Sport managers’ perspectives on poverty and sport: The role of local sport authorities

Hanne Vandermeerschen and Jeroen Scheerder

Sport Management Review, 2017, vol. 20, issue 5, 510-521

Abstract: Poverty and social exclusion are ‘wicked issues’ and require a joint approach from a wide array of policy fields. As practicing sport has become a customary activity, it has a part to play in fighting social exclusion. But to what extent is this a realistic expectation? Drawing on qualitative data gathered from semi-structured interviews at twenty local sport authorities in Flanders (Belgium), the aim of this study is to gain insight in the experiences of local sport authorities with people in poverty, and to identify barriers and facilitators for investing in the inclusion of this social group. Results indicate that facilitating inclusion for people in poverty is a challenging task for local sport managers. Policy initiatives, if any, often remain limited to providing financial discounts. Only a minority of local sport managers reported more comprehensive policies, involving different strategies. A major problem is the limited understanding and expertise of local sport managers with regard to poverty. Therefore, cooperation between sport managers and organisations from the social sector is crucial. Recommendations as to how the role of local sport authorities as a facilitator of social inclusion can be strengthened are formulated.

Keywords: Poverty; Social inclusion; Sport policy; Local sport managers; Sport participation; Barriers (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1441352317300177
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:spomar:v:20:y:2017:i:5:p:510-521

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/716936/bibliographic
http://www.elsevier. ... 716936/bibliographic

DOI: 10.1016/j.smr.2017.02.002

Access Statistics for this article

Sport Management Review is currently edited by Tracy Taylor

More articles in Sport Management Review from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().