European voluntary sport clubs' enabling and constraining effects on refugees' social inclusion: an integrative review Tony Blomqvist Mickelsson European voluntary sport clubs' enabling and constraining effects on refugees' social inclusion: an integrative review

Abstract

European governments have increasingly relied on voluntary sport clubs (VSCs) to address social issues, particularly refugees' social inclusion. Contemporarily, millions of Ukrainian refugees have fled to neighbouring countries; VSCs are thus more relevant than ever. This review synthesised the research on VSCs' enabling and constraining features regarding refugees' social inclusion. The review was conceptualised according to Bronfenbrenner's Process-Person-Context-Time framework and DeLuca's spectrum of social inclusion. The key findings indicate that: (i) initiatives are propelled by individuals with pre-existing capital and a commitment to social justice; (ii) the interaction between the organisational culture of VSCs and these individuals plays a crucial role in achieving social inclusion; (iii) VSCs often overlook refugees' strengths; and (iv) cross-sectoral collaborations prove beneficial for VSCs. In summary , to effectively address refugees' social inclusion, VSCs need support , resources, intercultural education, and exposure to nuanced notions of social inclusion.

Full text

Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at
https://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=fcss20
Sport in Society
Cultures, Commerce, Media, Politics
ISSN: (Print) (Online) Journal homepage: www.tandfonline.com/journals/fcss20
European voluntary sport clubs’ enabling and
constraining effects on refugees’ social inclusion:
an integrative review
Tony Blomqvist Mickelsson
To cite this article: Tony Blomqvist Mickelsson (04 Apr 2024): European voluntary sport clubs’
enabling and constraining effects on refugees’ social inclusion: an integrative review, Sport in
Society, DOI: 10.1080/17430437.2024.2338568
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/17430437.2024.2338568
© 2024 The Author(s). Published by Informa
UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis
Group
Published online: 04 Apr 2024.
Submit your article to this journal
View related articles
View Crossmark data

SPORT IN SOCIETY
European voluntary sport clubs’ enabling and constraining
effects on refugees’ social inclusion: an integrative review
Tony Blomqvist Mickelssona,b
aDepartment of Police Studies, Södertörn University, Huddinge, Sweden; bSchool of Social Sciences,
Department of Social Work, Södertörn University, Huddinge, Sweden
ABSTRACT
European governments have increasingly relied on voluntary sport
clubs (VSCs) to address social issues, particularly refugees’ social inclu-
sion. Contemporarily, millions of Ukrainian refugees have fled to neigh-
bouring countries; VSCs are thus more relevant than ever. This review
synthesised the research on VSCs’ enabling and constraining features
regarding refugees’ social inclusion. The review was conceptualised
according to Bronfenbrenner’s Process-Person-Context-Time framework
and DeLuca’s spectrum of social inclusion. The key findings indicate
that: (i) initiatives are propelled by individuals with pre-existing capital
and a commitment to social justice; (ii) the interaction between the
organisational culture of VSCs and these individuals plays a crucial role
in achieving social inclusion; (iii) VSCs often overlook refugees’ strengths;
and (iv) cross-sectoral collaborations prove beneficial for VSCs. In sum-
mary, to effectively address refugees’ social inclusion, VSCs need sup-
port, resources, intercultural education, and exposure to nuanced
notions of social inclusion.
Introduction
European governments have increasingly relied on sport, specifically voluntary sport clubs
(VSCs), to address social issues, including the social inclusion of refugees, henceforth called
‘newcomers’. It is imperative to acknowledge that the term ‘newcomer’ is widely used in
immigration policy, particularly in the context of highly skilled migrant populations. Here,
the term is used to avoid insensitive terminology, but it needs to be emphasised that the
population in question is not economic migrants or necessarily highly-skilled migrants but
people who are forcibly displaced.
A key notion behind this transfer of responsibility has been that ‘…communities like
sport clubs have the potential to solve a series of welfare tasks more effectively and for a
lower cost than the state’ (Agergaard 2011 346). A landmark in the history of European
VSCs’ societal role occurred in conjunction with the events in the Middle East, which
triggered the so-called ‘refugee crisis’1 in 2015 (Michelini 2021). For example, the conflict
© 2024 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
CONTACT Tony Blomqvist Mickelsson tony.mickelsson.blomqvist@sh.se Department of Police Studies, Södertörn
University, Huddinge, Sweden; School of Social Sciences, Department of Social Work, Södertörn University, Huddinge,
Sweden.
https://doi.org/10.1080/17430437.2024.2338568
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/
by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The terms
on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.
ARTICLE HISTORY
Received 26 May 2022
Accepted 28 March 2024
KEYWORDS
Migrant; immigration;
refugees; integration;
acculturation; social
inclusion

