Jeroen Scheerder

• Professor
• Professor at KU Leuven

Sport clubs traditionally focus on essential tasks such as organising local competitions, facilitating youth sport, and managing their volunteers. This primary focus can sometimes make it challenging to prioritise additional social initiatives such as developing more inclusive sports programs for disadvantaged communities. Despite the inherent diff...

Background The lack of knowledge regarding urban sports poses pressing challenges for governments and sports organisations to deal with in light of its increasing popularity. To develop targeted policy strategies, more insight is needed into the features of urban sports. Therefore, this research aims to establish a profile of urban sports participa...

Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) are relatively well-established topics within the sports industry in Flanders, Belgium. This chapter is based on semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders in the three different sports subsectors—commercial sector, civil society, and government—and aims to examine the trade-offs betwee...

In this handbook we examine the various ways grassroots sports for persons with a disability are delivered throughout Europe. In this introductory chapter, the underlying reasons for the composition of this handbook are explained, we discuss the aims and benefits and we present the comparative framework of this handbook. A considerable share of the...

In this handbook we examine the various ways grassroots sports for persons with a disability is delivered throughout Europe by means of 19 country-specific chapters. In this concluding chapter, by taking a helicopter view, we provide an overview of the similarities and differences in the delivery of disability sport and participation by persons wit...

The country-specific chapters in this handbook give a comparative overview of the different ways various countries across Europe attempt to include persons with a disability in sport, and the policies they adopt to try and promote this. The aim of this chapter is to try and explain some of the reasons why such policies are necessary and why persons...

This chapter provides an overview of the disability sports landscape in Belgium, with emphasis on Flanders which is the Dutch-speaking part in the north of the country. When it comes to disability sport, Flanders is a region in transition: from a historically fragmented mosaic of many, rather smaller, agents, all playing their role in the organisat...

In this chapter findings are presented regarding the participation in physical activity and different modes of sports practice by people with a disability. For this, secondary analyses based on available pan-European data are performed. More specifically, data from both the Eurobarometer Surveys and the SIVSCE research project are applied since the...

Considering wider societal developments that reflect a demand for personalised services, this study aims to uncover the relationship between the perceived need for change by voluntary sports clubs (VSCs), their adoption of innovative services to promote flexibility of sports participation (also referred to as ‘light’ sports initiatives) and their o...

Major sport events are considered to be a catalyst of social benefits in society and are a fully-fledged actor within social sport policy. However, sports and sport event participation are socially stratified and many studies indicate non-uniform effects. This article draws on data from an online questionnaire collected in the context of the 2021 R...

Background Sport-for-All emphasizes that every individual has the right to participate in sport. Despite all efforts to deliver Sport-for-All during the past decades, studies indicate that sport participation rates have been stagnating, whereas social inequalities in sport continue to exist. By applying an institutional theory lens, this study shed...

Host residents’ support is of paramount importance for the success of spectator sports events. Factors influencing event support have been investigated in past research, but usually in isolation. The current study includes multiple factors by analysing the relationship among involvement, social impact experiences, and event support. Data were colle...

As the two prime examples of sport light, running and walking have become very popular sports activities in the past decades. There are references in the literature of similarities between both sports, however these parallels have never been studied. In addition, the current digitalisation of society can have important influences on the further div...

Research question Sport is recognised as a significant contributor to a sustainable future. Sport federations (SFs) in particular can play an important role in this regard. However, literature that focuses on environmental sustainability (ES) in the sector is limited. To this end, the purpose of this study is to examine the institutionalised behavi...

This publication comprises ten case study papers written by sport management academic colleagues from the UK and European higher education institutions. This case study publication focuses on developing employability-related interventions, and each case study outlines curricular or co-curricular practice connected to the institution concerned. The...

Background Sport-for-All emphasises that every individual has the right to participate in sport. Despite all efforts to deliver Sport-for-All during the past decades, studies indicate that sport participation rates stagnated, whereas social inequalities in sport continue to exist. Our study specifically explores how the dual mission of sport federa...

