Knowledge management in Botswana sport: current status and future directions

In Botswana, sport is positioned as a potential driver of economic and social development. In particular, there are numerous discussions about increasing the socio-economic impact of sport and the need to professionalise Botswana sport. Knowledge Management (KM) can play a critical role in achieving this greater professionalisation and impact. Despite this importance, there have only been a small number of studies on KM in sports, and none of this literature explores the topic in sub-Saharan Africa. Against this background, the goals of our paper are two-fold. Firstly, we wish to map out the current knowledge management landscape in the Botswana sport sector. Secondly, we aim to propose concrete, evidence-based avenues to improve KM within the sector. This paper relies on findings generated through semi-structured qualitative interviews with individuals connected to Botswana sport. To allow for triangulation, these interviews are further supported by other, previous qualitative research as well as relevant academic and policy literature. The Knowledge Management framework from Sunassee and Sewry (2002) is used to analyse and structure the results. Overall, we see that KM in Botswana sport is somewhat present at the individual, organisational level, but numerous obstacles and inefficiencies exist in creating and sharing knowledge at the sectoral level. To support the growth of KM in the sector, numerous concrete recommendations are presented. In particular, we highlight a need to communicate the value of KM better and obtain the necessary buy-in.

Football fans’ views on the passolig e-ticket system and the decline in stadium attendance: the case of the Turkish football super league

The aim of this research is to investigate the reasons behind the decline in stadium attendance in the Turkish Football Super League since the implementation of the Passolig e-ticket system as well as football fans’ views on this system. The research sample consisted of football fans living in the province of Sakarya. The total number of participants was 500. A questionnaire comprising three parts was used for data collection. The first part of the questionnaire included questions aimed at identifying personal details of the participants; the second part included questions intended to identify their viewpoints on Passolig; the third part asked about their opinions concerning the reasons behind the decline in stadium attendance. The questionnaire contained 38 questions in total, 37 of which were prepared in the form of a five-point Likert scale with an additional open-ended question to identify participants’ opinions of Passolig. Quantitative data obtained through the study were evaluated using the IBM SPSS 25.0 software package, and qualitative analysis methods were employed for coding the questions about participants’ opinions. The study concluded that based on the opinions of the participants, Passolig has not been able to fulfill its intended functions of increasing stadium attendance, minimizing violence, and preventing ticket touting. The participants view Passolig as a means of generating unearned income and understand its implementation as one of the main reasons for the decline in stadium attendance. Besides the implementation of Passolig, high ticket prices, the weak financial situation of fans, and media broadcasts that provoke violence were among the foremost reported reasons for the decline in stadium attendance.

“We can’t get stuck in old ways”: Swedish sports club’s integration efforts with children and youth in migration

The last years many people have been forcibly displaced due to circumstances such as conflicts in the world, and many people have come to Sweden for shelter. It has been challenging for Swedish society to receive and guide newcomers through the resettlement process, and many organizations in civil society, such as sports clubs, have been invited to support the resettlement. However, a limited numbers of studies has drawn the attention to sports clubs experiences. Therefore the aim of the paper was enhance understanding of sports clubs’ prerequesites and experiences of integration efforts with immigrant children and youth. Ten Swedish clubs with experience of working with newcomers participated. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, and analyzed with qualitative content analysis. Two categories were identified: Struggling with sporting values and organization and Seeing integration in everyday activities. The clubs experienced that integration occurs in everyday activities, but current ideas focusing competition and rigid organization of sports constrained possibilities for integrating newcomers with no or limited former experience of club sports. The clubs experienced potential to contribute to personal development, social connectedness and enjoyment in a new society and building bridges between cultures. In conclusion, clubs cannot solve the challenges of resettlement in society but have potential to be part of larger societal networks of integration.