2 T. B. MICKELSSON
in Syria alone forced approximately 13 million Syrians out of their home, one million of
whom sought asylum in European countries (UNHCR 2021). Consequently, European
countries’ sport movements suddenly became important actors in addressing newcomers’
well-being and ‘integration’. In this sense, integration is a contested term, often referred to
as a ‘two-way process’ of mutual adaptation for newcomers and host societies (Berry 1997).
However, in reality, the expectations mainly rest upon refugees and encompass several areas,
such as learning the language, entering the labour market, and learning host society norms
(Agergaard 2018). Contrary to narratives of sport’s neutrality and colour-blindness, it is
clear that sport clubs are arenas where present expectations are placed on newcomers and
migrants (Agergaard 2011 2018). Accordingly, while VSCs have historically held an import-
ant societal position, their societal and political relevance have increased during the last
decade, and they can be conceived of as hubs of knowledge and experience in these matters.
Forced migration continues to be an important contemporary topic, given the events
in Ukraine, where over seven million people have fled to neighbouring countries at the
time of writing (UNHCR 2022). Given the nature of forced displacement, severe mental
and physical health issues are salient factors to be addressed by the countries that receive
these individuals. According to the World Health Organization (WHO Europe 2022),
Ukrainian refugees are considered a high-risk population in terms of mental health. They
are at an elevated risk for chronic and non-communicable diseases. Ioffe etal. (2022)
have voiced the need for receiving countries to implement appropriate evidence-based
practices to accommodate any potential health issues that Ukrainian newcomers may
experience. In this regard, sports are not exclusively aimed at enhancing physical health
but can also provide a comforting, safe space and attend to people’s well-being in a
broader sense.
Since VSCs constitute a major share of European countries’ civil society, they have an
immense potential to reach many diverse individuals. However, researchers have also
voiced a need to be modest in estimating how VSCs contribute toward social policy goals
and newcomers’ social inclusion (Dukic, McDonald, and Spaaij 2017). First and foremost,
this contribution is because (European) VSCs are founded by members, for members,
and are not obliged to act as governmental agents (Nowy and Breuer 2019). VSCs are
diverse in logic, capacity, and intention to implement policy, producing different results
(Fahlén and Stenling 2016). Considering all of these factors and the dominant position
of VSCs as the ‘heart’ of the European sport movement (Nagel etal. 2020), it is essential
to systematically assess how they contribute to the social inclusion of newcomers.
Accordingly, in the face of a new so-called ‘refugee wave’, this paper seeks to take stock
of the research that has thus far contributed to a greater understanding of the social
inclusion of newcomers in VSCs. This research seems warranted, given that VSCs will,
once again, be put to the test in the near future. To the author’s knowledge, no work has
thus far systematically assessed European VSCs’ ability to contribute toward newcomers’
social inclusion.
The paper proceeds as follows. First, an overview of the theoretical framings that guide
the review, including Bronfenbrenner’s Process-Person-Context-Time (PPCT) model and
DeLuca’s (2013) definition of social inclusion, is given. Secondly, an account of the method
is given before presenting the results according to the PPCT framework. The paper con-
cludes by discussing the review’s findings, limitations, and a reminder of VSCs’ dominant
position within the European sport movement, for better or worse.