The impact of the COVID-19 crisis and its related measures on how people practice and experience leisure continues to be significant. In the current study, a survey measuring sport participation during the third week of the first lockdown, that started on the 18th of March 2020 and has been gradually loosened as of the 18th of April 2020, was carri...

Research questions Sport-for-All encompasses efforts to make organised sport accessible for all people. Although Sport-for-All is integrated in sport federations’ missions, many organisations struggle to attain their Sport-for-All goals. In particular, the Sport-for-All logic of sport federations is challenged by several institutional trends. By ap...

Purpose Being innovative is important for non-profit sport organizations in order to meet the ever-changing and increasing societal needs. Understanding why and to what extent organizational innovativeness differs between non-profit sport organizations is, therefore, important to assess and increase their chances of survival. The purpose of this st...

Research question Due to government restrictions because of COVID-19, all participatory sport events (PSEs) were cancelled. As a result, knowledge is needed as to how and to what extent participants of PSEs modified their sport behaviour to fill the void of event cancellation. Therefore, this study aimed to (1) investigate to what extent event part...

Elite sporting systems are often descriptions of established practices with little regard for national contexts. This paper examined the influence of contextual factors on the elite sporting system of South-Africa. The contextual factors were evaluated through the lens of systems theory (Components: Economic, social, political, legal, and technolog...

Research question This study aims to address the limitations of current typologies and determinants of innovation by proposing a three-dimensional (3D) conceptual innovation model, in which three dimensions (i.e. ‘form’, ‘nature’ and ‘goal’) are related to each other, resulting in eight innovation types. Based on this model, this study first examin...

This study investigates the relation between swimming infrastructure and participation in Flanders. First, we investigate whether the availability of swimming facilities is related to higher swimming participation and/or frequency. Second, the focus is on the relationship with quality aspects of swimming pools. A number of datasets are combined, na...

The United Nations (UN) considers sports as an important enabler of sustainable development. The popular and fast-growing Participatory Sports Event (PSE) sector can play an important role in this regard, however, research that measures and reports sustainability in PSEs is scarce. Therefore, the aim of this paper was to construct and validate a re...

Overal ter wereld implemente(e)r(d)en landen lockdowns om de covid-19-pandemie te bestrijden. Terwijl deze lockdowns de vrije bewegingsruimte van mensen sterk inperken, wijzen experten er tegelijkertijd op dat mensen op een veilige manier fysiek actief moeten blijven om andere gezondheidsproblemen te voorkomen. Op basis van een online bevraging ana...

In this document the results of the literature review of the project “Promoting health enhancing physical activity and social welfare through outdoor running events/RUN for HEALTH” are described. The project aims to promote sports, exercise and social well-being through the organization of running events. The mission of the project is fourfold: 1....

Over the past half century, participation in fitness has developed as one of the fastest growing forms of physical activity, especially in economically advanced countries. Nowadays, participation in fitness is an integral part of contemporary lifestyle as for millions of people around the world fitness has become a common practice in their daily li...

This book explores the rise, size and shape of the European fitness industry by using harmonised data as well as in-depth analyses of national surveys in fifteen European countries. Following an introduction to the socio-historical and conceptual aspects of fitness, the collection presents the scope of fitness as a business and participatory activi...

It is of relevance to investigate fitness-related activities from a societal perspective. Fitness, its industry and its consumers, cannot be disconnected from the social, cultural and economic realm in which this specific and popular form of physical activity develops. This chapter considers societal aspects that relate to the fitness market. More...

The fitness industry is a very important, strong and healthy business. This is apparent from the enormous increases in fitness and health club memberships, the number of fitness and health clubs, and fitness and health club industry revenues between 2007 and 2017 in the global market. The goal of this penultimate chapter is to enrich all preceding...

Fitness is the fourth most popular sports activity among Flemish adults. Using data of two Flemish studies and the Flemish Fitness Panels, this chapter aims to identify how the fitness industry in Belgium has developed over the years, with a particular focus on Flanders. On the one hand, this chapter sheds light upon the demand side by focusing on...