Self-assessment of football referees on their educational influence on children aged 9–12 during a sports competition

Proper use of the educational potential of sports depends on the entities organizing children’s sports competitions (coaches, parents, referees). Particularly important is their awareness of the purposefulness and legitimacy of actions taken. Numerous studies have been devoted to the role of the coach and parents in providing children and young people with positive sporting experiences. In contrast, the referee has often been overlooked. The behavior of the referees during the match is also important for young players. Assuming that referee-player interactions have a major contribution to educational influence, the purpose of this study was to explore the opinions of soccer referees refereeing matches of children aged 9 to 12 years about their interactions with players in terms of emotional support, game organization, and instructional support. It was also decided to verify whether referees’ self-assessment of their educational function is influenced by experience. The research was conducted among 116 referees licensed by Mazovian Football Association who referee matches of children aged 9–12 years (Orliki and Młodziki categories) in the Masovian Voivodeship in Poland. To assess the referee-players educational interaction, a questionnaire survey was developed. These interactions are present in three domains: emotional support, game organization and instructional support. The results showed significant differences between referees’ self-assessments in the three domains. Referees rated their educational interactions with players higher in the domain of emotional support than the instructional support. Moreover, the results indicated that there was no differences in the referees’ self-assessment between the groups distinguished by more experienced in the domains of emotional support and game organization, while less experienced referees rated the quality of their educational interactions in the instructional support domain higher than those more experienced. The main conclusion of the research is the postulate to introduce pedagogical and psychological issues into the referee training.

“Playing with injury”: the health-related aspects of a career in women’s handball

Health, injury, and pain within the social contexts of sports remain relevant. Sociologists have repeatedly pointed out a set of factors that shape the sociocultural background of sports and aim to normalize the high risk of injury, pain, and negative impacts on health. The literature contains inspiring studies with valuable guidelines for conceptualizing this issue. Some researchers have focused on the social factors shaping athletes’ experiences with health-related risks and have proven that it is possible to oppose the deeply rooted “culture of risk.” The fact that most studies on the subject involve men’s sports increases the importance of those that address health-related risks in women’s sports. The literature includes few works concerning the sociocultural contexts of injury, pain, or health issues in handball. The aim of this study was to learn about the opinions and experiences of professional female handball players related to health in their discipline. Three main directions of research were followed: 1) health as a value; 2) significance of injury and pain; and 3) effect of health-related risks on a career in sports. The data were collected before the COVID-19 pandemic. The results do not reflect the opinions or experiences of the participants during the period of heightened epidemiological risk. The sample comprised female athletes (n=52) who participated in the Polish First League of women’s handball and represented the highest competitive level in their category in Poland.

Identity reconstruction among people with physical disabilities practising Race Running

The main aim of the article is to present the results of research concerning the reconstruction of the identity of people with disabilities who practice Race Running. In the scientific literature focused on disability, sport is presented as one of the important elements serving for the reconstruction of the identity of people with disabilities and their integration, inclusion with the surrounding social world. However, previous studies did not analyze in this context the role of Race Running, which is a niche, developing sport discipline. Therefore, this article fills a significant gap in the scientific literature dedicated to the role of sport in the reconstruction of the identity of people with disabilities by undertaking an analysis of sport, which has not been the subject of research so far. Starting from the concept of ‘pendulum’ developed by Karen K. Yoshida, the following article provides a model of identity reconstruction based on five processes: Socialising, Becoming independent, Exposing, Proving, Realizing. The conceptualization of this model is based on the results of qualitative research using the in-depth interview technique. The respondents were people with disabilities practicing Race Running in Poland, their family members and their coaches. The results of the research show not only the possibilities for people with disabilities, which comes with practicing Race Running, but also limitations, because the specificity and technical requirements of this sport mean that its benefits can only be used by people with a certain type of disability.

New perspectives in social studies on recreational running: The case of Poland

The article concerns the phenomenon of the popularity of recreational running in Poland. A search of existing studies on this phenomenon shows a clear overrepresentation of survey studies (mostly self-completion questionnaires), which in practice narrows the scope of empirical findings to issues such as the structure of the population of amateur runners, runners’ motivations, and running practices themselves. In contrast, there is limited recognition of the perspectives and experiences of the institutional actors who co-create the running boom. These actors are referred to as the stakeholders of the running boom in the article. In the second part of the text, we discuss the results of our own research, which focused on running competitions open to amateurs. Every year, several thousands of such events are organized in Poland. The study (standardized online desk research) was carried out on two randomly selected nationwide samples: N = 338 and N = 349 (measurements for 2014 and 2017). The research documented the activity of stakeholders of the running boom in the form of organization, sponsorship, and patronage of running events. However, it should be emphasized that certain activities are conducted by public sector entities (local governments); the involvement of market players is less visible. The conducted research also provides characteristics of the landscape of running events in Poland: their location (including regional distribution), size, and their most important sport features (distance and accompanying events). The time variable (2014 versus 2017) and the regional variable (Eastern Poland versus the rest of the country) were used as the basic independent variables in the statistical analyses. The study as a whole can be considered to be complementary to previous studies on the Polish running boom.

