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Who makes sport policy and why do we need it? What is the purpose of sport development programmes? Sport Policy and Development answers these questions and more by closely examining the complex relationships between modern sport, sport policy and development and other aspects of the wider society. These important issues are explored via detailed case studies of key aspects of sport policy and sport development activity, including: school sport and physical education social inclusion health elite sport sporting mega-events. Each case study demonstrates the ways in which the sport policy and development fields have changed, and are continually changing in response to the increasing political, social and cultural significance of sport. The book helps the reader to understand the complexities of the sport policy-making process, the increasing intervention of government in the sport policy and development fields, and how the short-term, ever-changing and frequently contradictory political priorities of government come to impact on the practice of sport policy and development. Accessible and engaging, this textbook is an invaluable introduction to sport policy and sport development for students, practitioners and policy-makers alike. Daniel Bloyce is Senior Lecturer in the Sociology of Sport and Exercise and Co-Director of the Chester Centre for Research into Sport and Society at the University of Chester, UK. He is a co-editor of the International Journal of Sport Policy . Andy Smith is Senior Lecturer in the Sociology of Sport and Exercise at the University of Chester, UK. He is a co-editor of the International Journal of Sport Policy , and co-author of Disability, Sport and Society and An Introduction to Drugs in Sport. Both books are published by Routledge (2009). List of Tables. Acknowledgements. List of Abbreviations. Introduction 1. The Sport Policy Process: a Sociological Perspective 2. The Emergence and Development of Sport Policy 3. Youth Sport Development: Physical Education, Schools Sport and Community Club Links 4. Community Sport Development: Promoting Social Inclusion 5. Community Sport Development: Promoting Health 6. Elite Sport Development: Promoting International Success 7. The Politics and Policy of Mega-Events: A Case Study of London 2012. References. Index. \"In a context of ever-growing state involvement in sport, here is a much- needed, comprehensive review of all areas of sport policy, paying equal attention to policy development, implementation, and the outcomes which, as this book shows, are usually rather different to all the key actors' intentions \", Professor Ken Roberts, School of Sociology and Social Policy, University of Liverpool \"An extremely useful teaching aid ... It makes a clear, concise and important contribution to the existing sport policy literature\", Peter Millward, Managing Leisure \"Many books aspire to be both accessible to practitioners and academics but encounter problems truly speaking to the former. This book does so by using accessible language and adopting a strong narrative throughout each of the chapters making the reader keen to find out what happens next in the sports development policy story. It also manages to engage all aspects of the sports development spectrum from elite sport through to grass roots activity. For those specialising in either area, this book will provide valuable insights into the broader context for sport.\", Amy Shephard, Leisure Studies

The English Football League introduced the three points for a win reform in 1981. While it was presented as an experiment the initiative was never monitored. This did not prevent FIFA adopting it for the first phase matches of the World Cup on the eve of the 1994 tournament. This paper sets out to assess the impact of this reform on this and subsequent World Cups. We conclude by arguing that this whole process can be usefully understood in terms of the complex dynamics of human figurations. It is an interpretation that places emphasis on the relational impediments to effective managerial control.

Area-based initiatives have formed an important part of public policy towards more socio-economically deprived areas in many countries. Co-ordinating service provision within and across sectors has been a common feature of these initiatives. Despite sustained policy interest in area-based initiatives, little empirical work has explored relations between area-based initiative providers, and partnership development within this context remains under-theorised. This article addresses both of these gaps by exploring partnerships as a social and developmental process, drawing on concepts from figurational sociology to explain how provider relations develop within an area-based initiative. Qualitative methods were used to explore, prospectively, the development of an area-based initiative targeted at a town in the north west of England. A central finding was that although effective delivery of area-based initiatives is premised on a high level of coordination between service providers, the pattern of interdependencies between providers limits the frequency and effectiveness of co-operation. In particular, the interdependency of area-based initiative providers with others in their organisation (what is termed here as 'organisational pull') constrained the ways in which they worked with providers outside of their own organisations. 'Local' status, which could be earned over time, enabled some providers to exert greater control over the way in which provider relations developed during the course of the initiative. These findings demonstrate how historically constituted social networks, within which all providers are embedded, shape partnership development. The theoretical insight developed here suggests a need for more realistic expectations among policymakers about how and to what extent provider partnerships can be managed.

