Siegfried Nagel

PROFESSIONAL CAREERS OF THE GERMAN OLYMPIC ATHLETES

Successful careers in top-performance sports demand large amounts of time and personal resources and normally they take a course parallel to the period of educational and professional qualification. Regarding careers of former top-performance athletes, the question arises as to how far the engagement in top-performance sports has an influence on the professional career path. This article aims to categorize the professional careers of top-performance athletes and to connect them with the subjective ratings of the respondents. This will be carried out by means of objective life-course data of former Olympic athletes. The theoretical approach is based on recent conceptions of life-course research and of professional socialization research. In a postal inquiry of 616 successful German Olympic athletes (male and female) the sports and professional careers were recorded retrospectively. The results show that former top-performance athletes generally have higher educational qualifications and professional positions than the German population. But as there are big differences with regard to the individual career patterns, a typology of professional careers seems to be practical. For that purpose, a classification typology of professional careers was developed using cluster analysis. The engagement in sports rather favours the professional career in its course.

Changes in German sport participation: Historical trends in individual sports

Sport has become a highly differentiated social phenomenon in recent years. Changes in society, such as individualization, the growing significance of the health and body culture, and changing values, are considered to be generative mechanisms for increasing social importance and the differentiation of modern sport. Although discussions in sport sociology attribute the changes observed in recent decades of sport participation to a socially determined differentiation of sport, this premise has hardly ever been empirically tested. The present study examines to what extent the postulated developments in sport can be observed on the micro level of those engaging in sport, by examining sport behaviour from a contemporary historical perspective. Based on a life-course approach to research, a total of 1739 over 50-year-olds in Germany were asked about their sport participation as part of a retrospective longitudinal study. Results show that the increasing differentiation of sport can be documented by more diversified forms of individual sport careers. During a 30-year observation period the popularity of competitive sport decreased and the variety of ways in which sport was organized increased. A differentiated analysis based on examining three birth cohorts showed that the reported change in sport participation can be attributed to age, cohort and period effects. In addition, the present study examines how specific events in contemporary history are reflected in individual sporting careers. Sport careers in Chemnitz (Eastern Germany) and Braunschweig (Western Germany) differed before German reunification, but these differences have evened out after the political changes and the process of transformation.

Who will volunteer? Analysing individual and structural factors of volunteering in Swiss sports clubs

Abstract This article analyses the conditions influencing volunteering in sports clubs. It focuses not only on individual characteristics of volunteers but also on the corresponding structural conditions of sports clubs. It proposes a model of voluntary work in sports clubs based on economic behaviour theory. The influences of both the individual and context levels on the decision to engage in voluntary work are estimated in different multilevel models. Results of these multilevel analyses indicate that volunteering is not just an outcome of individual characteristics such as lower workloads, higher income, children belonging to the sports club, longer club memberships, or a strong commitment to the club. It is also influenced by club-specific structural conditions; volunteering is more probable in rural sports clubs whereas growth-oriented goals in clubs have a destabilising effect.

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.

Goals of sports clubs

Abstract Sports clubs do not strive for maximum profit. They aim to offer their members the opportunity to practise sport and to pass leisure time actively. This paper analyses the goals of sports clubs from the perspective of the theory of action. The collective goals of the club are developed from the members’ interests. The methodological approach applied in the study is a combination of a quantitative survey and case studies. Six goal-profiles have been identified based on the three central goals of sports clubs, namely “competitive sports”, “mass sports” and “sociability”: (1) clubs focusing on sociability, (2) clubs focusing on mass sports and sociability, (3) clubs focusing on mass sports, (4) clubs focusing on competitive and mass sports, (5) clubs focusing on competitive sports and (6) clubs focusing on manifold goals. It has been found out that clubs focusing on mass sports tend to take up new sports activities and to employ paid employees more often than the clubs focusing on competitive sports and sociability. Beyond that, it was confirmed that a correspondence between club goals and the interests of individual club members is a crucial factor for the members’ commitments.