SPORT IN SOCIETY 3
Bronfenbrenner’s PPCT model and DeLuca’s continuum of social inclusion
This section introduces the PPCT model and the interpretation of social inclusion, as
DeLuca (2013) posited. Bronfenbrenner’s early work (Bronfenbrenner, 1977 1979) consti-
tuted the basis for the socioecological model, in which nested structures contain the indi-
vidual. These structures consist of the micro-level (e.g. a child’s coach), meso-level (e.g.
relationships between the coach and the child’s parents), the exo-level (e.g. overarching
institutions, such as media or sport confederations), and the macro-level (e.g. societal blue-
prints and culture).
This model was expanded by Bronfenbrenner (2005), with more conceptual attention
paid to the individual’s agency, characteristics, and how the environment responds to the
individual because of the individual’s characteristics (e.g. sex, age). These characteristics
are analytically crucial when connected to the individual’s environment, forming what is
known as the proximal process. The proximal processes are conceptualised as the interaction
between a biopsychological human organism and the individuals, systems, and objects in
the individual’s ecology. This interaction must occur with a certain frequency and over
time. The proximal processes are considered the engine of the framework (Tudge et al.
2009). The context in the PPCT framework is the totality of the already developed nested
structures in the early versions. Bronfenbrenner’s final addition was time. This factor can
be divided into micro-, meso-, and macro-time. For brevity’s sake, the latter temporal aspect
is important. Macro-time refers to history, i.e. broader segments of time that witness critical
events and responses that several agents and institutions shape.
To the author’s knowledge, only one article on newcomers’ lived experiences and reset-
tlement processes and sport utilised the PPCT framework (Truskewycz, Drummond, and
Jeanes 2022). Truskewycz, Drummond, and Jeanes (2022) discussed the implications of
using the PPCT framework in this context. Notwithstanding the analytical utility of disre-
garding the old models, some important warnings are also given. Specifically, the PPCT
framework does not adequately consider power dynamics—power issues are of immense
importance in a newcomer’s context since newcomers face significant challenges and may
not have access to the same resources as people without the migratory experience. In fact,
Truskewycz, Drummond, and Jeanes (2022) argued that the PPCT model may even reinforce
existing unequal structures if applied uncritically. A more thorough understanding of social
inclusion and its nuances must thus be invoked. In this regard, social inclusion is a concep-
tual quagmire (Schaillée, Haudenhuyse, and Bradt 2019). An umbrella understanding of
social inclusion in the context of newcomers and sport generally refers to sport as one way
for newcomers to develop and acquire access to one of the many ‘integration’ markers
posited by Ager and Strang (2008), such as housing, education, healthcare and language
proficiency (Block and Gibbs 2017). As Block and Gibbs (2017) further argued, sports clubs
may work as mediators to one or more of these markers, and social inclusion in sport may
mean that newcomers can partake in society in a meaningful way, thus attending to their
overall well-being.
The study drew upon Schaillée, Haudenhuyse, and Bradt (2019) suggestion to use
DeLuca’s (2013) spectrum of social inclusion, including (i) normalising, (ii) integrative, (iii)
dialogical, and (iv) transgressive. Normative inclusion refers to the process of assimilation
in which non-dominant groups are recognised but not legitimised. Adaptation is a unidi-
rectional process whereby newcomers strive for social inclusion by acquiring the host

