The Olympic Games being held in August 2008 offers a timely opportunity to discuss the governance and management of the increasingly diverse roles of sport organizations. Balancing the need to develop world-class athletes and to encourage grassroots participation is common to all governmental sport policies and requires actionable knowledge in the fields of social science. Today sports organizations, from national federations to local associations, are also seen as important institutions in civil society as well as vehicles for promoting good citizenship and contributing to the achievement of a broad range of social policy objectives. The Institute for Public Administration and the Marie Curie Excellence Grant research group on Sport and Social Capital in the European Union at Università Bocconi are pleased to host an international conference on the increasingly broader social role of sports federations in Milan, Italy on November 20-22, 2008.
This conference will explore the changing roles and expectations held of sport federations and their impact on patterns of governance and management practices. It will bring together administrators, government representatives, athletes and academics, including scholars from a variety of disciplines and perspectives whose research interests touch upon issues of sports management, governance, and policy, as well as social welfare and non-profit organisations.
The conference will combine keynote speeches, plenary roundtable discussions, presentations of papers and discussions. Keynote addresses will explore key aspects of the changing role of sports federations, including their work with elite athletes, their constituent clubs and members, the key relationships of the federations, such as those with government, international sports organizations and commercial organizations. Plenary roundtable sessions will feature both academics and people from the sports community will discuss topical issues about the social impact of sport and the strategy to improve sports governance and management. Topics for these sessions will include: basing funding on medals or social programming; autonomy versus heteronomy of stakeholders; boundaries between sports governance, government and social service organisations; the (sporting) equal opportunities agenda; and the role of sports federations in a consumer-citizen society. Parallel sessions will give participants the opportunity to present and discuss scientific papers, case studies and international, national and local policies. The conference will encourage participants to engage in developing and enhancing future directions for research and practice, and to discuss the inherent social merits and conflicts for the federations in governing both elite and non-elite sporting participants.
The open call for academic papers welcomes submissions for both individual presentations (oral or poster) and session topics. Topics for discussion may include:
1. Financing the social role of sport
2. Managing the mix of amateur, elite, and professional athletes
3. Equalities agenda and policy making
4. Knowledge sharing and networks across organisational boundaries
5. Sport organizations and social policy in the European context
6. Managing volunteers / volunteers as managers in non-profit sports organizations
7. Relationships between governments, citizens, and sports federations
8. Marketing and social values in sport
Abstracts should be no longer than 250 words, must include the paper/poster title, and the presenter’s name and affiliation.
Participation fees vary according to the position of the participant. The fees settled are:
- Normal fee: 100 €
- Discounted fee for students: 50 €
Please note:
- papers and posters should be in English
- posters must be accompanied by their authors, who will attend their respective poster sessions and respond to queries regarding their work
- 20 minutes will be allowed for oral presentations
- oral and poster presenters must register as participants for the conference
- Pre-conference sessions for graduate students will be held on the morning of 20 November.
Deadline for the submission of abstracts is June 30, 2008 to the Conference Administrator, Mr. Vito Di Sarli at scsportex@unibocconi.it.
Scientific Committee
Elio Borgonovi, Università Bocconi
Giovanni Fattore, Università Bocconi
Margaret Groeneveld, Università Bocconi
Barrie Houlihan, Loughborough University (UK)
Fabien Ohl, Université Lausanne (CH)
Local Organising Committee
Simone Baglioni
Cristina Fusetti
Dino Numerato
H. Thomas R. Persson