English
中文Discussion
The study was conducted with the premise that the social background of the academy players is definitely a determining factor behind their success in to academies. Fundamentally social background was thought to be in terms of social and economic status and assumed that a very sound economic and social status would positively favour the players in their reach. The results showed that the social back ground in terms of economic status or social status directly or indirectly determines the success of the players. The most glaring fact that emerged in the study was regarding the attitude and approach of the families towards sport. The hobbies and pastime activities were really positive in making their reach possible. It was the factors like hobbies, age at which players started playing etc that made the profile of the families of academy players distinct from the non-academy players. But as these hobbies and attitudes are a result of one’s social class position, definitely the economic ideology has primacy over other factors.
As Coakley (2001) observes, life chances and the opportunities people get are dependent on one’s social class position. As sport involves the economic and material resources, affordability becomes fundamental to interest. Even interests and hobbies are subservient to the economic logic, as one needs money and time to entertain any interests and hobbies. Therefore, those belonging to the lower social class backgrounds are fundamentally incapable of having any sporting interests or hobbies. Thus sport becomes only a rich man’s hobby or pastime. The academy players and their families studied in this study precisely indicate the above notions of ideological supremacy and economic fundamentalism that are central to sport.
Such variables are chosen for this study that help us in understanding the difference between the academy and the non-academy players in terms of social class and background. All the variables show some positive tendencies to the hypothesis. The family profile of the players in terms of parents/carers’ profile, hobbies, occupation and economic status are studied in comparison with those of the non-academy players. The results that showed the better social background of academy players compared to non-academy players are discussed below:
1. Player Status and Income Earners’ Place of Birth
This analysis clearly indicated that parents who were born in UK have more access to football academies when compared with families who are settled in UK from other European countries. Thus one’s nativity is a determining factor in improving the access up the social ladder.
2. Player Status and Income Earners’ Language
Language is another indicator that talks of one’s nativity and ethnic background and thus affects one’s reach. Majority of the academy players’ income earners have English as their language when compared with the non-academy players. So families who speak English seem to have clear advantages in terms of access to foot ball academies than the non-English speaking families.
3. Player Status and Income Earners’ Ethnic Group
Ethnic group of the academy players’ parents is also an important factor in the social background. Analysis of the ethnic group brings out an interesting fact that parents /carers from white ethnic origin have more access to football academies as compared to parents from black ethnic group. The trend is similar also for the second income earners.
4. Player Status and Educational Institutions Attended by the Income Earners / Parents
One of the key elements of social background is parents’ / carers’ educational back ground in general and the level of educational institutions attended by them. Education, as Coakley (ibid) observes, is a result of higher economic status and thus has an underlying economic disparity. It is assumed that parents who attend higher educational institutions have more sports & foot ball exposure when compared with those who have attended only up to school level. The exposure gained in the higher educational institutions helps parents to train their children and send them to academies. The data gathered for the present study has demonstrated this phenomenon and the analysis of the data describes this relationship further. Parents who have attended higher educational institutions like college and university seem to have more advantage when compared with those who attended only schools. The survey analysis seems to agree with the general hypothesis that parents who attend higher educational institutions have more reach to academies as compared to those who attend only up to school level.
5. Player Status and Educational qualification of the Income Earners / Parents
Data seems to show similar trends for both, the educational institutions attended and educational qualifications obtained. The educational qualification denotes the level of education attained by the parents or carers. Parents who have higher educational qualifications like A levels and under-graduation seem to have more advantage when compared with those who have only GCSE. As said earlier, education is an indicator of one’s economic status as involves the economic expenditure and affordability. Thus this variable also helps in corroborating the hypothesis.
6. Player Status and Number of Family Members
To arrive at a logical conclusion about the social background and its influence on reach to football academies, it is important to look at the number of family members. The data helps in inferring that, the more the number of family members, the less the opportunity to get into the football academies.
7. Player Status and Economic Status of the Income Earners / Parents
Economic status is a very important indicator of the social background of the parents / carers. Economic status, as Coakley (ibid) points out, is the main component of stratification in the society. Economic status in this study looked at the nature of employment in-terms of full-time / part-time; unemployment, inability to work, retirement or student. The common hypothesis is that parents should be in either full-time or at least part-time employment to be able to support their children’s football practice. Results from the present study confirm the assumption developed based on the literature, that those parents who are in full-time employment are able to send their children to sports or football academies.