4 T. B. MICKELSSON
society’s norms. Integrative inclusion refers to how minority groups are recognised and
legitimised. However, there still is a ‘cultural standard’, meaning minorities are implicitly
expected to learn and adapt to such a standard (DeLuca, 2013 330). In this way, integrative
inclusion takes form through targeted interventions and segregated activities and can rein-
force divides and structures based on class and ethnicity. However, within the dialogical
conception, the dominant group is present but welcomes cultural complexity (DeLuca, 2013
332). Accordingly, minorities are not segregated or targeted individually, but attempts are
made to transform structural features that enable equal social participation. In the trans-
gressive concept, inclusion takes a more radical form, whereby diversity is used to generate
new knowledge and cultural complexity is seen as contributing to new insights. Accordingly,
no dominant group exists. It should be clear that the PPCT framework can elucidate the
processes that enable social inclusion; however, DeLuca’s (2013) continuum of inclusion
allows the analysis to consider which type of inclusion is at stake.
Method
The study was conducted as an integrative review according to the framework provided by
Whittemore and Knafl (2005). Upon initial literature reviews, it became apparent that the
scope of the literature was broad, covering diverse perspectives and methodologies. Because
of this diversity, we chose to deploy an integrative review according to the standards of
Whittemore and Knafl (2005). The final review was conducted in April 2022. The review
further followed the recommendations by Whittemore and Knafl (2005). Firstly, the pro-
cedure included multiple ways of conducting literature searches (databases, manual searches,
back and forward searches, and contact with experts). Secondly, an assessment of the rigour
of the selected studies was performed. Finally, data was collected, stored, and formatted so
that subsequent data analysis was characterised by ‘…some logical system to facilitate anal-
ysis’ (p.550). Regarding the latter, the data analysis was structured according to the PPCT
framework, allowing an intuitive understanding of the subject matter’s multifaceted layers.
Inclusion and exclusion
The articles included had to be peer-reviewed and present empirical material in English.
Second, the research had to be carried out within a European VSC. Third, the search was
delimited to publications in and after 2015, given this year’s role as the major starting point
of newcomers’ entry into Europe. This delimitation ensured that the research contained
insights informing us of the current state of VSCs’ ability to address such matters of inclusion
and integration. Fourth, the included articles had to be concerned with refugees. The
included articles thus had to be explicit in their labelling of this group. A key limitation was
that ‘refugees’ were often not described further, neither in their characteristics nor the
authors’ understanding of ‘refugees’. Given the dominance of UNHCR’s definition of refugees
(forcibly displaced across international borders due to war, persecution, and conflict), a
rough assumption was made here, assuming that authors utilising the term ‘refugee’ were
referring to at least a definition similar to the UNHCR’s. Fifth, the articles had to be con-
cerned with the managerial perspectives and not contain newcomers’ narratives of sport’s
contribution (although these play a crucial part) because this exclusion was that a range of

SPORT IN SOCIETY 5
reviews have already considered migrants and newcomers’ experiences in sport (e.g.
Middleton etal. 2020; Smith, Spaaij, and McDonald 2019; Spaaij etal. 2019).
The excluded articles contained at least one of the following points: (1) did not contain
empirical material, (2) were conducted in a non-English language, (3) were conducted
outside of the EU (an exception was made to include the UK because of historical and
proximity reasons), (4) were carried out outside of a VSC, such as community- or research-
driven initiatives (e.g. Kataria and De Martini Ugolotti 2022; Mohammadi 2019), (5) did
not specify refugees as their population of interest but used labels such as ‘immigrants’,
‘migrants’ or ‘ethnic minorities’ without specifying the motive of migration, or conflated
refugee populations with other migrant populations so that separate results for refugees
were indistinguishable. How sport is experienced across vulnerable groups differs due to
the heterogeneity within such groups (Fernández-Gavira, Huete-García, and Velez-Colón
2017). Researchers have even made distinctions based on the time intervals of first-
generation migrants’ arrival and how this factor affects integration (Dollmann, Jacob, and
Kalter 2014). In short, we can assume that the realities are different for refugees who flee
due to humanitarian crises compared to, e.g. labour migrants. When these criteria were
unclear, the author was contacted. It is worth mentioning that the paper’s definition of
‘refugees’ may also have included different policy categories (e.g. asylum-seekers and unac-
companied minors), which could have implications for study results. Finally, articles that
did not centre on the managerial aspects of VSCs were excluded. The managerial perspec-
tives could be highlighted through staff or newcomers if the organisational factors of the
VSCs were central.
Six databases were searched: ERIC, Scopus, SportDISCUS, PsycINFO, Web of Science
(including Science Citation Index, Social Science Citation Index, Arts and Humanities Citation
Index and Emerging Sources Citation Index) and PubMed. Moreover, back and forward
searches on relevant articles were performed. Back and forward searches were also performed
concerning four recent reviews on the subject matter of sport and newcomers (Hudson etal.
2022; Middleton etal. 2020; Smith, Spaaij, and McDonald 2019; Spaaij etal. 2019) were
scanned for additional articles. Finally, hand searches were performed in selected journals
(European Journal for Sport and Society, European Journal of Sport Management, Journal of
Sport Management, International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics, Sport Management Review
and Sport in Society). These search phrases, as copied from Scopus, were used:
refugee* OR migrant* OR newcomer* OR “asylum seeker” OR immigrant*) AND TITLE-
ABS-KEY (sport* OR recreation* OR leisure* OR “physical activity”) AND (“Social Inclusion”
OR “social integration” OR integration* OR assimilation* OR segregation* OR exclusion* OR
“social exclusion”
The selection of articles underwent three steps. First, records were identified, and
duplicates were removed, leaving 374 articles. Secondly, titles and abstracts were
scanned. They were excluded if these did not mention any associated term related to
refugees or migration combined with no mentions of terms associated with the sport.
The remaining articles (n = 186) were read in full; after that, another 173 articles were
excluded, leaving 13 articles for final inclusion. The full procedure is visualised in
Figure 1 be low.
The included articles are displayed below in Table 1.