This book has outlined the significance of the fitness industryFitnessindustry in fifteen European countries, including FlandersFlanders in Belgium and England in the United Kingdom. All of these countries and regions follow nowadays the basic principles of the liberal marketMarket economy, where the legal and political restrictions for the sport b...

The main aim of the present paper is to investigate to what extent European sports clubs suffer from problems related to the recruitment/retention of members, volunteers (at board levels) and coaches, finances and facilities, and how these perceptions of problems depend on country contexts and organizational capacities. Data stem from a cross-natio...

This chapter presents the results from a cross-national comparative analysis of European sports clubs’ contribution to public welfare and offers potential explanations for the similarities and differences identified. The analysis reveals how sports clubs make a significant contribution to public welfare with regard to the four functions examined: h...

When it comes to scientific research in sports, most European countries conduct country-specific investigation programmes for which mostly non-harmonised standards are applied. As a consequence, reliable, pan-European data of organisational and participatory aspects of (club-organised) sports, both cross-nationally and cross-temporally, are lacking...

The overarching aim of this book is to analyse the contribution of sports clubs to public welfare across different European countries. Sports clubs are firstly conceptualised as voluntary organisations. Then a multi-level conceptual framework is developed to consider the following three analytical levels: (1) historical roots and the embedment of s...

Flanders (Belgium) has a long history of organising sports in a club-organised context. From the 1970s onwards, Flanders counts as one of the European pioneers of implementing Sport for All initiatives in order to facilitate active participation in sports. Crucial for the potential social-integrating and health-enhancing role of sports and physical...

Countries all over the world implemented lockdowns to counteract COVID-19. These lockdowns heavily limited people's exercise possibilities. At the same time, experts advocated to remain physically active to prevent future health problems. Based on an online survey, this study examines adults' exercise levels and patterns during the COVID-19 lockdow...

Previous studies have determined that racial and ethnic discrimination is a relevant issue in the professional Belgian football industry, particularly in and around the football premises (Beloy & Van Laeken, 2016; Heim, Corthouts & Scheerder, 2018; Scheerder, 2006). The significance of this chapter is to extend the examination on the intersection o...

Purpose First, the income elasticities are calculated for different levels of income, for both the decision to spend money on sports and the amount of money that is spent. Second, the study researches whether different operationalisations of income (i.e. family versus personal) result in different elasticity values. Third, the effect of sports-spec...

https://saso.research.vub.be/sporten-in-tijden-van-crisis-profiel-van-de-corona-sporter

This study aims to help professionals in the field of running and running-related technology (i.e., sports watches and smartphone applications) to address the needs of runners. It investigates the various runner types—in terms of their attitudes, interests, and opinions (AIOs) with regard to running—and studies how they differ in the technology the...

This book takes a closer look at the societal functions of sports clubs by using the broad range of empirical data of a comparative study. There is a limited amount of up-to-date knowledge on the functions of sports clubs and their potential to promote public health, social cohesion and democratic participation through volunteering and thus contrib...

Regular voluntary engagement is a basic resource for sports clubs that may also promote social cohesion and active citizenship. The satisfaction of volunteers is an imperative factor in this engagement, and the purpose of this article is to explore individual and organizational determinants of volunteer satisfaction in sports clubs. Theoretically,...

First, the current study aims to identify the determining factors of the purchase price of sportswear worn by runners. Second, this study aims to demonstrate that diary-methods can be a useful method in sports consumption research as they provide in a large amount of data on a very detailed, non-aggregated level. Based on a dataset of 2,235 running...

The aim of the current study is twofold. First, it investigates the influencing factors of runners’ sports apparel value at a running event. Second, the potential value of observational data in the socioeconomic field is investigated, as this study combines data retrieved by a survey and by visually scanning pictures of event runners. The results d...

