Research Group Impact of Sport
Sports promote social interaction, which may contribute to a dynamic, resilient and inclusive society. To create valuable social interactions, sports organisations must be able to cope with increasingly diverse communities. A considerable task for the traditional sports club, which requires new forms of collaboration between sports clubs, residents, local and national government, public and private organisations.
Mission
The Impact of Sport research group focuses on promoting social vitality, inclusion and resilience by strengthening organisations, professionals and volunteers involved in sports management. The research investigates how to positively enhance the social impact of sport in urban areas facing important social issues and challenges, especially in ethnically diverse communities.
Vision
Impact of Sport researchers are working within communities alongside residents, sports associations and other sports providers, students, municipalities, public and private organisations. Action research and innovations from living labs generate new useful knowledge on cooperation and co-existence, unlocking potential (new) organisational forms, practical skills for sports professionals and volunteers and a new, positive impact of sport on society. The research group works in a demand-driven and practice-oriented manner, in The Hague and beyond.
What is the impact of sport?
Team
Marieke Breed
Fenna
Karlijn Sporrel
Nynke Burgers
Liset Schrijvers
Fenna
Nynke Burgers
Liset Schrijvers
In 2020 heeft Liset Schrijvers de overstap gemaakt van het lectoraat Gezonde Leefstijl in een Stimulerende Omgeving (GLSO) naar het lectoraat Impact of Sport. Vanuit het lectoraat GLSO heeft Liset Schrijvers geparticipeerd in het Landelijk Evaluatieonderzoek Buurtsportcoaches, uitgevoerd door het Mulier Instituut en alle acht opleidingen Sportkunde in Nederland. Dat onderzoek heeft haar interesse in de buurtsportcoach laten toenemen met als gevolg haar ambitie om een promotieonderzoek te doen rondom de buurtsportcoach. De achtergrond en ambitie van Liset passen echter beter bij de missie en visie van het lectoraat Impact of Sport, haar interesse en kwaliteit liggen met name bij kwalitatief onderzoek naar sportief-maatschappelijke thema’s. Liset houdt zich binnen het lectoraat bezig met onderzoek naar en onderwijs voor de buurtsportcoach.
About the professor
dr. Frank van Eekeren
As a management and organisation research scientist, Frank van Eekeren has spent over 20 years investigating the social significance of sport in relation with the organisation of sport. In his PhD dissertation De Waardenvolle Club (the valuable club), he describes an ideal sports organisation that creates public value in addition to value creation in the nexus of sport and business. He conducts research in and around the field of sports, both locally and internationally, and publishes in journals, sports publications and blogs. Frank is also employed as Associate Professor at Utrecht University School of Governance.
+31 (0)6 - 48 07 21 43f.j.a.vaneekeren@hhs.nl
Frank van Eekeren’s additional positions
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Senior Lecturer at Utrecht University (Department of Public Administration and Organisational Science)
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Member of the FC Utrecht Social Advisory Council
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Member of the new NOC*NSF Good Sport Governance Code Steering Committee
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Member of the Advisory Council of More2Win (social enterprise)
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Sport & Strategie Columnist
Projects
Understanding the role of men in facilitating gender equity in football governance
Despite recent successes of the Netherlands women's national football team and a sharp increase in the number of girls and women joining clubs, gender inequality in football remains prevalent. In management, trainers or coach positions, men are by far the majority. In this study we look at the role that men can play in creating more gender equity. We compare the situation in seven countries: England, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Croatia, Slovenia and Russia.
Living labs in The Hague Sports District
The Impact of Sport research group investigates the unifying power of sport in the Escamp district of The Hague, so-called ‘The Hague Sports District’. Researchers work with residents, students, local sports organisations and businesses in living labs, a research hub at the heart of the community, where the creative energy of all parties can be unleashed in a casual atmosphere. Living labs enable experimentation with innovative sports offerings and new forms of (sports) organisation and collaborations in a ‘real life setting’. The group is realising four living labs in Escamp, starting in the Morgenstond neighbourhood, on and around the fields of HKV Eibernest.
Publications
Article
The effects of neighbours on sport club membership
Report
What role can men play in facilitating gender equity in Football Governance?
