Good boards are strategic : what does that mean for sport governance?

To learn more about the governance of sport organizations, this study explored what meaning board members of national sport organizations (NSOs) attach to the concept of "strategic capability". In so doing, the inquiry also identified factors considered to constrain or enable board strategic function. This paper draws on a body of knowledge developed over 38 years on board strategic function, primarily from the commercial setting but also from the emerging body of work in the nonprofit and sport governance setting. Located within the interpretive research paradigm this study engaged a range of different qualitative methods including cognitive mapping and visual imagery. Working across two NSOs in New Zealand, four elements were generated that served as reference points in mapping out the meaning of a strategically able board. These were categorized as the need to have capable people, a frame of reference, facilitative board processes, and facilitative regional relationships.

Competition : the heart and soul of sport management

Understanding competition is central to the task of strategy formulation and implementation and it is the link between competition and strategy that was explored in the 2011 Dr. Earle F. Zeigler Lecture. It was argued that strategy, given its centrality to organizational phenomena, and strategy research in particular, provides rich and diverse competitive contexts with the potential to reveal some of the unique properties of sport management. To ascertain the prevalence of sport-related strategy research, three sport management journals were subject to content analysis to identify published manuscripts related to strategy. Before presenting the results, the Lecture considered competition on and off the field, the origins of competitive behavior in sport management and a brief review of the major research themes in the generic strategic management literature. Results revealed that 20 (2.5%) of the 805 manuscripts published in the three journals were strategy focused. Research themes and contexts were presented as well as a bibliometric analysis of the reference lists of the 20 identified strategy manuscripts. This analysis highlighted the journals that are influencing published sport management strategy-related research. It was concluded that strategy research specific to sport management has been sparse to date, yet the role of strategy formulation is central to the role of management and should also be central to sport management scholarship.

Sport entrepreneurship : challenges and directions for future research

The aim of this paper is to structure the existing and emerging field of 'sport entrepreneurship' as well as to develop suggestions for future research. This paper examines the role of the sports entrepreneur and entrepreneurial process in new venture creation projects. This paper contributes to a general understanding of entrepreneurship in the sports context and suggests how further theoretical and empirical work on entrepreneurship needs to be conducted in the sports context. The major managerial and practical implications of sports entrepreneurship in this paper are to develop more entrepreneurial thinking in sports-related ventures. This paper is the first to focus on the future potential of sports entrepreneurship in creating entrepreneurial ventures, thereby providing a strong theoretical foundation for future research work.

Exploring new models of elite sport delivery : the case of triathlon in the USA and Australia

There is a growing body of knowledge that examines the tasks and processes for successful sport and recognizes that sport development activities undertaken within the framework of recruitment, retention, and transition should vary between sports and contexts. There has been little research that has examined newer models of sport development in emerging sports. This research examines elite sport development structure and delivery in the sport of triathlon in the USA and Australia. The research team conducted interviews with representatives responsible for the delivery and development of triathlon. The results show three overarching elements in elite sport development: (1) the sport development process, (2) the sport development setting, and (3) outsourcing delivery of sport development. Triathlon has different processes and settings for sport development between the USA and Australia. However, both countries share a core similarity in how they deliver elite sport through a third party organization. A discussion of the implications for the development of new models of elite sport development ensues.

Return to pre-injury health status and function 12 months after hospitalisation for sport and active recreation related orthopaedic injury

Background Hospitalised sport and active recreation injuries can have serious long-term consequences. Despite this, few studies have examined the long-term outcomes of these injuries. The purpose of this study was to establish whether patients hospitalised with orthopaedic sport and active recreation injuries, have returned to their pre-injury levels of health status and function, 12 months post injury and identify factors associated with poor outcomes. The present work was a cohort study with retrospective assessment of pre-injury status and prospective assessment of outcome at 12 months post injury.

Methods Adults with orthopaedic sport and active recreation injuries, captured by the Victorian Orthopaedic Trauma Outcomes Registry were recruited to the study. Pre-injury and 12-month outcomes were assessed using the 36-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) and the extended Glasgow Outcome Scale. Differences in pre-injury and post-injury SF-36 scores were examined and demographic, injury, hospital and physical activity variables were assessed for associations with outcome using multivariate linear regression.

Results Of the 324 participants 98% were followed-up at 12 months post injury. At 12 months, participants reported a mean 7.0-point reduction in physical health (95% CI 5.8 to 7.8) and a 2.5-point reduction in mental health (95% CI 1.2 to 3.0), with 58% (95% CI 52.6% to 63.4%) reporting reduced function. Sporting group (p=0.001), Injury Severity Score >15 (p=0.007) and high pre-injury vigorous activity levels (p=0.04), were related to poorer physical health outcomes.

Conclusions At 12 months post injury, most participants reported large reductions in physical health and reduced function. This information is important for furthering our understanding of the burden of sport and active recreation injury and setting priorities for treatment and rehabilitation.

Actively disadvantaged : a foucauldian perspective of rural adolescent girls' participation in sport and physical activity

The illustriousness of sport to Australian culture has often been discussed and in rural communities it could be argued that community sporting clubs are integral, and often unparalleled, in the development of collective community identities and individual subjectivities (Tonts, 2005). Sport is considered a way of life for many rural Australians, yet social, climatic and economic factors have resulted in vast changes to the sporting landscape in rural communities, particularly for adolescent females. With the amalgamation of many community sporting clubs due to declining populations and the rationalisation of Government funding, fewer opportunities for participation in organised physical activity now exist for rural adolescent girls (Tonts & Atherley, 2005). Compounding this lack of opportunity, are questions around the types of physical activity experiences available to rural adolescent females and the impact this has on the way that rural adolescent females construct ideas around being physically active. This paper is concerned with the ways in which prevalent cultural and institutional discourses mediated through community sport and school-based physical activity impact the construction of female physically active subjectivities in rural communities.