National Sport Organizations Research Articles

Knowledge sharing among coaches: expert power and social cognitive theory perspectives

ABSTRACT Research question Knowledge sharing among coaches plays a crucial role in learning. Although knowledge sharing is a significant management issue for national sport organisations (NSOs) and sport clubs, there is a lack of understanding of how coaches of one organisation share knowledge with coaches of another. To assist such understanding, our study examined knowledge sharing between NSO coaches (i.e. national team coaches) and local coaches (i.e. local club team coaches certified by a national organisation) in Japan by drawing on expert power and social cognitive theory. This study explored the following questions: How does the expert power of NSO coaches affect knowledge sharing among local coaches? How do local coaches’ trust and self-efficacy affect knowledge-sharing? Research methods We administered a survey to local sports coaches in Japan. Data were collected from 295 local coaches and analysed using structural equation modelling. Results and findings Results supported a direct association between expert power and local coaches’ intention to share knowledge. In addition, this relationship was mediated by coaches’ cognition-based trust and knowledge-sharing self-efficacy. Implications Our findings illuminate the knowledge diffusion perspective, which indicates that interactions between NSO and local coaches propagate knowledge among local coaches.

Director Selection: Drivers for the Adoption and Design of Nomination Committees by New Zealand National Sport Organizations

Nomination committees (NCs) are a critical, yet under-researched, part of the good governance equation. This study contributes to baseline knowledge of NC adoption and design. Underpinned by critical realism, four national sports organization case studies explain the “why” and “how” of NC adoption through a multitheoretical lens. Change strategies are identified using Hampel et al.’s mechanisms (symbolic, relational, and material) approach to institutional (creation) work outcomes. Archer’s morphogenetic cycle helps to demonstrate the interplay between structure, culture, and agency in achieving the change with the study, providing a timely reminder of the power of morphostasis (inertia). The results are important for future NC design to better inform national sport organization NCs’ structures and processes (including case-appropriate balance between community and corporate logics in national sport organization governance re-configurations) and aid future evaluations of NC effectiveness. A critical realism multitheoretical and multicase approach is modeled for future sport management studies.

Elite Taekwondo Athletes: The Relationship among Sport Psychology, Mental Health, and the National Sport Organization

This study explored the perceptions of retired elite Canadian Taekwondo athletes regarding their National Sport Organization’s responsibilities for reporting, managing, and preventing athletes’ mental health issues. Using qualitative interviews and a situational analysis of the data, results show that the majority of those interviewed in this study struggled with a mental health issue while competing at an elite level, and all the participants reported seeing a teammate struggle, at one time or another, with a mental health issue. Participants in this study identified three major areas in which Taekwondo Canada can help athletes with mental health issues: 1) providing education to coaches and athletes; 2) providing a reporting structure that is independent and confidential, and 3) providing greater access to clinical psychologists on an ongoing basis.

Structure and Organization of Sport for People With Intellectual Disabilities Across Europe.

Opportunities to participate and compete in sports for athletes with intellectual disability (ID) have increased; however, this group still encounters limitations in accessing a comprehensive range of sports. This study addressed the current knowledge on how sport for people with ID is organized and the relationships between the major sport organizations for people with ID across 10 European countries. The participants were 29 national sport organizations for people with ID. Data were collected using semistructured interviews with representatives from the key organizations and analyzed thematically. From the results, two major themes emerged: (a)connection and networking between sport organizations and (b)organizational landscape of each nation (i.e.,ID, multidisability, or mainstream). The results of this study contribute to understanding how sport for people with ID is organized across the participating nations, demonstrating different models of development and examples of good practice.

The Learner-Centered Curriculum: Is it the Missing Piece in Coaching Programs?

Sports federations and national sports organizations worldwide are responsible for coaching education programs. While notable progress has been made to improve the quality of coaching in different countries over the past two decades, the literature still highlights limitations in coach education programs regarding the achievement of meaningful learning. A learner-centered perspective that promotes ongoing development is suggested instead of a traditional instructional approach to overcome this. However, shifting to adopting a learner-centered curriculum remains a challenge. Although evidence of the paradigm shift exists within the microcontext of teaching and learning, researchers highlight the difficulty of application of a learner-centered culture in coach education. This article examines the traditional curriculum’s conception and design, the need for restructuring, and the principles of learner-centered curricular design. Additionally, it provides practical implications to assist sports organizations in creating a learner-centered curriculum.

