Globalization, commercialization and individualization: Conflicts and changes in elite athletics

Abstract

An understanding of the concept of a world sport system is useful to explain how world-wide changes in society and the meaning of sports affect the relations between local, national and international sports organizations and between individual athletes, coaches and officials. The term system is used to accentuate the interconnectedness of different aspects of sport. In Holland, as in many other western countries, the organization of elite sport is in transition from amateurism to commercialism and each sport is changing at a different rate. The many conflicts and problems that at present arise between top athletes, coaches, officials and sports organizations can be explained by an understanding of the changes taking place world-wide in sport. I shall demonstrate that, since the 1970s, it has been necessary for topclass athletes to make more conscious choices in the construction of their sporting careers. In this new situation they have to become more selfconscious and more self-centred. Coaches and officials usually represent only one of the alternative routes to success for the athletes. This leads to conflicts and allegations of disloyalty are common. From September 1997 to September 1998, I had the opportunity to participate in and observe some of these conflicts and problems. During that period I was part of a small team of three, and later (after a disagreement) of two, amateur coaches, which supervised a group of ten women rowers in Amsterdam, who were trying to obtain a place in the Dutch national rowing squad. One of the women got into the squad and won a bronze medal at the World Championships. Two of the others reached the national under-22 squad and another two, who rowed together, would almost certainly have been selected if one of them had not sustained serious injury a few weeks before the final selection. The other five rowers failed in last phases of selections. But all of them were trying again in 1998/99 to get into the national squad. I myself preferred not to be involved again. My aim in this article is to describe some of my experiences and observations, compare them with descriptions of similar events in other sports and to attempt an explanation of them. The explanation will