Shifting dominant logics? The organisational field of Finnish sport clubs in the 2010s

Abstract

Shifting dominant logics? The organisational field of Finnish sport clubs in the 2010sThis research, which draws upon the new institutionalist approach, investigates the changing dominant logics of voluntary sport clubs in Finland. Data were collected by conducting 41 semi-structured expert interviews with sport clubs and obtaining club documents. Results reveal a widening range of roles, networks, and participant pathways, as well as an increasingly formalised operation and diversified language-use. As a result, many clubs have experienced challenges in maintaining their legitimacy when operating in new domains that diverge from their traditional operations. The findings reflect growing expectations placed upon sport clubs and their shifting roles across the public, private and third sectors. Further, it is argued that understanding the logics of all three sectors have become necessary in order for sport clubs to run successfully. The findings will be of interest to federations, institutes providing tertiary education, as well as to clubs that are in the process of refining their profile.

Sport policy in Finland: from class divisions to depoliticisation, from sport for all to business like any other?

“…Its task was to organise sport for culturally and linguistically distinctive Swedish--speaking population. reform in the Finnish sport system, all crucial tasks were taken over by the Finnish Olympic Committee, which is currently, along with the Ministry of Sport (depending on the Government, it may be part of Ministry for Education and Culture or a separate body), the most influential institution governing the national sport system (Mäkinen, Lämsä & Lehtonen, 2019;Szerovay, 2022;Mikkonen et al, 2022). FOC serves as an umbrella organisation supervising sports federations.…”

“…Traditional ideals of amateur sport based on voluntary work and the growing significance of the commercial sector in the sports industry coexist, but not without tensions. These are visible in the first place in the field of club management (Szerovay, 2022). The divergence has occurred since the 1980s; some parts of the sports sector were rapidly professionalising.…”