Transgender athletes and Canadian sport policy: a story of stigma and precarity

ABSTRACT Policy can serve as a form of institutionalised stigma, working to create and maintain discrimination against groups of people. Some Canadian National Sport Organizations (NSOs) have developed policies that address transgender inclusion within sport. However, where these policies exist, they vary in their approaches to inclusion of transgender persons. This article examines how Canadian sport policies prohibit and/or police transgender persons’ participation in sport. In 2019, the publicly available policies of 53 NSOs were reviewed to determine the presence and content of so-called transgender inclusion policies, as well as policies related to equity, discrimination and harassment. At the time of the study, only 17 of the 53 NSOs had policies specifically related to transgender inclusion. In this study, we review these policies to understand the varying approaches to transgender inclusion in Canadian NSOs. We classified the NSOs into three broad categories: inclusive (n = 11), problematic (n = 1) and prejudicial (n = 5), in relation to naming, disclosure and medical specifications. Using Judith Butler’s concept of precarity, we demonstrate that participation in sport is a precarious choice for transgender athletes, as most NSO policies lacked clear guidance on inclusion and there were next to no policy statements on gender non-conforming people. The development of inclusive policy within sport should be proactive, actionable, consistent with best practices and must include meaningful conversations with transgender and gender non-conforming athletes, coaches and officials.

Resources, structural designs, climate and performance management in Botswana National Sport Organisations

PurposeThis research investigates the roles that resources, organisational structure and climate play in the performance management of National Sport Organisations (NSOs).Design/methodology/approachThis qualitative study draws data from 31 interviews, five focus groups conducted amongst Botswana National Sport Organisations. To corroborate the data collected, documents from these sport organisations were content analysed.FindingsThe amount and type of resources available, the degree to which decision-making is centralised, practices formalised and roles specialised affects how NSOs implement performance management. NSOs were not implementing performance management systems and could not tell whether they were creating favourable environments to implement the practices.Practical implicationsSport managers, policymakers and educators can use insights from this study to improve their practices. This study also proposes avenues for further research.Originality/valueThis study contributes to sport management literature on performance management, and it is original because such as study has not been conducted before.

Institutional Model of the Organization of Professional Education of Athletes Throughout Their Sport Career

The article presents the material devoted to the problem of professional education of athletes. A systematic approach was used as the methodological basis of the study, which allows considering the professional partnership of subjects of sports, education, government agencies and entrepreneurship as an institutional model for building an academic and sports career, which is an element of the system of social adaptation of athletes. The theoretical basis of the study was the activity approach, cultural approach, anthropological approach, axiological approach. The aim of the study was to study the institutional model of the organization of professional education of athletes throughout their sports career, which has developed in Germany in the form of professional partnership between subjects of sports, education, government agencies and entrepreneurship. Based on the study of the materials of the periodical press and the Internet, the expediency of building an academic and sports career is substantiated, as well as the experience of organizing professional education in parallel with sports training within the framework of the «Duale Karriere» project of the Olympic Sports Confederation of Germany is revealed. The essence and mechanisms of partnership within the framework of the «Partner hochschulen des Spitzen sports» project between interested parties – Olympic training centers, the Olympic Sports Confederation of Germany, the German Sports Aid Foundation, German higher education organizations, etc. Examples of the formation of an institutional environment for building an academic and sports career based on the use of lapidary documents, business documents of a framework nature, documents of self-regulation of national sports organizations are presented. The institutional nature of the interaction between the Olympic Sports Confederation of Germany, the All-German Student Sports Association, sports federations, Olympic training centers, public administration bodies and higher education organizations is substantiated on the basis of documents regulating their relations within the framework of professional partnership.

