WORKSHOP B
Elite sport organisation and management for world class performance
Internationally there are numerous studies of elite sport. So far the macro and policy levels have received most attention. Such studies produce valuable knowledge for policy makers, but will often be perceived as abstract and loosely coupled to the concerns of actors within the elite sport domain. There are few detailed studies of how national elite sport systems are orga-nised. Even fewer provide insight in how they actually operate and support elite sport efforts. There is a lack of comparative studies between national systems and across different sports.
Theme:
This lack of studies focusing on the actual organisation and management of elite sport at the national level and at the level of individual sports is the point of departure for the workshop. Reactions from participants in the 2011 year EASM workshop on ‘the organisation and management of elite sport systems’ indicate that there is a considerable interest in this topic. In 2011 we had a broad definition of the topic. For 2012 we want to focus on two sub-themes:
The first question concerns the structure, strategies and actual working of national elite sport systems.
- Who are the organisations involved in elite sport? What are the roles of confederations, sport federations, state agen- cies, municipalities, sport institutes, schools, colleges, etc.?
- What are national strategies, if any? How do various organisations influence or shape national systems? What characte-
rises the overall system? What is the degree of centralisation, fragmentation, cooperation, conflicts etc.?
The second question concerns how specific elite sport efforts are organised and managed to impact actual development in different sports:
- How is performance development organised at the level of individual sports?
- How can we explore the many different paths to success, within sport perspectives - across sport cooperation, leadership and organisational models?
- How and to what extent are within-sport processes influenced by the wider elite sport system?
An important general question is how such efforts at the national level and within specific sports relate to general tendencies towards macro convergence at the international level. We welcome empirical studies as well as the reflections from practitioners. The ambition is to stimulate comparisons across nations and sports.
Within the sub-themes sketched out above the intention of the workshop is to:
- review the current state of knowledge
- identify a future research agenda
- facilitate a unique networking opportunity between scholars and students with an interest in the study of elite sport
Format of the workshop:
The track will be run as a workshop, where participants are invited to present short papers (6-8 pages) followed by prepared comments and a brief discussion within the timeframe.
Consequently, we invite you to submit papers that review research efforts on these topics to date, conceptual papers that address methodological issues associated with the study of sport policy, or papers that report recent empirical research on sport policy.
Abstracts are to be submitted to the scientific committee for the EASM conference following the procedure of the organisers but clearly indicating that they are to be considered for the Elite sport organisation and management for world class performance workshop.
10-12 papers will be accepted and form the basis for a one day workshop. Prior to the conference the accepted abstracts should be elaborated and submitted as full papers to the conveners. Each paper will be presented, commented and discussed within a time frame of 30 minutes at the workshop.
Conveners:
Professor Svein S. Andersen (lead convener), Centre for training and performance, Norwegian School of Sport Sciences/ Norwegian School of Management. He has been director for Centre for EU Research, University of Oslo, and Chair of the Department of Leadership and Organisational Behaviour at the Norwegian Business School. He has a Ph.D. from Stanford University and has published a number of books and articles. During the last years he has focused on leadership and organisation in elite sport. His latest publication: “Nordic elite sport – same ambitions, different tracks” (edited with L.T. Ronglan, Oslo University Press),
svein.s.andersen@bi.no
Associate professor Lars Tore Ronglan, Centre for training and performance, Norwegian School of sport Sciences (NSSS). Ronglan is former Head of Department of Coaching and Psychology at NSSS. He has published books and articles on leader-ship, learning and coaching in sport; e.g., co-edited “The Sociology of Sports Coaching” (Routledge, 2011) and “Nordic elite sport – same ambitions, different tracks” (Oslo, University Press, 2012),
lars.tore.ronglan@nih.no
Nikolai Böhlke, UK Sport. In 2006 Böhlke completed his PhD-thesis at Loughborough University on “Benchmarking Elite Sport Systems: A Comparison of Selected Operational Management and Communication Processes in Successful Sport Systems”. Over the last years Böhlke has worked with research and innovation within UK Sport,
Nikolai.Boehlke@uksport.gov.uk
