First Published in 2001. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Offering a complete introduction to sport development policy and practice, this book covers key theory, themes, issues, and debates in sport development, without assuming any prior knowledge on the part of the reader. It outlines the organisational landscape of sport in the UK and explains important differences across England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, as well as the global context. Examining both community and elite sport, it covers public, private, and third sectors, including national and local government and national governing bodies, and considers change – cultural, managerial, social, and political – as an element of sport development policy, strategy, and operations. Every chapter includes an in-depth case study around which a seminar or tutorial can be based, as well as definitions of key concepts and terminology that students and practitioners are likely to encounter during their studies or professional practice. Questions at the end of each chapter encourage the reader to reflect on their own work, and useful guides to further reading make the book an ideal jumping off point for further study. This is the perfect foundation textbook for any sport development course taken as part of a degree program in sport development, sport management, or sport coaching.

The aim of this book is to provide an overview of perspectives and approaches to sports development focusing on sport systems, sport participation and public policy towards sports. It includes twelve European countries covering all regions of Europe and eleven countries from around the globe. The objective is to present an overview of the diversity of approaches taken to sport development, focusing on the different sport systems and how sport is financed, the underlying applications of sport policy and how it is reflected in sport participation. This book takes a comparative approach which is reflected in each chapter following a similar structure. The diversity of sports systems in Europe and other continents and their (historical) context is shown. Thereby a range of policy approaches underpinning sport development around the world are presented, making it of interest to both academics and policy-makers concerned with sports economics and policy.

The development of both elite, high performance sport and mass participation, grassroots-level sport are central concerns for governments and sports governing bodies. This important new study is the first to closely examine the challenges and opportunities for sports development in the United States, a global sporting giant with a unique, market-driven sporting landscape. Presenting an innovative model of integrated sports development, the book explores the inter-relationship between elite and mass sport across history, drawing on comparative international examples from Australia to the former USSR and Eastern bloc countries. At the heart of the book is an in-depth empirical study of three (traditional and emerging) sports in the US – tennis, soccer and rugby – that offer important lessons on the development of elite sport, methods for increasing participation, and the establishment of new sports in new markets. No other book has attempted to model sports development in the United States in such depth before. Therefore this should be essential reading for all students, researchers, administrators or policy-makers with an interest in sports development, sports management, sports policy, or comparative, international sport studies.

This practical textbook explains the sport development process from a practitioner’s viewpoint, showing what actually works, how, and why. Focusing on the development of sport, the book considers the efforts of sport organisations to revitalise their sports at a community level to ensure their future relevance, growth, and sustainability. Full of real-world cases and data, as well as the voices and reflections of a wide range of practitioners, Sport Development in Action explains how to research and draw up a development plan, how to design and implement programmes and establish delivery networks, and how to monitor and evaluate initiatives. This is essential reading for any sport development course, and useful reading for courses in sport management, sports coaching, or sports studies. It is also an indispensable reference book for practitioners.

For the first time, this book examines the strategies of leaders of emerging nations to use sport as a tool for reaching social, economic, cultural, political, technological or environmental goals and gaining international prestige. It assesses whether sport can really be an effective tool in international development. The book explores the unique challenges, issues and opportunities offered by sport for development in emerging nations. Bringing together case studies of sport and development in countries including Brazil, China, Czech Republic, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Poland, Qatar, South Africa, South Korea and Turkey, the book looks at policies designed to achieve development through, by and for sport, and whether they have achieved their socio-economic objectives. It considers the way that emerging nations have used major international sports events as political and developmental projects, as well as the importance of sporting infrastructure, professional leagues, participation programmes and the influence of nationalism and ideology. With a truly global perspective, this book is important reading for any student, researcher or policy-maker with interest in sport management, sport development, development studies, international economics, globalisation or political science.

Sport is increasingly regarded as a powerful tool in international development. In this comprehensive introduction to the area of ‘sport-for-development’, leading researcher Fred Coalter critically evaluates the strengths and weaknesses and successes and failures of sport-for-development policies and programs. Beginning with an outline of the historical development of policies of sport-for-development, this book explores the objectives that remain central to international sport-for-development initiatives, including issues of defining and measuring impacts, the development of self-efficacy and leadership skills, female empowerment, HIV/AIDS awareness and social capital. Drawing on a wealth of fieldwork experience and empirical data from the most extensive monitoring and evaluation project ever undertaken with sport-for-development organisations, this is an unparalleled and fully integrated assessment of theory, policy and practice in international sport-for-development. Sport-for-development: What game are we playing is essential reading for any student or practitioner with an interest in sport-for-development, sports policy or international development.