SPORT AND NATIONAL IDENTITY

Sports have the unique ability to unite fervor and vigor for a common goal. For his universal value, sport has the enormous potential to create a more positive and sustainable future for all. Sport is inseparable from society, and it’s also inseparable from the national feeling and national identity. Politics and sports are so closely related that it is difficult to imagine that they could be kept separated, with politics remaining unrelated to sports. There are various perspectives from which this association might be evaluated. Every national sports organization bases its operations on regional aspects and recognizes and uses regional social structures and cultural identities. In turn, the national association members refer to certain types of regional identity. The identity creation and expression process contributed to contemporary sports’ historical development and global dissemination. Sports can have different aspects on social life, and in this paper, we fundamentally focus on positive and negative aspects. Keywords: sport, national identity, positive aspects, negative aspects

Good organizational practices to encourage women high-performance coaches in sports

Women play a vital role in professional sport on and off the field. Globally, the dearth of women high-performance coaches in sport is a concern. For example, in Australia women represent 15% of high-performance coaches. One reason could be due to the lack of knowledge on good organizational practices that encourage women in this role and the overwhelming knowledge of practices focused on barriers for women high-performance coaches. The purpose of our research was to determine what good organizational practices exist to attract, develop, and retain women as high-performance coaches in Australia. Using a qualitative research design, semi-structured interviews were conducted with two study groups that comprised 16 women high-performance coaches and 13 senior managers from five National Sport Organizations (NSOs) in Australia. Data analysis was guided by practices that influenced the attraction, development, and retention of women high-performance coaches. Practically, findings revealed 12 good organizational practices and 31 associated recommendations to assist senior managers from NSOs in their quest to encourage women high-performance coaches in their sport. Theoretically, our research “reverses the lens” of the Ecological Intersectional Model (EIM) at the organizational level whereby the focus turns to good organizational practices rather than barriers for women high-performance coaches.

Decision-Making Processes Used by Canadian National Sport Organization Boards: Differences Between Design Archetypes

This paper examines the decision-making role of Canadian national sport organization boards, identifies the processes used to facilitate decision making by these boards, and explores whether these elements differ between the various design archetypes that exist among these organizations. Forty-five semistructured interviews were conducted with board members and senior staff of 22 Canadian national sport organizations, and data were thematically analyzed. Findings indicate board members and senior staff focused on strategy as their primary role, along with control over other roles (e.g., providing advice and counsel or securing resources). Roles differed according to the organization’s design archetype. Our analysis showed clear differences between design archetypes in terms of how these the organizations used structural artifacts such as subcommittees to facilitate decision making, navigated decision rights between board members and paid staff, and adhered to the Carver policy governance model promoted for national sport organizations by Sport Canada.

Decision-makers’ interactions that co-determine Positive youth development through sport: a critical realist examination

ABSTRACT The purpose of the present study was to examine Portuguese coaches, coach developers, and sport administrators’ (i.e. decision-makers) interactions that co-determine positive youth development through sport. A critical realist approach was adopted using Elder-Vass’s framework on the causal power of social structures. A total of 47 Portuguese decision-makers from provincial and national sport organisations were interviewed, leading to 2350 minutes of interview data. The findings provide insights into how participants varied in their perspectives on the place of performance and positive youth development in the youth sport system. Coaches and sport administrators believed performance was the main priority and their discourses were shaped by (inter)actions with norm circles influencing their dispositions and beliefs about the purpose of youth sport. Conversely, coach developers challenged the status quo and were much more deliberate in wanting to change the priorities of the youth sport system. Coach developers were in a privileged position to ‘broker’ change by using their individual agency to work to further include positive youth development. Considering the pressures imposed by norm circles and the active role of individual agency, practical and theoretical implications are offered to develop a youth sport system where positive youth development can become a legitimate and worthwhile pursuit.

Aligning governance, brand governance and social media strategies for improved organizational performance: a qualitative comparative analysis of national sport organizations

PurposeThis paper aims to explore the potential configurations of governance, brand governance and social media strategies leading to effective organizational performance.Design/methodology/approachA fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis including 28 Canadian national sport organizations (NSOs) and six conditions highlighted two sufficient configurations for effective organizational performance, defined as either budget per capita or athlete numbers.FindingsAlthough no single component of governance, brand governance, or social media strategy is necessary to succeed overall, brand reputation and the strategic use of social media to communicate NSO identity were common to both identified configurations. Accountability was important for effective organizational performance in terms of budget per capita, while transparency was more important for higher athlete numbers. Thus, condition specificity is paramount in non-profit organizations that often have multiple objectives.Originality/valueThis study provides substantial theoretical and managerial implications, including the need to integrate brand governance and social media in non-profit organizations' overall governance activities.

