R.H.A. Hoekman

Sport clubs in Europe: A cross-national comparative perspective

​This book presents an up-to-date portrait of the characteristics of sport clubs in various European countries and their role in society and the national sport system. Furthermore, it offers a cross-national comparative perspective of sport clubs in twenty European countries. Containing both empirical data and information on the political and historical backgrounds of sport clubs, the book is organized in three parts. First, the authors provide an overview of the theoretical approach of the book and a description of the framework used for the country chapters. Second, the country chapters, written by experts within the field, provide a systematic overview of the available information on sport clubs in each country. These chapters are structured to answer the following questions: (1) What is the position of sport clubs within the national sport structure? (2) Which role do they fulfil in policy and society? (3) What are their basic characteristics and what factors influence the development of sport clubs? The book is concluded with a systematic comparison of the participating countries with the purpose of forging a clear link between the functioning of policy systems, observed problems, and possible solutions, and with a future research agenda on sport clubs. In an era of increased collaboration between European states, sport provides a natural vehicle through which to compare changes in culture, economics, and policy across nations. Sport Clubs in Europe will appeal to scholars of nonprofit management, sports management and sports sociology as well as administrators and policy makers in the international sports community.

Measuring sports participation in the Netherlands: The need to go beyond guidelines

Abstract Introduction: Sport is a social category. What people label as sport, varies historically and across cultures. That makes it difficult to compare outcomes of sports participation research. In this article, we will draw out how and to what extent methodological differences have influenced outcomes of Dutch sports participation surveys. In addition, we will go into attempts to enhance comparability between surveys by issuing a Guideline for Sports participation Research (GSR). Methods: secondary analyses were performed on different sports participation surveys in the Netherlands. In addition, we report on two specific case studies to describe why outcomes of sports participation research differ between surveys, even if they appear to use similar questions. Also we go into the experiences with the GSR. Results: the Netherlands are characterized by a high sports participation rate. Incomparability of sport research appear to stem from three different aspects: (1) sampling and fieldwork, (2) question formulation and (3) analysis procedures. It was found that sports participa-tion was positively correlated with response, meaning that social surveys generally overestimate sports participation rates. Experiences with the GSR learn that in order to enhance our understanding of sports participation, it is simply not enough to issue guidelines on how to conduct the research. There is a clear need for more coordinated research.

A landscape of sport facilities in the Netherlands.

This article explores the geographical distribution of sport facilities in the Netherlands and evaluates the supply and proximity of such facilities in relation to area level deprivation and urbanity. In today’s context of financial austerity, many municipalities must critically assess their spending on sport provision. Most government funding to sports goes to construction and maintenance of sport facilities, so there is an increasing need for information and indicators by which to gauge the adequacy of such facilities. The current study draws on sports place theory and the deprivation amplification model to examine the presence, variety and proximity of sport facilities in the Netherlands as a whole and according to area level deprivation and urbanity. Data were provided by the Sport Facility Monitor, a national dataset offering geographical information on (nearly) all sport facilities in the Netherlands. These data were linked with population statistics from Statistics Netherlands to allow spatial analyses. Our results indicate that by assessing the distribution of sport facilities in a structured way, relevant information can be obtained for sport facility planning and sport participation policy. Furthermore, our results show that certain standard sport facilities are fairly evenly distributed throughout the Netherlands, irrespective of the local population size. For more specialised facilities, however, higher population thresholds appear to be required. We conclude that, even though there are inequalities in the distribution of sport facilities, the Netherlands overall provides a sufficiently dense sport infrastructure with various types of facilities offered in close proximity to most inhabitants.

Sport participation and the social and physical environment: Explaining differences between urban and rural areas in the Netherlands

Abstract In this study, we investigated the intensity of sport participation in the Netherlands comparing urban and rural areas. Using a socio-ecological theoretical model, we focussed on the extent to which the rural–urban divide in sport participation is explained by micro-level (socio-demographics), meso-level (safety and socio-economic status of neighbourhoods) and exo-level (variety and proximity of sport facilities) characteristics. We tested our theoretical expectations using representative data on 17,910 Dutch inhabitants between 6 and 79 years of age. Our study reconfirmed the importance of individual socio-demographics (micro-level), such as age, education and household income for sports participation. Furthermore, our results showed that weekly sport participation was more common in rural than in urban areas. This rural–urban divide in sport participation especially was attributed to social environmental factors (meso-level); physical conditions of the environment provided no explanation. Our findings should, however, not be taken as a denial of the importance of the physical environment (exo-level). This study was conducted in the Netherlands, a country with a high density, abundant sport facilities and a supportive sport climate. Moreover, variety of sport facilities nearby proved significant in explaining an individual’s monthly sport participation. To conclude, this study enhances our understanding of the rural–urban divide in sport participation and highlights the importance of especially meso-level features in addition to the socio-demographics. It thus may inform policymakers to critically assess sport promotion policies.