8. Player Status and Occupation of the Income Earners / Parents
Literature suggests that occupation has been an important social indicator that differentiated people of different social classes. To understand the social background, further parameters like occupation of the parents / income earners was considered in the survey. All the occupations were classified into 6 categories viz., Blue-collared, White-collared, Professional, Business, No occupation and Other Occupations. Blue-collared are those who do are industrial workers and do labour jobs and get paid daily or weekly wages. White-collared are those who do office-based or related jobs and are paid monthly salaries. Professionals are those who pursue a profession like – doctors, engineers, lawyers, accountants and other related professionals who earn good income from their profession or job. The hypothesis is made based on the literature review that parents who are in white-collared or professional occupations have more reach or access to academies and can send children to academies as compared to those parents in blue-collared occupations. The study corroborates that parents who are in white-collared or professional occupations have more reach or access to academies and can send children to academies as compared to those parents in blue-collared occupations.
9. Player Status and Income Levels of the Income Earners / Parents
Income of the parents or income earners is closely related to their occupations and is an important factor in analysing the reach to the football academies. The annual income of the single parent was grouped into different categories such as – (1) less than £25,000; (2) from £25,001 to £50,000; (3) from £50,001 to £100,000 and (4) more than £100,000. A hypothesis is made based on the review of Coakley’s study (ibid), that the more the income of the parents or families, the more is the affordability to send their children to football academies. The results from the study support the hypothesis.
10. Player Status and Number of Income Earners in the Family
The total number of income earners in the family is also important to arrive at the total family income and to finally arrive at the economic status of the family. More income earners in a family boost the confidence of the family to encourage the sporting career of a child and the results show a positive relation between the number of earners and the academy reach.
11. Player Status and Total Family Income
Total income of the families is the sum total of the first, second & other income earners in the family and is an important factor in analysing the reach to football academies. The income of the families was grouped into different categories such as – (1) less than £25,000; (2) from £25,001 to £50,000; (3) from £50,001 to £100,000 and (4) more than £100,000. The hypothesis is that the higher the income of the families, the higher is the affordability to send their children to football academies. Results from the study support the general hypothesis. So it can be inferred that families with more income have more reach to football academies as compared to families with less income.
12. Player Status and Number of Cars in the Family
Total number of cars represents not only the economic status of the family, but also the facilities that players have in reaching the football grounds. It can be assumed that the more the number of cars, the higher is the chance of the family to encourage sport and more is the reach to the football academies and results corroborate the assumption.
13. Player Status and Hobbies of Income Earners
Hobbies and free time games of the parents are key parameters of the social background to understand the factors that facilitate the reach of the football academies. Hobbies, as observed by Coakley (ibid) are also indicative of one’s higher or lower economic status. Hobbies of the parents in this study are classified into four groups and they are – (1) sports based hobbies (2) reading and related hobbies (3) travel, tourism and related hobbies and (4) shopping & related hobbies. A hypothesis is made based on literature review, that parents who have sports related hobbies tend to orient their children to quality sport and thus send them to academies as compared to parents who have non-sports related hobbies. So the study results support the hypothesis that parents who have sports related hobbies tend to send their children to academies as compared to parents who have non-sports related hobbies.
14. Player Status and Games Played by the Income Earners
Games played by parents during free time seem to determine their decision to send their children to the foot ball academies. The free time games of the parents are classified into three groups and they are – no games, football, and other games. General hypothesis is that parents who play other games or football seem to be sending their children to academies as compared to parents who do not play any game. So the study results support the hypothesis that parents who play football or other games tend to have better reach to the academies as compared to parents who do not play any games.
15. Player Status and Mode of Transport to Football Game
Mode of transport adopted for the practice of football is also a key factor in the analysis. Mode of transport, as indicated by the earlier studies (Coakley, 2001), not only indicates the status of the people, but also the reach of the people to academies. Thus the results from the study confirm the general hypothesis that players, who travel by car along with their parents, have more reach to the academies as compared to the players who travel by public transport or other means.
16. Player Status and Average Miles per Season
Not only travelling by car but also average miles travelled is an import factor in assessing the reach to the academies. Average miles travelled per season by the players are grouped into – less than 1000 miles, between 1001 to 3000 miles, and more than 3001 miles. While both academy and non-academy players travel by car to their game, the academy players travel more miles per season as compared to non-academy players.