Analogous with the ongoing diversification of the European sports landscape, there has been an increasing scholarly interest in innovation as a tool for voluntary sports clubs (VSCs) to cope with the increasingly challenging environment. However, in this context, the concept of social innovation is understudied. Based on the multi-dimensional frame...

Objectives: To assess whether social capital benefits older adults’ self-rated health and well-being and whether physical activity mediates this relation. Methods: A survey study was conducted among members of a sociocultural organization (age ≥55 years), both cross-sectionally (baseline Time 1; N = 959) and longitudinally (3-year follow-up Time 2;...

The aim of this paper is to provide a complete understanding of the sport policies in South Africa (SA) with regard to mass sport for recreation involvement, and the elite sporting system created to develop high performance athletes. In the subsequent sections, various specific contextual factors will first be defined which may influence the sport...

Non-profit associations are usually democratically organized, and this feature plays a legitimizing role for the public support to associations. This article examines which characteristics at country level, organizational level and individual level can explain variations with regard to member engagement in the association democracy in sports clubs...

In this study, local networks surrounding the 11 homeless teams of the Belgian Homeless Football Cup (BHFC), a social football project for socially excluded homeless people, are analyzed from an organizational social capital perspective. Semi-structured interviews with key representatives within the local networks (including social, football, and g...

Sport for All has been a major concern in sport policies in many European countries since the 1960s and 1970s. It continues to be on the agenda until today, even though the perspective has somewhat changed, as a growing emphasis on both health-enhancing physical activity and elite sport can be observed. In this chapter, we explore sport participati...

Aims: Insufficient physical activity (PA) is one of the largest public health challenges of our time and requires a multisectoral public-health response. PA recommendations state that all children and adolescents should accumulate at least 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) daily and carry out vigorous PA (VPA) three times weekly. While...

The current study seeks to analyse differences in the usage of social networking sites (SNSs) between different sports organisations in Flanders (Belgium), more particularly between sports federations (SFs), fitness centres (FCs), and local sports governing bodies (LSGBs). Second, this study aims to determine which factors make that Facebook posts...

Research into sport and innovation is often narrowly focused around typologies of innovation, which are mainly approached separately (e.g. Hoeber, Doherty, Hoeber, & Wolfe, 2015). This provides in-depth knowledge of the specific determinants of the relevant typologies, but limits insight into facets of the plural concept of innovation. Accordingly,...

This article reviews the state of play and the evolution of sport policy in Flanders, the Dutch-speaking northern part of Belgium. The organisation of sports is influenced by the political structure of the Belgian state. To explain the distinctive politics and to provide insight into the context in which sport policy, and in particular Sport for Al...

In this paper, patterns of participation in non-club organized sport over the life course of individuals are studied in order to enhance the understanding of their involvement in sport. The main research question of this investigation is to examine the correlation between prior sport experiences and current patterns of sport participation amongst m...

Wint voetbal nog aan populariteit? Hoeveel vrouwen spelen voetbal? Scoren voetbalclubs beter dan de gemiddelde sportclub op thema’s als diversiteit en innovatie? Het antwoord op deze en andere vragen kan u vinden in BMS Studie 51, die u gratis kan downloaden op www.faber.kuleuven.be/BMS. Voetbal is één van de meest beoefende en bekeken sporten in...

Hoe verhoudt de sportparticipatie zich tussen jong en oud, arm en rijk? Hoe is het gesteld met de sportinfrastructuur in Vlaanderen? Hoe spelen de Vlaamse sportdiensten hierop in? BMS Studie 50 formuleert een antwoord op bovenstaande vragen en verschaft zo relevante informatie aan steden en gemeenten over hoe hun lokaal sportbeleid vorm kan krijge...

Because of the federalized structure of Belgium, sports volunteering is a complex policy issue. On the one hand, sports participation has been a Flemish policy area since 1970, while on the other hand social security and thus volunteerism are a federal policy domain. Based on a representative sample for Flemish inhabitants aged 15-86, it was found...

