Josep Crespo Hervás

The importance of developing the entrepreneurial capacities in sport sciences university students

ABSTRACT Entrepreneurship in the sports sector plays a key role in the increasing demand for sports professionals that possess entrepreneurial skills. Universities may help build the skills of sports science graduates by adopting educational policies to promote entrepreneurship. However, the capabilities that must be achieved to this end, and other factors, are unclear. Therefore, the aim of this study is to understand what perceived capabilities, internal factors (entrepreneurial courses), and external factors (environment) influence entrepreneurial intentions of students of physical activity and sport sciences. To achieve these goals, we analysed a sample of undergraduate and postgraduate students from the University of Valencia (n = 578). The results indicated that the perceived entrepreneurial capacity to create an enterprise and the perceived entrepreneurial capacity to become an entrepreneur are two explanatory variables of intentions for these students. In addition, statistically significant differences were noted between the entrepreneurship training groups. Entrepreneurial capacities to create enterprises and become entrepreneurs should be promoted to encourage the entrepreneurial spirit among students of physical activity and sport sciences. Therefore, university education as a component of policies to promote entrepreneurship will increase the number of entrepreneurs in the sports industry.

Using a brief questionnaire to assess the overall perceptions of basketball spectators

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is twofold. The first aim is to obtain a valid and reliable instrument for the holistic analysis of sporting events, and the second is to test a causal model in which future intentions depend on spectators’ perceptions of quality, satisfaction, and value of these events. Design/methodology/approach – A total of 493 spectators of a professional basketball team in the Spanish ACB league responded to a survey to measure the overall performance of the sporting event service. Exploratory factor analysis and further confirmatory factor analysis using structural equation models provides the methodology for testing the reliability and validity of the instrument. Findings – The scales have adequate reliability and validity indices. The path model explains 35.8 percent of the variance in future intentions, 54.0 percent in perceived value, and 49.5 percent in spectators’ satisfaction. Quality proves a better predictor of perceived value than satisfaction. Both perceived value and ...

Sports university education and entrepreneurial intentions: A comparison between Spain and Lithuania

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to understand how the nationality and the sport education system could affect the entrepreneurial intentions (EI) of undergraduate sport science students in two different countries. Design/methodology/approach A total of 249 undergraduate sport sciences (SS) students from Spain and Lithuania were analysed. The EI questioner questionnaire by Linan and Chen (2009) was used to compile the data during the 2016-2017 academic year. Findings There are significant differences between the sport science students of Spain and Lithuania. The Lithuanian students have significantly higher means in the variables of EI, perceived behaviour control and professional attraction. Moreover, the variables that predict EI are different, and certain path coefficients of the variables are also significantly different. Research limitations/implications The sample originates from one university in each country; therefore, these results may not be generalisable to the entire population. Practical implications The SS degrees in Lithuania and Spain should follow different educational policies with the objective of fostering EI and increasing the number of entrepreneurs. Social implications Creating adequate educational policies to foster entrepreneurship in sports across countries could improve the number of entrepreneurs in the sports sectors; thus, the youth unemployment rate will decrease. Originality/value There has been no previous research that analyses the EI of sport science students across contexts through the theory of planned behaviour. Moreover, there are no studies that compare the EI of university students between Spain (Western Europe) and Lithuania (Eastern Europe).