17. Player Status and Age at Which Football was Started
Finally the age at which the players start playing the game is one of the key factors in assessing the reach to the academies. General hypothesis is that the earlier one starts playing the game, the more are the changes of reaching the academies. The study clearly indicates that the early the players start playing the game, the more is the chance of getting into the football academies.
Thus as Coakley (ibid) observed, economic status which is depicted in one’s income, occupation, education and hobbies profile also determines their life chances and the opportunities. Thus sport which is pursued as a result of one’s higher economic status definitely facilitates one’s life chances and opportunities to reach the academies and thus become a part of the first class sport. Thus the benefits of sport instead of getting distributed to people across the society, gets selectively distributed and thus exclude all those from the process that have less access to better life chances and opportunities.
Conclusions and Recommendations
Sport has been recognised to have multiple advantages for the society at large. It is a well agreed fact that sportive spirit is one that takes people beyond the personal prejudices and biases and leads to social cohesion. It not only improves community tolerance but also checks crime. Prime Minister recognised the omnipotence of sport and identified sport policy to be the best anti-crime policy and also the best health and education policy (Every body wins, 2002). Having understood the great potential of sport, one would obviously expect it to reach the wider society. But often it ends up in a conundrum of paradoxes.
Sport is often clogged in a web of social and political forces that limit in realising its potential to the fullest extent. The paradox is that while it is scale neutral in its scope, it often becomes biased in its reach. More so, because of the social and political forces which make sport unreachable for particular groups. Thus the benefits of sport are often differentially distributed.
There are many facets of sport that make it more and more convoluted. Sport these days, has ceased to be the simple entertaining, healthy exercise. It has become a more challenging, competitive exercise to such an extent that, it involves bigger stakes now. The world class sport these days is no less than a gambling den and betting is a common feature.
Under these circumstances, it is very obvious and understandable that the Football Association aims at producing high quality sport. Thus the Charter for Quality programme became the most challenging project for the Football Association to ensure quality in football, through which higher standards are set for the academies and leagues in nurturing the best players.
The paradox is again in the sense that, to meet these standards, the academies cannot take any risk and thus turn out to be very choosy with the players. The obvious choices are pointed towards those who have a certain benefit over others in one or more parameters.
To be able to get selected and reach the academies, the players need to have some advantages over others that keep them abreast of others. Thus the market forces make it inevitable that one has social and economic advantages apart from talent and interest. The political forces see to it that there is a mutual advantage between the players and the academies. Thus only those who are from safer social backgrounds make it to the academies and this is made feasible by the paradoxical forces around the so called scale neutral sport.
This study aimed at understanding the social dynamics that operate behind the success of the academy players in their reach. The study showed that there are many factors that contribute to the success of the academy players and keep them abreast of the others. These include not only the social and economic factors but also certain qualities of the families in terms of their leisure hobbies, priorities given to hobbies, their commitment to what they pursue etc. These factors though seem separate, are not free from the economic logic and the ideological supremacy that overrides the sport. The leisure activities or hobbies are pursued and afforded only by those who have better social and economic background. Thus the study confirmed the hypothesis that the social class and background has a very determining impact in facilitating the reach of the academy players.
The parameters like the age at which the child would have started playing indicate that the academy players or rather their parents are really committed in nurturing the child right from a very young age, which is lacking in those who do not make it to the academy. Similarly, this commitment is also shown in the priorities of the families in terms of their sports based leisure activities, the mode of transport adopted etc. Facilitating the penchant of the child in pursuing his sport through the support of easy mode of transport is the biggest encouraging factor for any upcoming player. Children also get highly motivated by what their parents do and in this sense, parents’ sports based hobbies definitely contribute to the congenial atmosphere at home. But all these factors have an economic underpinning that reflects nothing but the social background of the families.
Thus one can say that the academy players are born with certain other advantages that make their reach to the academies possible.
Recommendations
- The academies must realise the potential of sport for social inclusion and endeavour to achieve this through properly structured programmes.
- The players for the academies can be selected based upon the interest and the talent of the players for which school level selection programmes can be conducted by the academies.
- Primary schools should nurture players from a young age in football for which sponsorships can be raised by schools.
- Academies can collaborate with schools in nurturing and training the players before selecting them for the academies.
Proper incentive packages can be introduced by the Football Association for the families for encouraging participation from all players irrespective of social background.