Professionalisation of sport federations – a multi-level framework for analysing forms, causes and consequences

Research question: International and national sport federations as well as their member organisations are key actors within the sport system and have a wide range of relationships outside the sport system (e.g. with the state, sponsors, and the media). They are currently facing major challenges such as growing competition in top-level sports, democratisation of sports with ‘sports for all’ and sports as the answer to social problems. In this context, professionalising sport organisations seems to be an appropriate strategy to face these challenges and current problems. We define the professionalisation of sport organisations as an organisational process of transformation leading towards organisational rationalisation, efficiency and business-like management. This has led to a profound organisational change, particularly within sport federations, characterised by the strengthening of institutional management (managerialism) and the implementation of efficiency-based management instruments and paid staff. Research methods: The goal of this article is to review the current international literature and establish a global understanding of and theoretical framework for analysing why and how sport organisations professionalise and what consequences this may have. Results and findings: Our multi-level approach based on the social theory of action integrates the current concepts for analysing professionalisation in sport federations. We specify the framework for the following research perspectives: (1) forms, (2) causes and (3) consequences, and discuss the reciprocal relations between sport federations and their member organisations in this context. Implications: Finally, we work out a research agenda and derive general methodological consequences for the investigation of professionalisation processes in sport organisations.

Sports participation during the life course

Abstract For many European nations, lifelong sports participation is an intrinsic aspect of sport policy. Nonetheless, very few differentiated studies have examined how participation in sport changes over the lifespan. Differences in individual life courses and in socio-historical framing conditions would suggest a great variety of different courses. It is necessary then to ask how participation can be described over the life course, and to what extent people’s previous experience of sport influences the decision to enter, return to or exit participation in sport. In a retrospective longitudinal study based on a life-course approach to research, a total of 1,739 over 50 year olds were asked about their participation in sport. Results indicate that individual courses of sports participation can be described by alternations between active sport episodes and episodes of inactivity. The longer a person remains in a specific episode, the lower the probability of either taking up or giving up a sport. Nonetheless, cohort effects indicate that effects of contemporary historical changes on sports participation overlay the effects of lifetime dependencies, and that in general, sport policy programmes have a relatively strong impact on sport careers in middle adulthood.

Does context matter? Analysing structural and individual factors of member commitment in sport clubs

Abstract This article addresses factors that infl uence member commitment in sport clubs. Based on the theory of social action and the economic behaviour theory, it focuses not only on individual characteristics of club members but also on the corresponding structural conditions of sport clubs. Accordingly, a multilevel framework is developed for explaining member commitment in sport clubs. Different multilevel models were estimated in order to analyse the infl uences of both the individual and corresponding context level in a sample of n = 1,699 members of 42 Swiss and German sport clubs. The multilevel analysis permitted an adequate handling of hierarchically structured data. Results of these multilevel analyses indicated that the commitment of members is not just an outcome of individual characteristics such as strong identification with their club, positively perceived (collective) solidarity, satisfaction with their sport club, or voluntary engagement. It is also determined by club-specific structural conditions: commitment proves to be more probable in rural sport clubs and clubs that explicitly support sociability. Furthermore, cross-level effects in relation to member commitment were also found between the context variable sociability and the individual variable identification.

Expectation-based types of volunteers in Swiss sports clubs

Volunteer research in sports clubs has paid hardly any attention to the individual expectations even though matching conditions to the specific volunteers expectations represents a major management challenge. This article presents a person-oriented approach to the expectation profiles of volunteers that delivers the basis for identifying different volunteer segments. The approach assumes explicitly that volunteers in sports clubs develop specific expectations regarding their working conditions. These expectations were determined in a sample of 441 members of 45 selected sports clubs. Proximately, a cluster analysis revealed that volunteers vary in their expectations regarding voluntary work. Four different types of volunteers could be identified: (1) recognition seekers, (2) material incentive seekers, (3) participation and communication seekers, and (4) support seekers. These “expectation-based volunteer types” could also be characterized in socioeconomic, membership-related, and volunteer-work-related terms. These types could serve as a basis for designing specific voluntary work conditions in sports clubs.