A Cross-National Comparative Perspective on Sport Clubs in Europe

The preceding 20 chapters have presented national perspectives on sport clubs based on quantitative and descriptive information on the origin of sport clubs, the position of sport clubs within policy and society, and characteristics of sport clubs. In this chapter we offer a cross-national comparison based on the multilevel framework that served as a guideline for the authors for their country chapters. From a macro perspective we pay in this comparison attention to the origin and development of sport clubs and the way sport clubs are embedded in the national sport system, and within policy and society. From a meso perspective we illustrate differences and similarities in the characteristics of sport clubs and identify the main bottlenecks and challenges of sport clubs in the context of the current developments in modern sports and society. Finally, we consider trends and developments and provide a future perspective on sport clubs in Europe and identify knowledge gaps and avenues for future research.

Sport Clubs in The Netherlands

The Netherlands are a prosperous country. Compared to other countries wage differences and social inequality are low, and the standards for education, health, safety and security are high. Furthermore, with approximately 500 inhabitants per square kilometre it is dense populated. The culture of the Dutch is characterised by co-operation and making compromises rather than emphasising differences. With regard to sport these conditions can be considered favourable, as higher income and educational levels are often associated with higher rates of sport participation. Furthermore, the willingness to co-operate and looking for shared interests are essential for the existence of sport clubs with their voluntary staff. Finally, the high population density ensures limited distances to sport facilities and sport clubs.

From welfare state to participation society? Austerity measures and local sport policy in the Netherlands

ABSTRACT This study investigates whether the shift from welfare state to participation society in the context of austerity in the Netherlands has had consequences for local sport policy. The central research questions are (1) do municipal sport budgets show evidence of a move away from classical welfare state values towards a participation society? and (2) do changes in local sport policy suggest a move away from classical welfare state values towards a participation society? First, we analysed spending on sport across all Dutch municipalities. Second, we quantitatively and qualitatively analysed 104 municipal coalition agreements for the 2014–2018 governing period. The approach used was interpretive, focusing on dominant or hegemonic discourses or storylines within local sport policy. It shows that Local sport policy in the Netherlands still hinges strongly on welfare state values and has not yet been hit by serious austerity measures. We found no evidence of a neoliberal slant or an emphasis on free-market and private entrepreneurship. Rather, the accent is on an expanded role for voluntary sport clubs (VSCs) in operating sport facilities and as policy implementer. We conclude that the shift in narrative from classical welfare state to participation society has, as yet, had limited effect on local sport policy.

The Netherlands: How the interplay between federations and government helps to build a sporting nation

In this chapter, we will highlight the current state of affairs as well as the historical background of the way in which sport is governed in the Netherlands. In order to do so, we will focus on the role of the national government, the sports clubs and sport federations and the local governments. We will show that sport in the Netherlands very much forms a showcase for the Dutch political-economy tradition of coalitions and of responsibilities and initiatives that are shared between public and private organisations. We will argue that that system has been important in establishing a sound and cost-effective sporting infrastructure, perhaps favouring grassroots sport whilst not being blind to the significance of elite sports. We will also, however, go into the threats to the system, coming from the influx of commercial forces and the need to make difficult choices when it comes to elite sports.

Providing for the rich? The effect of public investments in sport on sport (club) participation of vulnerable youth and adults

Abstract The relevance of local sport policy to achieve ‘sport for all’ has been widely recognized. Public spending on sport is seen necessary to keep sport affordable, while specific policy programs are aimed to include groups that lag behind in sport participation. This paper explores the impact of local government’s sport expenditures on sport (club) participation and more particularly its impact on sport (club) participation differences between higher and lower socio-economic positions, in the Netherlands. Bronfenbrenner’s socio-ecological model is used as a theoretical starting point for our analyses and we performed multiple 3-level logistic regression analyses. The analyses were conducted separately for youth and adults using information from a large national population survey enriched with secondary data on municipal sport expenditures and policy programs. Our findings suggest that the effect of sport policy is most substantial for youth sport club participation. For adults, sport participation tends to be negatively associated with municipal sport expenditures and policy programs. With regard to the impact of sport policy on participation differences between higher and lower socio-economic positions, we find that for youth higher municipal sport expenditure is associated with smaller sport club participation differences between higher and lower socio-economic groups. Overall, our results imply that in the Netherlands municipal sport policy does matter, although primarily for youth, in addition to the social environment and socio-economic position of individuals. With these results our study contributes to an evidence-base for sport policy and to the current body of knowledge on explaining differences in sport participation.