Search for the hero: an investigation into the sports heroes of British sports fans

Abstract

This is an initial study into British sports fans' heroes. A questionnaire was administered to 95 students (average age = 19.75) to identify their sporting hero, the hero's sport and nationality and the reasons for this choice. Football was the most common source of sports heroes, identified by 49 percent of participants with a sporting hero. The majority (60 percent, N = 48) of heroes chosen by participants were British with David Beckham the most popular choice.Differences were observed between the gender of participants, gender of hero chosen and the reasons for choosing the hero. The most common reason for selecting a hero was a personal trait rather than skill while a category of Local Affiliation was added to those suggested by previous work. It was concluded that to become a hero athletes should combine skill with devotion to family, charity work and a place in popular culture.

Exploring the wicked problem of athlete and consumer vulnerability in sport

“…They are required to be exemplary performers on the field and, whether they like it or not, 'role models' in society off the field (Parry, 2009). In order to achieve this, sport organisations survey and micro-manage athletes' working lives, and purposefully intrude into their private lives (Zaksaite, 2012).…”

“…Further, the increasingly commercial and pressurized environment of the sport system has contributed to problematic and anti-social behaviour by athletes not only within the sport arena but also outside of it (Fincoeur et al, 2013;Stewart and Smith, 2014). As well as being detrimental to the athletes concerned, this behaviour, which includes sexual assault, drug use, driving while intoxicated and illegal gambling, has wider implications for potentially normalising or desensitising undesirable behaviour in the community, which looks to sport for their heroes and role models (Parry, 2009;Rojek, 2006). Essentially this dark side runs counter to sport's positive social and cultural role in society, creating an environment that can render both athletes and fans vulnerable to behaviour that may compromise or threaten their well-being (Gucciardi et al, 2010).…”

Racial folklore, black masculinities and the reproduction of dominant racial ideologies: The case of Israel Folau

“…To be successful, athletes typically require high levels of athletic ability (Parry, 2009) and physical characteristics such as height and athleticism are amongst the statistics and qualities that the AFL uses as measures of talent identification (Kelly and Hickey, 2008). It may, therefore, not be surprising that Folau's athleticism was a recurrent theme in media coverage, and it was put forward as the AFL's key reason for approaching him to convert to Australian football (Cowley and Baumgart, 2010).…”

‘Harry walks, Fabio runs’: A case study on the current relationship between English national identity, soccer and the English press

“…figure who has worked his way up to achieve the meritocratic ideal (Crepeau, 1981;Parry, 2009). Redknapp's 'rags to riches' story was illustrated in large features documenting how he rose from an "impoverished East End upbringing" (Collins, 2012: 7).…”

“…Despite the fact that as a manager of a successful EPL team Redknapp is undoubtedly extremely well paid and lives in an expensive house reportedly worth £10 million (Collins, 2012: 7), he was depicted by the press as betraying his wealth and knowing nothing about fine art, unlike Capello (Barnes, 2012: 75). Although having a large personal wealth might fail to locate Redknapp as a reference point for the working classes, this appears to have been forgiven in the press coverage analysed, as he is seen to have done well for himself, as some kind of aspirational ‘hero’ figure who has worked his way up to achieve the meritocratic ideal (Crepeau, 1981; Parry, 2009). Redknapp’s ‘rags to riches’ story was illustrated in large features documenting how he rose from an ‘impoverished East End upbringing’ (Collins, 2012: 7).…”