The Global Sporting Arms Race

This title presents an international comparison of elite sports policies in six nations (Norway, Canada, Italy, Holland, the UK and Belgium). Drawing on research involving more than 1400 athletes, coaches, and performance directors, it evaluates and compares over 100 factors that lead to international sporting success.

How can nations improve their chances of winning medals in international sport? This book deals with the strategic policy planning process that underpins the development of successful national elite sport development systems. Drawing on various international competitiveness studies, it examines how nations develop and implement policies that are based on the critical success factors that may lead to competitive advantage in world sport. An international group of researchers joined forces to develop theories, methods and a model on the Sports Policy factors Leading to International Sporting Success (SPLISS). The book presents the results of the large-scale international SPLISS-project. In this project the research team identified, compared and contrasted elite sport policies and strategies in place for the Olympic Games and other events in 15 distinct nations. With input from 58 researchers and 33 policy makers worldwide and the views of over 3,000 elite athletes, 1,300 high performance coaches and 240 performance directors, this work is the largest benchmarking study of national elite sport policies ever conducted. The nations taking part in SPLISS are: • Americas: Brazil and Canada • Asia: Japan and South Korea • Europe: Belgium (Flanders & Wallonia), Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, the Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland • Oceania: Australia

This handbook provides a critical assessment of contemporary issues that define the contours of the Paralympic Movement generally and the Paralympic Games more specifically. It addresses conceptualisations of disability sport, explores the structure of the Paralympic Movement and considers key political strategic and governance issues which have shaped its development. The Palgrave Handbook of Paralympic Studies is written by a range of international authors, a number of whom are senior strategists as well as academics, and explores legacy themes through case studies of recent Paralympic games. Written in the wake of the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games, it provides an assessment of contemporary challenges faced by the International Paralympic Committee and other key stakeholders in the Paralympic Movement. Its critical assessment of approaches to branding, classification, social inclusion and technological advances makes this handbook a valuable resource for undergraduate study across a range of sport and disability related programmes, as well as a point of reference for researchers and policy makers.

This report focuses on the funding UK Sport has allocated to prepare athletes for the Summer Olympic and Paralympic sports at Beijing in 2008 and at London in 2012. It examines what progress the Department and UK Sport have made in implementing the Committee of Public Accounts' 2006 recommendations, whether they have a clear funding strategy and performance framework through which to deliver their objectives for sporting success at London 2012 and beyond, and what steps they are taking to manage the emerging areas of risk.

"Lifts the analysis out of the nuts and bolts of sports policy and into some really thought-provoking areas which will equip the policy maker for the challenges of the 21st century" - Dominic Malcolm, Loughborough University "This is an excellent analysis of the significance of globalisation for national sport policy and especially of the impact of global processes at the local socio-cultural level" - Barrie Houlihan, Loughborough University Drawing upon a range of empirical case studies, Catherine Palmer situates sports policy within a broader consideration of global processes, practices and consequences, exploring the relationship between: the local and the global globalization and governance new technologies human rights the environment corporate responsibility. In doing so she sets out the ground for an understanding of policy making in sport and how this affects society. Covering both theory and practice, it is a detailed and thought provoking resource for students of sports policy, sports development, sports management and sports studies.

The international nature of the sport industry presents many management challenges and opportunities for sport organisations. This book brings together cutting-edge research from leading sport management scholars around the world, surveying a wide range of topics and issues facing the sport industry today. It represents an essential platform for the international exchange of ideas, best practice and research in sport management studies. The globalisation of the sport industry has brought increased complexity to organisations’ operations in terms of regulation, competition and multiculturalism. Drawing on a wealth of original research from fifteen countries, this book addresses a variety of global, regional, national and community issues that are central to successful sport management. Combining both qualitative and quantitative studies, it explores key themes, such as managing resources and organisational change, marketing and promotion, law and regulation, sport-for-development and research protocols. Global Sport Management Studies: Contemporary issues and inquiries is essential reading for all students and scholars of sport management, sport business and sport marketing, as well as for any professional working in the sport and leisure industries.

Sport Policy: a comparative analysis of stability and change builds on the growing general interest in the comparative study of sport policy and the more specific interest in processes of policy change and issues associated with policy convergence. In stark contrast to many other areas of public policy such as education, personal welfare and health care there is a paucity of theoretically informed comparative studies in sport. Over recent years there has been a steady increase in public investment in sport and frequently, as a consequence, a sharper debate about how public resources should be used. However, there has been little analysis of the factors that shape the generation of domestic sport policy and little attempt to identify the variables that might influence the policy process. Sport Policy: a comparative analysis of stability and change provides a theoretically informed analysis of the sports systems in Canada, England, Germany and Norway. These economically advanced countries are carefully selected to enable the investigation of the significance of variables and because they share a number of socio-economic and sports-related characteristics, which provides the text with a unique breadth and depth of coverage. This text is a vital addition to the general paucity of literature in this area and is written by an internationally renowned author team.