Laura Misener

Creating community networks: Can sporting events offer meaningful sources of social capital?

Hosting sporting events has emerged as a means for cities to reposition themselves in an increasingly competitive global marketplace. Despite the widespread use of sporting events in urban development, the degree to which the local community fits into the plans of a citys pro-growth agenda has been questioned. None the less, events may provide opportunities for community development. Thus, this paper explores the potential that the hosting of sporting events has for the creation of community networks. Following an overview of sporting events and a discussion of forms of capital, we suggest that the construct of social capital might offer an important theoretical paradigm for understanding how sporting events can be used to build community networks and facilitate improved social relations.

Evaluating sport development outcomes: the case of a medium-sized international sport event

Research question: This study evaluates sport development outcomes of a medium-sized, one-off, international sport event, while also exploring any strategies and tactics that were implemented with the intention to increase participation or other sport development outcomes. The event under investigation is the 2005 Pan American Junior Athletics Championships. Research method: Retrospective perceptions of sport development outcomes were explored using event documents, 21 semistructured interviews with key stakeholders, and media coverage of the event. Results and Findings: The coaching clinic and the new facility were the only two intended tactics expected to intentionally trigger increases in sport participation and development. The sport facility seemed to have been successful, the coaching clinic was not. All other perceived outcomes, both positive and negative were unintended, and their underlying processes are unclear. Partnerships and relationships were established, but were not activated to serve sport development. It was assumed that ‘awareness,’ the new facility, and positive media coverage would automatically attract new participants. There is some evidence to support the ‘demonstration effect’ for those already involved in the sport, but not for new sport participation. A number of missed opportunities to build sport participation were retrospectively identified. Participation effects in the absence of leveraging are likely to be negligible. Implications: Formulation and implementation of strategies and tactics, and measurements need to be put into place from the outset of an event. This will enable the efficacy of strategies and tactics to be benchmarked and assessed. Future research should focus on the underlying processes, rather than just the impacts and outcomes.

Social Responsibility and the Competitive Bid Process for Major Sporting Events

The 2016 Summer Olympic Games1 bids were selected as a case study to explore how the focus on social responsibility (CSR) and community development (CD) differs in traditional versus nontraditional bid cities. We employed a media framing methodology to examine how the bids were represented through media and articulated by various stakeholders. Of specific interest was the finding that the discourse surrounding the Rio de Janeiro bid put a greater focus on the capability of sport to reach out to disadvantaged populations and create balance within the global economy. The results from this study will provide insights into how the global media has framed megaevent bids from nontraditional cities, and the social and economic benefits event proponents argue can be accrued from hosting.

A Media Frames Analysis of the Legacy Discourse for the 2010 Winter Paralympic Games

The media play a particularly important role in shaping audiences’ perceptions and actively create the frames of reference that public readers and viewers use to interpret and discuss particular ideas, events, and politics (Entman, 2007). A frames analysis of local and national print media was utilized to examine the framing of “legacies” around the 2010 Vancouver Winter Paralympic Games. The analysis shows that despite the rhetoric from the host committee and the Canadian Paralympic Committee about the increased media attention of these Paralympic Games, very little attention was given to legacy concepts despite an increasing discourse about its importance for all types of events. The framing of Paralympic legacy centered upon “othering” athletes with a disability through the supercrip narrative, highlighting potential opportunities for legacy and focusing on tangible economic developments. These issues do not represent a broadening of the scope of the legacy of the Paralympic Games and, in fact, the critical role of the media in reframing the discourse about disability and accessibility was largely absent from the media frames.

Developing local citizenship through sporting events: balancing community involvement and tourism development.

Cities throughout the world have struggled to remain competitive in an era of globalisation and devolution. As a result, many have turned to tourism-related activities, such as hosting sporting events or mega-events, as part of development strategies (Hall, 1992). Within this context, questions of how these short-lived events affect resident and nonresident identities have been raised. In essence, questions of citizenship, community, and identity have become central with the on-going use of itinerant tourism strategies. Lepofsky and Fraser (2003) reasoned that community citizenship can no longer be viewed as a static concept, where rights to local citizenship are guaranteed by virtue of residential status. They propose the notion of flexible citizenship, where residents and nonresidents alike determine their level of citizenship by their ability to negotiate their contributions within the community. This paper uses this conceptualisation of citizenship to explore how community involvement in the hosting of sporting events – by organising, watching, or participating in an event – affects notions of community citizenship, and how these newly articulated citizenships affect tourism development.