Background: The Social Identity Approach (SIA) proposes that the more older adults identify with the social group of "older adults", the more they will conform to what they perceive as being normative exercising for their group. However, so far it remains unclear why older adults adhere to these norms. Objective: This study evaluated whether per...

This chapter addresses developments in the sport industry in Belgium, with a particular focus on the Flemish Region and the Brussels-Capital Region. Data on sport-related companies was gathered by national statistical offices that use the Belgian equivalent (NACE-BEL 2008) of the Statistical classification of economic activities in the European Com...

The third report in the project ‘Social Inclusion and Volunteering in Sports Clubs in Europe’ (SIVSCE) describes the affiliation, voluntary work, social integration, and characteristics of members and volunteers in European Sports clubs across the ten countries that are part of the project. The data for the report was gathered through an online sur...

Research question: The current study investigates the income elasticities and socio-economic determinants of direct and indirect sports expenditure categories by means of a log normal hurdle regression. Research methods: The data stem from a representative sample of 3005 Flemish families with school-aged children, gathered through a sports-specific...

Sports is generally believed to improve well-being and to bring benefits ranging from health promotion to the enhancement of social capital. At the same time, research has indicated that living in poverty negatively affects the likelihood of practicing sports. Yet, from the literature, it is not clear how the lower participation rates of people in...

Individual and unorganized sports with a health-related focus, such as recreational running, have grown extensively in the last decade. Consistent with this development, there has been an exponential increase in the availability and use of electronic monitoring devices such as smartphone applications (apps) and sports watches. These electronic devi...

Dataset ERS2014. Sub-dataset Eindhoven Running Survey 2014 used in this study. (XLSX)

The results presented in this report stem from the largest comparative study of sports clubs in Europe, the SIVSCE project. As part of the project, a questionnaire was developed and translated into the national languages of the ten countries included in the project. The surveys were conducted as nationwide surveys, and a total number of 35,790 spor...

Poverty and social exclusion are ‘wicked issues’ and require a joint approach from a wide array of policy fields. As practicing sport has become a customary activity, it has a part to play in fighting social exclusion. But to what extent is this a realistic expectation? Drawing on qualitative data gathered from semi-structured interviews at twenty...

This closing chapter compares the sport systems in the 13 countries through an organisational capacity lens and gives an overview on how the organisational capacity of sport federations is influenced by the sport systems and governments in particular. One of the main conclusions is that only a few countries go beyond influencing the financial capac...

Since the origin of modern sport in the eighteenth to nineteenth century in Western countries, sport bodies such as federations and clubs have been acting almost entirely independent of governmental intrusion (Chappelet, 2010). In fact, the roots of modern sport refer to one of the basic ideas behind classic liberalism, i.e. the freedom of associat...

This chapter focuses on the relationship between governmental sport bodies and sport federations in Belgium. Because the competence with regard to sports is the responsibility of the communities, this chapter will focus on the example of Flanders, the Dutch-speaking northern part of Belgium. The relationship is studied from the theoretical perspect...

This book explores the organisation and structure of sport in and beyond Europe. Drawing upon up-to-date data, the collection’s main focus lies on the relationship between public sport policy structures and sport (con)federations. The authors present thirteen country-specific contexts wherein sport policy systems are embedded. This evidence provide...

‘Zwarte voetbalspelers tussen witte lijnen’ onderzoekt raciale verschillen binnen de Jupiler Pro League. Meer bepaald wordt nagegaan of zwart-Afrikaanse spelers in sterkere mate aanwezig zijn in de Belgische eerste voetbalklasse. Vervolgens wordt bestudeerd in welke mate het fenomeen van stacking zich voordoet, met name of zwart-Afrikaanse spelers...

Voorliggende BMS Studie kadert binnen het Europees project ‘Social Inclusion and Volunteering in Sports Clubs in Europe’, dat gerealiseerd werd met de steun van het Erasmus + Programma van de Europese Commissie. Binnen dit project worden sportclubs uit tien Europese landen bestudeerd op basis van een multi-levelmodel inzake sociale inclusie en vrij...