S1-3 Creating Active Schools

Abstract Purpose The Creating Active Schools Framework was co-developed in June 2019 by 50 national and international stakeholders (teachers, headteachers, active school coordinators, Public Health leads, Active Partnership school leads, UK and international researchers, national sport and education organisations, members of the local delivery pilots). The co-developed CAS programme takes a professional development approach to support schools to review current provision and make evidence-informed decisions to address school policy, environments, and stakeholder behaviour to improve opportunities for children to be physically active (https://ijbnpa.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12966-020-0917-z). Project description Since conception, the framework has been adopted by practice and has currently scaled to work across 18 localities in England and over 200 schools. As part of this journey, the development of the online profiling tool (https://www.creatingactiveschools.org), a central piece of the intervention approach that places professional development for physical activity at the heart of the school community will be shared. Key learning on drawing partners and stakeholders from across, policy, research and practice together will be provided as well as an overview of the planned wider rollout of CAS (adding a further 20 localities and 200 schools from Sept 2023). Plans for the interdisciplinary evaluation of the implementation of CAS at scale and the cost(effectiveness) of the programme under naturalistic conditions will be provided. Conclusions CAS, the UK’s first large-scale whole school physical activity programme, is uniquely placed to provide much-needed evidence to inform government investment and educational reform on how to scale health-based interventions under real-word conditions.

A national anti-doping education programme reduces doping susceptibility in British athletes

The World Anti-Doping Agency’s International Standard for Education instructs that national and international sport organisations evaluate their education programmes. We addressed this directive by examining the effectiveness of a national anti-doping programme. Athletes (N = 302, 41% female) completed measures of doping susceptibility, intention to use dietary supplements, Spirit of Sport and moral values, anti-doping knowledge and practice, and whistleblowing, prior-to and three-months after attending an anti-doping education programme. At three-month follow-up, athletes reported decreased doping susceptibility and intention to use dietary supplements coupled with increased importance of values, anti-doping knowledge, anti-doping practice and whistleblowing. Within-participant, moderated-mediation analyses revealed that programme-related changes in doping susceptibility were indirectly related to changes in intention to use dietary supplements, and, that this indirect relationship was moderated by moral values. These findings confirm the effectiveness of a national anti-doping education programme and highlight the contribution of dietary supplement use and personal values to changes in doping susceptibility.

Are dietary supplement users more likely to dope than non-users?: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

In the past decade, a body of evidence has reported that dietary supplement use is related to prohibited performance enhancing substance use (i.e., doping). To help international and national sport organisations understand the degree to which dietary supplement use is related to doping, the objectives of this systematic review and meta-analysis were to 1) compare the prevalence of doping between dietary supplement users and non-users and 2) identify whether supplement use is related to doping social cognitive factors. We searched for studies sampling athletes and that measured both dietary supplement use and doping in EMBASE, MEDLINE, PsychINFO, CINAHL and SPORTDiscus from database creation to May 2022. Risk of bias was assessed using JBI Critical Appraisal Checklist for cross-sectional studies and the STROBE checklist. Twenty-six cross-sectional studies, involving 13,296 athletes were included. Random-effect models revealed that doping was 2.74 (95% CI=2.10 to 3.57) times more prevalent in dietary supplement users (pooled prevalence = 14.7%) than non-users (6.7%), and that users reported stronger doping intentions (r=0.26, 0.18 to 0.34) and attitudes (r=0.21, 0.13 to 0.28) compared to non-users. Preliminary evidence also suggests that dietary supplement users were less likely to dope if they were more task oriented and had a stronger sense of morality. Results of the review are limited by the cross-sectional design used in all studies and lack of consistency in measurement of dietary supplement use and doping. Data indicate that athletes using dietary supplements are more likely to self-report doping Anti-doping policy should, therefore, target dietary supplement use in anti-doping education programmes by providing alternative strategies for performance enhancement or highlighting the safest ways they can be consumed. Similarly, as a large proportion of athletes use dietary supplements without doping, further research is needed to understand the factors that protect a dietary supplement user from doping. No funding was received for the review. A study protocol can be found here: https://osf.io/xvcaq.

Corporate social responsibility within a global pandemic: a qualitative analysis of the population’s perception of sport organizations

The purpose of this study was to examine the population’s perception of corporate social responsibility of three (inter)national sport organizations during the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. Within an online survey in Germany, 389 open statements were gathered and analyzed using thematic analysis. Drawing on Carroll’s CSR conceptualization, the identified themes were assigned to the economic, legal, ethical and discretionary responsibility of sport organizations. The analysis revealed a fifth dimension of responsibility referring to organizations’ communication and transparency. Most answers were concerned with the economic and ethical theme, highlighting the importance of financial modesty and contributing to the health of others during the pandemic. This study stresses the importance for sport organizations to meet ethical and moral expectations of society during times of crisis to maintain mutually beneficial relationships with core stakeholders such as the resident population.

