Research questions: Can a demonstration effect, whereby people are inspired by elite sport, sports people and events to actively participate themselves, be harnessed from an Olympic Games to influence sport participation? Did London 2012 sport participation legacy policy draw on evidence about a demonstration effect, and was a legacy delivered? Research methods: A worldwide systematic review of English language evidence returned 1778 sources iteratively reduced by the author panel, on advice from an international review panel to 21 included sources that were quality appraised and synthesised narratively. The evidence was used to examine the influence of a demonstration effect on sport participation engagement and to interrogate sport participation legacy policy for London 2012. Results and findings: There is no evidence for an inherent demonstration effect, but a potential demonstration effect, properly leveraged, may deliver increases in sport participation frequency and re-engage lapsed participants. Despite setting out to use London 2012 to raise sport participation, successive UK Governments' policy failures to harness the potential influence of a demonstration effect on demand resulted in failure to deliver increased participation. Implications: If the primary justification for hosting an Olympic Games is the potential impact on sport participation, the Games are a bad investment. However, the Games can have specific impacts on sport participation frequency and re-engagement, and if these are desirable for host societies, are properly leveraged by hosts, and are one among a number of reasons for hosting the Games, then the Games may be a justifiable investment in sport participation terms.
Physical activity policy makers and professionals should seek to satisfy this desire to participate through providing physical activity (rather than sport) opportunities presented as fun community events or programmes. The key to generating a physical activity legacy among the least active adults through this process is to de-emphasise the sporting element of the 2012 Games and promote the festival element.
Through a systematic review and meta-analyses of worldwide evidence, this article provides estimates for spend per person per day of overnight (£43.33), non-overnight (£7.95), and all (£13.38) tourism and leisure cyclists. A further meta-analysis to inform local policy, provision, and local economic impact strategies provides evidence for seven tourism and leisure cycling market segments (Near Residents, Far Residents, Near Day Trippers, Far Day Trippers, Near Holidayers, Far Holidayers, Cycle Tourers), and their associated behaviors and spending patterns. Over three quarters of economic activity attributable to tourism and leisure cycling (77%) is shown to be derived from cycling tourism, thus representing additional local economic impact. In conclusion, the use of market segmentation to derive local economic impact estimates is discussed. The importance of considering how far cycling tourism affects trip decisions, rather than whether cycling tourism is the prime trip purpose, is highlighted in deriving robust economic impact estimates. Finally, because the Cycle Tourers market segment contributes less than 2% of market volume and value, future research might usefully focus on less dedicated but more prevalent casual recreationalist cyclists, who are interested in shorter trips, with more stops for refreshments and socializing, and who often travel in family groups.
This paper explores the extent to which korfball can be considered egalitarian. The intention of this research was to use ethnographic methods to discover the ways in which gender was negotiated, challenged or recreated in a junior korfball setting and examine to what extent korfball provided an opportunity to promote gender egalitarianism. Analysis of the data incorporated a broad Foucauldian lens and subsequently revealed that sex equality was visible to some degree in the junior korfball space. From observations and interviews it was clear that male domination was rarely evident when considering the vocal nature of the game, the physicality and competitiveness of players, or their general ability and skill, yet when interviewed players still constructed gender in traditional ways. Nevertheless, korfball was seen to offer a space where there were possibilities for sporting equality although the influence that the sport had beyond the court was less apparent. 5 key words: Korfball, Equality, Gender, Mixed-sex, Foucault Introduction While general opportunities for women to engage in sport have clearly improved in recent years, it would be difficult to argue that women are treated equally in all aspects of sport, whether at professional or recreational level. However, while claims that sport remains a predominantly male dominated arena are valid, it is still misleading to assume that all men automatically experience sport positively and all women will invariably have negative experiences. Consequently, one of the central issues at the heart of the gender debate (not only in sport) is the continued approach to treating women and men as completely separate and that their experiences will always be different. What is needed is a more nuanced approach that takes into consideration the complex forms of power operating between and around those that take part in any sporting activity. A Foucauldian lens is a useful starting point when investigating complex and multiple relationships of power. Unlike the binary understandings of power relationships often recognised through hegemony (Connell 2005), Foucault (1978: 94) suggests that power is not 'a system of domination exerted by one group over another'. Subsequently, many writers exploring the field of sport have utilised Foucault to investigate the complex power relations and multiple discourses that reside within sport or physical activity. For instance, Markula and Pringle (2006) in their research into rugby in 1 New Zealand highlight the influence of sport on the gendering of bodies where there is a presumption that the discourse of sport aids the production of contemporary gendered identities where 'masculine and feminine bodies are both docile, yet different' (Markula and Pringle, 2006: 100). By acknowledging these complex relationships of power, further insight can be made into why there remains a lack of appeal for sport by girls (and many boys). While it can be argued that there still remains a disparity between boys and girls levels of participation in sport (Ba...
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