and an increased flow of traditional and nontraditional content, such as e-sports, with all of this and more leading to unprecedented changes in sports and sports development as we know it. However, there are numerous problems, many of which this book defines and offers potential solutions for. Several issues are pushing us to the point of seriously discussing how we evolve American sports development. Several current problems and challenges in the American sports system are discussed in forthcoming chapters along with proposed solutions. There are obviously many issues that can be addressed, but for the purposes of this book, the problems addressed are primarily focused on economic issues, public health problems, education, and access to sports and recreation. Specific problems discussed include elite and competitive athletics within the educational space, a growing athletes’ rights movement that is even focusing on labor relations at the intercollegiate sports level, changes to the status and competitive level of primary and secondary school sports, legal challenges, legislative and other potential government intervention, public health issues, greater access to sports and recreational activities, and where to put “other” less commercially viable sports that are losing teams and opportunities as more money and resources are directed toward football and basketball.
Even with these many issues and problems that need to be corrected, numerous benefits and positives regarding sports and sports development continue to exist in the United States. At their core, some things regarding sports and even the sports industry have remained fairly constant through their history (more fully discussed in chapter 2). Whether it is a matter of elite, mass-participation, or recreational sports, it remains possible (and, if done correctly, even probable) that, through sports, one can learn how to move, use, and know one’s body, and that participation in sports can be a vital part of an active and healthy lifestyle. Sports can help one develop needed social and personal skills like discipline, confidence, leadership, teamwork, and organization. They can teach one to respect rules and authority and gain core values like tolerance, respect, and fair play. Additionally, organized sports can be a valuable augmentation to the educational and maturation processes. Learning how to cope with defeat as well as victory is an important life skill for both young and old to master. All of these life skills and more can be learned and enhanced via active sports participation throughout life.
To ensure the development of these skills and values, and to strengthen the understanding of a healthy lifestyle, it is of paramount importance for every member of society to have the ability to participate in sporting activities by way of widespread and ready access to sports facilities and sports participation. For many people, that means being able to play their favorite sports and exercise at the lowest price possible, regardless of their age, skills, and social background (Stiegelmayr 2015). Exploring how different countries use sports and provide access to sports participation, ostensibly to benefit society and the country at large, is a major focus of this book.
SPORTS DELIVERY AND SPORTS DEVELOPMENT MODELS AROUND THE WORLD
Throughout modern history and up to the present day, each country and/or culture has had its own systems and organizations for sports and sports development, whether in mass-participation, recreational, or elite sports. Two of the most popular and widespread sports development models are the European sports club model and the American model. Sports in European countries are largely organized through nonprofit, mainly local and grassroots clubs. This is in sharp contrast with most sports development in the United States, as its typical participants are either primary or secondary school athletes, along with those competing in college- and university-based sports.
Comparing and contrasting the European sports club model and the American education-based model, we can begin to ascertain whether other models might be developed in conjunction with or separate from our current way of governing sports. I do not propose in any way saving the almost exclusively education-based system we have in the United States. My argument starts from a baseline belief that the current model does not work and must be changed. Frankly, we should no longer entertain any debate that is grounded in saving the system. It is, I will say again, only a question of how. In other words, we must first recognize and admit that we have a problem; only then can this society finally and fully address the need for reform. I am not here to advocate killing off educationally based sports in America. Educationally housed sports can certainly be part of new approaches toward the evolution of sports governance and sports delivery in America. However, the stress on our education system with regard to sports participation and finance must be relieved, and soon.
As a nation, the United States must address such problems before the situation deteriorates beyond repair. If we want to continue to provide and enhance plentiful opportunities for as many people as possible in a wide variety of organized sports and recreational pursuits, preserving educational primacy along with improving public health, then I believe we simply must change how we do sports in this country. If we want to continue to develop elite athletes at local, regional, and national levels—in many sports, not just football and men’s basketball—who will excel at home and abroad, then we must change. The United States seems to be stuck in the past on this. Meanwhile, for its citizens, opportunities for better health and the personal growth that can be gained from sports are vanishing.
This book examines four potential and dramatic alternatives to the current model, including consideration of adopting portions of the sports club systems prevalent in Western and Eastern European countries, with a focus on Germany and the Netherlands. I spent fifteen months in Europe conducting research for this project as a Fulbright teaching and research scholar at the University of Bayreuth, Germany, in 2014–15. The research consisted of immersing myself in the system via empirical research, site visits, interviews, and focus groups to learn as much as possible about the European sports model and to ascertain if a similar model could be developed in part or in whole in the United States. I also had a front-row seat, figuratively and literally, observing how a local European sports club operates as my son Bradley competed for FSV (Fussball Sport Verband) Bayreuth on its C-level (under-sixteen) soccer team. Since most European sports club systems are similar, I made the choice to focus on Germany and the Netherlands, as they were the two countries I spent the most time in during my research sabbatical. As more fully discussed in chapter 5, most countries in the European Union have a basically similar approach to sports governance, delivery, and development.
This book also focuses on other potential models for elite, mass-participation, and recreational sports development in the United States. As sports choices decrease in a funding-challenged American educational system, and recreational opportunities outside that system become more expensive, it is increasingly apparent that more sports opportunities need to be developed outside the educational system for competitive, mass-participation, and general recreational exercise. The United States is not only suffering from an education funding crisis, made worse by its way of too frequently prioritizing sports over education. It is also suffering under the strain of its citizens becoming primarily sports spectators while maintaining very unhealthy and mostly inactive lifestyles, in turn impacting health care and the federal and state budgets devoted to it.
Where would the money and infrastructure come from for a dramatic shift in sports development in America? It’s a fair question, but one with realistic and measurable answers. This book covers the potential positive impact that an extreme paradigm shift, including a shift to models such as the ones being proposed, can have on public health in the United States. Any reorganization of how we do sports in the United States must take into account the overall health benefits to the population, not just competitive and commercial benefits. Other countries are outdoing America in offering widespread options in sports, whether it be for mass participation or elite development. Many scholars agree that opportunities in the United States are dwindling and that we should learn from countries like Germany, with its “Sports for All” movement, or Canada, where the government is promoting physical activity to enhance all of its citizens’ well-being.1 Sports clubs around the world are supported in several ways, including through government subsidies (via taxes), membership dues, revenue from