The elusive “trickle-down effect” of sport events: assumptions and missed opportunities

The claimed benefits of sport events on sport participation rely on an asserted “trickle-down effect”. There is a lack of empirical evidence that events can trigger increased physical activity and sport participation, and research has focused on large-scale events. This paper compares two previously hosted medium-sized sport events, and examines the degree to which local (sport) organizations and local organizing committees (LOC) endeavoured to leverage each sport event for sport participation purposes. Document analysis and semi-structured interviews revealed overarching assumptions that the events in and of themselves were sufficient to engender participation outcomes. Strategies for leveraging were absent, and only a few tactics were identified. Leverage could come from augmented exposure via amplified media, celebrations, further demonstrations of the sport, and teaching about the sport. A key constraint is identifying who should be responsible for implementing and executing the leveraging strategy and tactics. The findings inform various stakeholders – event organizers, sport organizations, and local communities, to find ways to use events as a lever for sport participation by making it a part of their overall marketing efforts.

Examining the integration of sport and health promotion: partnership or paradox?

ABSTRACT Cross-sector partnerships between public health agencies and non-profit sport organisations may offer an effective approach to health promotion given their mutual interest in facilitating opportunities for individual and community well-being. The study draws on conceptual framing from the public non-profit partnership literature to understand the potential role of sport organisations in health promotion partnerships and the factors associated with engaging these cross-sector partners. The research involves a case study of a local, cross-sector partnership for health promotion aimed at increasing physical activity through strategic marketing campaigns. Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews with representatives from partner organisations in the sport sector and members of the partnership executive committee, as well as active-member participant observation. The results suggest that despite congruent organisational priorities and policy imperatives that link sport and health-based organisations, there was evidence of misalignment in the partners’ capacity to collaborate. There was also notable incongruence in the discourses related to sport and health and the norms and values underpinning the partnership of public health and non-profit community sport. The implications of the research suggest that despite higher-order policy agendas emphasising partnerships as a means to advance health outcomes, there are significant constraints in local capacity for collaboration to meet these policy goals.

Elite athletes or superstars? Media representation of para-athletes at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games

Abstract This article offers a discourse analysis of media representations of para-athletes before, during and post the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games in print and online sources, drawing on the lens of critical disability theory. We consider the importance of the media–sport cultural complex in influencing public attitudes towards disability. We conclude that whilst the importance of discursive change cannot be underestimated at the level of the media agenda, change at the level of lived experience will only flow from carefully designed and executed political and policy initiatives rather than directly from changes in the media presentation or visibility of individual athletes.

Creating sport participation from sport events: making it happen

ABSTRACT Sport participation is a claimed benefit of elite sport events, but the facts do not support that claim, and means to capitalise upon events in order to build participation have yet to be developed. Through a combination of dialectical inquiry, brainstorming, and nominal group, 12 expert panellists were invited to consider the challenges, opportunities, and prospects of leveraging sport events to enhance sport participation at local levels. The model consists of three elements: (1) the hierarchical nature of the context (culture; opinions and attitudes; systems and structures), (2) three types of organisations with a stake in the leveraging process (event, sport, and non-sport entities), and (3) resources needed (human, physical, and knowledge). The centre reflects the core, which is sport participation. A series of strategic questions are presented to guide formulation and implementation of strategies and tactics for leveraging sport events to build sport participation. The findings are consistent with sport development outcomes from the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games. It is concluded that sport events can be leveraged to enhance sport participation if the necessary alliances among sport organisations, event organisers and non-sport stakeholders are forged to integrate each event into the marketing mix of sport organisations. It is also noted that potential barriers to enhanced participation need to be addressed, particularly lack of available capacity to absorb new participants, crowding out of local participation by the event, and the disincentives resulting from elite performances that seem outside the reach of aspiring participants.

Understanding Urban Development Through a Sport Events Portfolio: A Case Study of London, Ontario

This study investigates the underdeveloped area of event portfolios in an attempt to fill a gap in the existing literature. This research article examines strategic positioning of events and the critical role they play in local development. To understand this, a case study design was performed in a medium-sized city in Canada. The purpose of the study was to determine how the city has used sport events for broader local development and enhancement of the civic brand. Interviews with local city actors and document analyses were used to further understand the strategies within the community. The results show that although a city may possess the necessary portfolio components as per Ziakas & Costa (2011), it is essential that there is a strategy that bridges the pieces of the portfolio for sustainable development. Consequently, we found that sequencing, or the strategic timing of events and political grounds, played a crucial role in this process.