusion in Norway

This article examines the ‘alternative’ sport and physical activities provided by the Sports City Programme (SCP) in Norway, which are designed to attract more young people (especially inactive young people) to take part in physical activities. In particular, it examines whether these ‘alternative’ sports have been more successful than conventional sports in breaking down class and gender-based barriers to participation. The data indicate that the SCP has proved more attractive to working class young people than conventional sport and there is also some evidence that the SCP has had some success in breaking down gender barriers, especially among working class girls. However, one aspect of the SCP - the open sport hall - has generated a pattern of male dominance and female exclusion which is even more unequal than that which characterizes conventional sport. Within the open sport hall, young people are left largely to organize their own activities and it is argued that the relative absence of adult control in the open sport hall has facilitated the development of a distinctively masculine culture which is dominated by the older, stronger males and which marginalizes young females.

Politicians, bureaucrats and a voluntary sports organization : the power play of Norwegian sport policy in the matter of anti-doping

The aim of this essay is to understand the tripartite relationship between politicians and bureaucrats in the public sector and the leadership in voluntary sport organizations. In so doing, we conducted a case study of a specific incident in the history of sport policy, based on written texts (newspaper articles and books) as well as interviews (personal information) from those involved. With Eliass game models as the theoretical framework, we analyse the case where the General Director of the Department of Sport Policy (DSP) expressed his personal/political opinion about anti-doping in public, and played the game in two figurations. First, the game was played in the sport figuration, where the General Directors competitors were the leaders of the voluntary sport organization (the Norwegian Olympic Committee and Confederation of Sports, NOC). Second, the game moved up a level and was played in a political figuration, where the General Directors competitors were the political leadership in the DSP. While the Director General was used to playing one to one, the combination of a union sport figuration and the formal power in the political figuration led to an outcome that no one had intended, namely the resignation of the Director General.

Towards understanding the potential of sports-based practices for socially vulnerable youth

Many literatures can be found reporting on the association of organized youth sports with a range of positive health-related, educational and social outcomes. Specifically in relation to socially vulnerable youth, sports are viewed as an opportunity to engage young people in a leisure context, not only in terms of participation in sport activities but also across a range of positive alternatives including education, employment and training, community leadership and healthy lifestyles. By using the model of social vulnerability, as conceptualized by Vettenburg, we address the question: how socially vulnerable youth can become less vulnerable by doing sports?

Sport for All? The ‘Sports City Programme’ in Norway

In Norway, as in many other countries, participation in sport decreases during adolescence. Many of those participating in organized sports leave during this period, and the rate of new recruiting during adolescence is almost zero. This pattern is associated with the major attributes of conventional sport for, in many cases, neither its organizational structure nor the activity it provides fit in with the requirements of adolescents. This raises the question of whether it is possible to offer alternative programmes via established organizations which have a primary focus on competitive sport at every level. The central object of this article is to examine this question. More specifically, the essay sets out to examine the opportunities and constraints for alternative programmes to emerge and develop in a situation in which the established structure of the Norwegian Olympic Committee and Confederation of Sports (NOC) is the chosen tool for implementing the Sports City Programme. The aim of this article is to draw the long lines between political negotiation and decision-making, via the tools of implementation, down to the activities fitting – or not fitting – the adolescent individuals’ demands. There are two respects, one practical and one ideological, in which the Sports City Programme contrasts with most other activities in Norwegian sports. Firstly, the government is seeking stronger control over public funding of sport and, as a part of this, is demanding more systematic monitoring of the impact of the programme. Secondly, the government has identified a need for the provision of alternative activities as it recognizes that the existing pattern of sporting provision is not meeting the target of ‘sport for all’. The understanding of ‘alternative sports’ (as compared to ‘ordinary’, ‘mainstream’, ‘traditional’ or conventional sports) draws on research both from the Norwegian context and on worldwide trends, and reflects the growing understanding of the individualization of the lifestyles of young people. Alternative sports are relatively loosely structured activities which are largely controlled by the participants themselves and which allow the participants to engage freely on their own terms, often with low economic costs (but not always) and flexible time schedules. These activities stand outside any formal training regime, and are often based on young people’s reactions against the highly structured character of adult-controlled organized sports.