Background Modified team sport activity has been proposed as effective exercise modality for promoting markers of health that are comparable or greater than continuous forms of activity. However, research using modified team sports is currently limited to sedentary populations using 2–3 sessions across a minimum of 8 weeks. Aim To investigate the effects of a 4-week touch rugby and self-paced interval running intervention on a range of health markers in active men. Methods Sixteen participants (age 26.4 ± 6.4 years) were matched for age, demographic and physical activity before completing a single touch rugby ( n  = 8) or running ( n  = 8) session per week for 4 weeks. Measures of systolic and diastolic blood pressure, resting heart rate (RHR), body composition and biochemical status were recorded pre- and post-intervention. Results ANCOVA analysis revealed between-group differences for impedance ( P  = 0.027), fat mass ( P  = 0.008), percentage body fat ( P  = 0.008) and fat-free mass ( P  = 0.002), with greater changes after touch rugby. Systolic blood pressure decreased for both groups with greater reductions observed after touch rugby ( P  = 0.002). No between-group difference was observed for RHR, interleukin-6 or C-reactive protein ( P  > 0.05). Contrasting internal, external and perceptual loads were observed. Conclusion The results of this study suggest that a single session of touch rugby over a 4-week period elicited greater improvements in body composition and SBP than self-paced running, with both being equally beneficial for improving RHR, diastolic blood pressure and inflammatory status in active young men.

Bloyce focuses on the next development that took place while seeking to establish baseball in England. Baseball has been played sporadically in England since a first exhibition tour in 1874, led by the former American professional Harry Wright and involving the great American pitcher, manager, and subsequent sporting goods tycoon Albert Goodwill Spalding. Although this particular tour had no real impact on the English public, a similar venture in 1889, this time led principally by Spalding, did spark a decade of development for baseball, which included numerous players among the indigenous population. However, despite this, baseball still received next to no coverage in the national press, and only sporadic, yet occasionally supportive, coverage in the local, London-based newspapers.

The English Football League introduced the three points for a win reform in 1981. While it was presented as an experiment the initiative was never monitored. This did not prevent FIFA adopting it for the first phase matches of the World Cup on the eve of the 1994 tournament. This paper sets out to assess the impact of this reform on this and subsequent World Cups. We conclude by arguing that this whole process can be usefidly understood in terms of the complex dynamics of human figurations. It is an interpretation that places emphasis on the relational impediments to effective managerial control.

This thesis examines the extent of the diffusion of baseball across the world. Tracing the diffusion of baseball, and the diverse receptions the game has encountered on foreign soils, holds out the prospect of offering many insights into the global spread of sport and our understanding of the processes of globalization in general. By examining different responses to baseball, and developing our empirical knowledge on the extent of its diffusion, we will be in a position to draw more reliable and valid conclusions than have, thus far, been offered in relation to the global diffusion of baseball, specifically, and globalization processes, more generally. As such, this thesis will endeavour to determine the extent to which baseball can be regarded as a global sport. This objective will involve charting the development of baseball in America, its diffusion to other countries and the different receptions the game has received on foreign soil, via a series of national ‘case studies’. On the basis of this thesis it is concluded that the argument that baseball is a ‘global sport’, is a highly exaggerated view of baseball’s global profile. The fact of the matter is baseball has only enjoyed sustained periods of success in a handful of countries in Asia and Latin America. Furthermore, it is argued that the theoretical premises of figurational sociology are both sensitising and illuminating; and provide a more object-adequate analysis of the global baseball figuration than other theoretical approaches allow. In this respect, the central figurational concept of dynamic and differential power relationships is key in developing our understanding of the global baseball figuration, and globalization more generally. The concept of lengthening chains of interdependency is a far more illuminating, and, therefore, more useful way of conceptualising the process by which baseball has undergone diffusion, than Americanization, American cultural hegemony, imperialism or, even, globalization.

This chapter examines a relatively neglected aspect of sport; namely, the views and experiences of sports development officers (SDOs). In the process it explores the reality of 'doing' sports development from the perspective of SDOs themselves in order to enhance our understanding of sports development in practice. The chapter draws on a preliminary study of 16 SDOs (nine males; seven females) employed in 10 different local authorities within the West Midlands and north-west of England (see Bloyce et al. 2008). The local authorities for whom the SDOs worked were purposively selected to represent a variety of cities, new towns and rural locations, as well as the various patterns of political control, typical of the two regions. Pertinent among the themes that emerged from the interviews were the SDOs' views of the nature and purposes of sports development, their experiences of sports development in practice and their perceptions of the ways in which their working environments had impacted upon their 'philosophies' (in sociological terms: their ideologies) and practices.