Article
Special issue European Sport Management Quarterly, Social responsibility and the European sport context
Article
An analysis of the multi-level factors affecting the coaching of elite women athletes
Chapter
The Direct Economic Impact of International Sport Events for the Hosting City
Article
Special issue European Sport Management Quarterly, Social responsibility and the European sport context
The contribution frames the special issue ‘Social responsibility and the European sport context’. It investigates and aims to inspire the discussion around what constitutes a European approach in social responsibility and sport management research focusing on how the special historical and persisting features of the European (sport) context impact on knowledge creation and diffusion.
The article reflects on the contributions included in the special issue; is based on reviewing relevant management literature; and is guided by the authors’ rich observations derived from their deep involvement in the international space of social responsibility in and through sport, spanning research and practice.
Four anchors are suggested and explored as promising avenues to constitute ‘European-ness’ in social responsibility and sport management research. In short, these are investigations driven by empirical data; a comparative approach; comprehensive literature review; and theoretical/conceptual development. It is argued that the theory anchor is the most critical and challenging, but not fully developed yet.
The article contributes a critical view on the potential for American/English hegemony in sport management scholarly activity, also impacting on one of its popular and growing sub-fields: social responsibility. Enhanced intellectual fertility and diversity of perspectives will produce more accurate understandings of the role and conceptualisation of social responsibility in European sport, impacting on both theoretical richness and relevance for contextually-embedded sport organisations.
Breitbarth, T, S. Walzel & F. van Eekeren (2019), Special issue European Sport Management Quarterly, Social responsibility and the European sport context. Volume 19, 2019 DOI: 10.1080/16184742.2019.1566931Article
An analysis of the multi-level factors affecting the coaching of elite women athletes
High-performance sport systems offer athletes access to arange of experts including excellent coaches. This study examines the macro-, meso- and micro-level factors associated with coaching elite women athletes within a high-performance sport system.
This research was underpinned by constructionism and critical feminism. The data were collected via semistructured in-depth interviews with 10 international male elite rowing coaches with experience in coaching men and women athletes and analysed using thematic analysis. The data shows that at the micro-level, coaches differentiate their practices based on the gender of the athlete. These practices are influenced by meso-level factors (perceived value of sport participated by women) and shaped by macro-level factors (socio-cultural background of the coaches). Coaches’ socio-cultural experiences influence their construct of gender and affect their approach to coaching women athletes. Hence identifying macro-level factors can help managers understand coaches’ perspectives, philosophy and practice at a micro-level.
The use of a multi-level approach to examine the factors associated with coaching elite women athletes offers a unique holistic approach to understanding how multi-level factors affect the coaching of women athletes.
de Haan, D. and Sotiriadou, P. (2019). An analysis of the multi-level factors affecting the coaching of elite women athletes. Management Sport and Leisure. DOI: 10.1080/23750472.2019.1641139
Chapter
The Direct Economic Impact of International Sport Events for the Hosting City
Cities and communities around the world are aware of the different possibilities and benefits that may stem from hosting an international sport event. Such events provide a platform for cities to pursue positive effects and financial growth despite history indicating that hosting sport events, especially mega and major sport events, does not generate only positiveoutcomes and impacts for communities.
One common argument used to justify hosting and investing in sport events is the economic surplus and social welfare generated by the people and organizations that take part in the event in multiple different roles and forms. Impacts generated by sport events appear in many ways, such as economic impacts, tourism and visitor impacts, social impacts, customer and visitor satisfaction, promotional value and brand image impacts, participation and cohesion, environmental impacts and effects on the lifestyle and vitality of the surrounding community.
In this chapter, the direct economic impact generated by three international sport events organized in Finland and the Netherlands are assessed. The magnitude of the studied events can be estimated as medium-sized international sport events, with two of them being World Championships tournaments and the other a World Championships race. Conducting event impact research is a complicated process which includes numerous phases and viewpoints. From policymakers’ perspectives, surveying the benefits and disadvantages generated by sport events provides facts to endorse the very fundamental question in event bidding: to host or not to host. Presenting this question before the event, in time for bidding, requires projections and estimations of the possible event impact outcomes. The actual impact can be measured for the most part during and after the event, and its main purpose is to provide first hand information for policymakers, organizers and partners, and the citizens, concerning the benefits of the event in perspective with the investments.
Laitila, O. & N. van Herpen (2017), The Direct Economic Impact of International Sport Events for the Hosting City. In: Dodds, M., K. Heisey & A. Ahonen, Routledge Handbook of International Sport Business. London: Routledge