Akteurtheoretische Analyse der Sportvereinsentwicklung

ZusammenfassungenBei einem Teil der Sportvereine ist derzeit eine Reihe von Veränderungstendenzen zu beobachten. Das Sportangebot erfährt eine zunehmende Ausdifferenzierung und die Vereinsarbeit wird nicht mehr ausschließlich durch das ehrenamtliche Engagement der Mitglieder, sondern teilweise auch von bezahlten Mitarbeitern getragen. Diese und andere Entwicklungstendenzen betreffen jedoch nicht alle Sportvereine. Wie kommt es zu strukturellen Veränderungen in Sportvereinen? Welche Auswirkungen haben veränderte Vereinsstrukturen (z. B. die Verberuflichung) auf die Handlungsorientierungen (z. B. die Engagementbereitschaft) der Mitglieder? Zur Beantwortung dieser beiden zentralen Fragestellungen wird nach der Aufarbeitung des aktuellen Forschungsstandes ein akteurtheoretischer Bezugsrahmen entworfen, der auf der strukturell-individualistischen Sozialtheorie basiert. Im Gegensatz zu vorliegenden Ansätzen betrachtet das Mehr-Ebenen-Modell zur Analyse der Sportvereinsentwicklung auch individuelle Akteure und ihre Bedeutung für strukturelle Veränderungen in Sportvereinen. Gleichzeitig richtet es den Blick auf die Folgen struktureller Veränderungen für das Handeln der Vereinsmitglieder. Insbesondere mit Blick auf die empirische Analyse wird das komplexe Phänomen Sportvereinsentwicklung anschließend auf Teilfragestellungen reduziert und ein spezifischer methodischer Ansatz entwickelt. Dieser zeichnet sich vor allem durch die Verknüpfung von Mitglieder- und Vereinsdaten im Rahmen typenbezogener Fallstudien aus.SummariesCurrently, several changing trends can be observed in some sports clubs. The sport activities offered by the clubs are increasingly differentiated and the clubs’ services are no longer exclusively carried by the club members on a honorary basis but also to a certain extent by paid employees. However, these and other developmental trends do not concern all sports clubs. How do structural changes in sports clubs take place? What are the effects of changed club structures (e. g. professionalisation) on their members’ action orientations (e.g. the commitment)? To give an answer to these two central questions, the current state of research is initially presented and then an actor-theoretical frame of reference is developed which is based on the structural-individualistic social theory. Unlike available approaches, the multi-level-model for the analysis of the development of sports clubs also considers individual actors and their significance for structural changes in the clubs. At the same time this model focuses on the consequences of structural changes for the actions of the club members. Especially with regard to the empirical analysis, the complex phenomenon of the development of sports clubs is subsequently reduced to partial questions and a specific methodical approach is developed. This approach is primarily characterised by the combination of member and club data in the framework of type-related case studies.RésumésPour une partie des associations sportives, on peut observer actuellement un certain nombre de tendances de changement. L’offre sportive est de plus en plus différenciée, et le travail associatif n’est plus assuré exclusivement grâce à l’engagement bénévole mais aussi par des collaborateurs rémunérés. Ces tendances de changement (et d’autres encore) ne concernent cependant pas toutes les associations sportives. Comment se produisent alors des change-ments structurels au sein d’associations sportives ? Et quels effets ont-ils sur les dispositions des membres (par exemple la professionnalisation sur la disposition à s’investir) ? Afin de répondre à ces deux questions centrales, nous allons proposer (après avoir présenté l’état ac-tuel de la recherche) un cadre se référant à la théorie des acteurs, basé sur la théorie sociale structurelle-individualiste. A l’opposé d’autres approches, le modèle d’échelles plurielles ap-pliqué à l’analyse de l’évolution des associations sportives prend également en considération les acteurs individuels et leur importance pour des changements structurels. En même temps, il oriente le regard vers les conséquences de changements structurels pour les manières d’agir des adhérents. En prenant notamment appui sur l’analyse empirique, le phénomène complexe de l’évolution des associations sportives sera ensuite réduit à des interrogations partielles, et une démarche méthodique spécifique sera développée. Celle-ci repose notamment sur la mise en rapport de données sur les membres et sur les associations dans le cade d’études de cas.