Enhancing active living and physical exercise through environmentally friendly policies in urban areas

Active living offers a substantial contribution to the mental and physical health of individuals, as well as to community wellbeing and social cohesion. Outdoor and green environments offer additional benefits and determine people’s involvement in physical exercise. Environmental policies put in place by local governments affect citizens’ adoption of active living and physical exercise. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between citizens’ levels of exercise participation in urban open spaces and the provision of exercise-friendly policies by the local authorities. Three hundred and seventy citizens participated in the present study who took part in walking, bicycling, or jogging/ running during their leisure time in urban open spaces and outdoors. Research participants completed the Godin Leisure-Time Exercise Questionnaire (GLTEQ; Shephard, 1997) and Environmentally Friendly Exercise Policy Questionnaire (Kontogianni, 2015), which consisted of three scales: “policy to enhance exercise,” “environmentally friendly exercise facilities,” and “intention to change personal habits.” Participants were divided into three different subgroups according to their time exercise scores: high, middle, and low. The results showed the statistically significant differences between time exercise scores and environmentally friendly exercise policy scales. Citizens with higher exercise time participation expressed significantly higher levels on the environmentally friendly exercise policy scales. Citizens’ physical exercise time in urban open spaces and outdoors seemed to affect the creation of corresponding preferences, beliefs, and intentions towards environmentally friendly policies. City leaders, essential decision-makers, and stakeholders are expected to provide an enabling environment, legitimacy, and leadership that fosters the development and implementation of policies that support physical activity and green active living within urban spaces.

The UAE Tour, cycling stars, and Twitter: Tweeting as part of promoting the host country

Using the example of the 2019 inaugural UAE Tour, this study demonstrates how cycling stars indirectly promote countries hosting globally watched sporting events through their Twitter accounts. This study presents a qualitative and quantitative content analysis of the Twitter activity of selected cycling stars. However, this promotion is only a secondary result of their activity on social media; professional athletes use their Twitter accounts as a platform for self-presentation and to show their daily lives to fans. If the athletes are active on social media, it is almost impossible for them to avoid speaking about the host countries, indirectly evaluate them, and provide information about them to their followers. While sports celebrities’ social media profiles are a limited space for the promotion of host countries, they can also help improve the image of the countries and present them in a positive light. Of course, political leaders use countless public or sports diplomacy tools to promote their countries abroad, and online platforms are not necessarily a key element in the promotion of their international image.

Motives of labour migrations of foreign elite athletes to Polish table tennis clubs

The paper presents results of empirical study on elite foreign athletes working in Polish top table tennis clubs. It focuses on professional migration motives of elite table tennis players. In-depth interviews were carried out with 27 foreign table tennis players from 10 countries, who were playing for two top league clubs in Poland, and with 8 club coaches who were working with foreign players. Research was conducted during the 2014/2015 league season. The surveyed athletes came both from European countries of higher economic status than Poland and from outside Europe, from countries of lower economic status. A significant number of the surveyed players (11) arrived at Poland from China. The reasons why the surveyed players decided to come to Poland were varied and included both pull factors resulting from attractiveness of work abroad and factors pushing the players away from their home country sport system. Among the motives mentioned by the respondents, the major ones seem to be the desire to continue their professional career and to develop as players. Most of the respondents reported a few factors motivating them to come to Poland and play in the Polish table tennis league. Most often they gave several reasons altogether and it is not easy to classify them as exclusively one of the typo-logies of sport migrants presented in the literature. For some of the respondents, the decisive criterion was the high level of the Polish table tennis league, staying only slightly behind the French and German leagues. For others, good financial conditions offered by the Polish clubs and the possibility of improving living conditions were of key importance. Push factors were particularly important in the case of Asian players representing a very high level of sport skills, however slightly lower than the level of the Chinese national team.