Institutional Pressures Impacting on Disability Sport: Challenges for Mainstreaming in Cricket

Paul James Kitchin, P. David Howe

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

Abstract

While disability sport may be gaining greater public profile in the lead up to the London 2012 Paralympic Games it is no latecomer to the UK sporting landscape . In spite of disability sport historically achieving greater success than the equivalent mainstream provision it has increasingly experienced more direct, interventionist approach from the peak agencies in UK sport . This presentation aims to gain a more critical understanding of the increasing institutional pressures placed on disability sport, with a particular focus on the cricket in England and Wales . We will draw upon Bourdieu’s key concepts of capital, field and habitus as a theoretical device for organizing and analyzing the experiences of managers operating within the sport . A longitudinal field study drew on staff experiences within an inter-organizational partnership that had responsibility for the delivery of a cricket programme for young people with disabilities . Preliminary findings suggest that a number of field strategies are in opposition to the aims of the partnership . Therefore, despite this formal relationship individual organizations, influenced by a shared competitive history, experience mild conflict over rights to promising junior athletes . In addition to these findings we argue that an additional outcome of this research is to demonstrate the suitability of combining the sociology of sport and sport management, thus improving both the practical relevance of the former and the theoretical foundations of the latter .
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationUnknown Host Publication
PublisherInternational Sociology of Sport Association
Pages45-45
Number of pages55
Publication statusPublished (in print/issue) - 18 Jun 2012
EventISSA World Congress of Sociology of Sport 2012 - Glasgow
Duration: 18 Jun 2012 → …

Conference

ConferenceISSA World Congress of Sociology of Sport 2012
Period18/06/12 → …

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