Capacity for gender equity initiatives: a multiple case study investigation of national sport organisations

To better understand mechanisms for gender equity in sport, the critical elements of capacity of Canadian national sport organisations (NSOs) to implement gender equity initiatives, and the relative strengths and challenges of those elements, were investigated. Environmental factors perceived to influence that capacity were also explored. The study was framed by Hall et al.’s (2003) multidimensional model of organisational capacity. Instrumental case studies were used to examine and compare the capacity of three NSOs engaged in addressing gender equity in their sport through their respective initiatives designed to increase the engagement of women in sport as athletes, coaches, and officials. Semi-structured interviews (n = 15) were conducted with board members and staff across the three NSOs. Several common capacity strengths (e.g., knowledgeable and experienced staff, dedicated funding) and challenges (e.g., limited staff, constraints in external communication) were identified. Capacity elements unique to each NSO were also uncovered. Environmental factors influencing the NSOs’ capacity to implement their respective gender equity initiatives included the broad political climate, access to volunteers, and availability of additional funding sources . The findings address the call for further evidence of critical organisational practices for enacting gender equity, with a particular focus on NSOs, and framed by a multidimensional model of organisational capacity and environmental influences. The findings have implications for being aware of the capacity of NSOs to address government policy and directives for gender equity in sport, and for maintaining and building capacity to implement gender equity initiatives.

Sport management in the context of criminal liability for corruption

The problem of corruption in the management of sports organizations has long since ceased to have an exclusively national character, becoming a global problem, particularly at the level of federal and international sports organizations. It is possible to state a specific limitation in studying problematic issues of criminal responsibility for corruption crimes in sports and the insufficiency of the development of certain aspects of establishing accountability for the specified offenses.This study aimed to identify the effectiveness of criminal legal measures in the form of criminal liability in the fight against corruption crimes in the management of sports organizations. The following methods were used in this study: information-analytical method; system approach method; method of comparison and comparison; method of descriptive analysis; method of pragmatic approach; forecasting method. According to the research results, the author's concept of corruption in the management of sports organizations was proposed. It has been established that criminal liability for corruption crimes in the field of management of sports organizations is an effective but insufficient measure to combat this phenomenon. This is evidenced by scientific studies of the last 5 years regarding the fight against match-fixing in certain types of sports in certain countries, which indicates the insufficient effectiveness of establishing criminal liability for corruption crimes in the management of sports organizations. There was a need to develop new, more effective measures to prevent and combat corruption crimes in the field of sports management. At the international level, it is necessary to create the Instruction on tackling corruption in the management of sports organizations, which will include measures and directions for combating and preventing corruption in sports, including improving criminal liability for these crimes. This study opens up the prospects for further research in the fight against corruption in the field of sports, in particular, ensuring control over the activities of national and international sports organizations by improving both the legislative framework and the practical implementation of its provisions in the field of regulation and management in the sports field. Keywords: Corruption crimes, bribery, criminal legislation, sport management, match-fixing, doping, tricks.

An intersectional Foucauldian analysis of Canadian national sport organisations’ ‘equity, diversity, and inclusion’ (EDI) policies and the reinscribing of injustice

ABSTRACT National Sport Organisations in Canada have increasingly been incentivised to create their own equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) policies within the framework of national inclusive sport mandates. However, many people from equity-denied groups – including this article’s authors – continue to experience erasure, denial, and ignorance when engaging within Canada’s sporting system, not despite such policies, but sometimes because of them. Our Re-creation Collective of passionate practitioners and scholars from various equity-denied groups analysed all (143) Canadian national-level EDI sport policies available online. From this analysis, we created a model that explains common ways that EDI policies can serve to reproduce the very exclusions they seek to address. Our first theme, Reproducing the Status Quo, includes subthemes Alleging Inclusivity, and Refusing Accountability. In our second theme, Reproducing the Excludable Other, we discuss the subthemes Erasing, Problematising, and Hedging. We end with a critical discussion and knowledge mobilisation links aimed towards building better EDI policies.