6 T. B. MICKELSSON
Results
The results section is structured according to the PPCT framework. First, however, I outline
descriptions of the studies and the extent to which VSCs attempt to include newcomers.
Subsequently, I account for the individual factors (person) for newcomers and significant
individuals within the VSC. Then, the contextual (context) settings are presented, followed
by the proximal processes. I will finish by presenting the temporal aspects (time).
Study characteristics
Most studies were conducted in Germany (n = 6), followed by Sweden (n = 2), Denmark
(n = 2), the UK (n = 1), Norway (n = 1), and one study conducted in both the Netherlands
and Germany (n = 1). These results reflect the migratory movements after 2015, when
Figure 1. Flowchart of included articles.

SPORT IN SOCIETY 7
Table 1. Included studies’ purpose, setting, theory, methodology, and sample.
Author Purpose Setting Theoretical model Methodology Sample Newcomer characteristics
Agergaard etal.
(2022)
Explore refugees’
volunteering in sport
clubs
Denmark Transnational theory and
postcolonial perspective
Qualitative; life-history
interviews
Four refugees Two female Syrians, one male
Syrian and one male from
Eritrea
Anderson etal.
(2019)
Explore conducive
conditions for sport-for-
health programmes for
refugees
Germany and the
Netherlands
Bronfenbrenner’s
socioecological
framework
Mixed methods; delphi—
expert assessment
17 sport-and-integration
experts
No refugees included but
framed in light of forced
migration from Africa and
Middle East
Blomqvist
Mickelsson
(2022)
Explore social inclusion in a
VSC with a refugee
project
Sweden Critical realism Qualitative; semi-structured
interviews and
ethnography
1 VSC with 5 VSC staff and 3
months participant
observation
No mention but framed in
light of the ‘refugee crisis’
Doidge, Keech,
and Sandri
(2020)
Explore a VSC with a refugee
project
UK No explicit theory but
contextualized with sport
policy, sport-for-
integration, and
community development
Qualitative; participant
observation,
ethnographic interviews,
and semi-structured
interviews
1 VSC. Interviews with four
VSC staff and seven
refugees were made.
Undefined number of
refugees from Afghanistan,
Syria, Kurdistan, Sudan,
Vietnam, Eritrea and Iraq.
(Dowling 2020) Explore a VSC with a refugee
project
Norway Critical discourse analysis
inspired by Gramsci’s
theory of hegemony
Qualitative; participant
observation, document
analysis, semi-structured
interviews, and group
interviews
1 VSC. Participant
observation for 9
months. Interviews with
two VSC staff, two
external actors, five
refugees and two ethnic
Norwegian practitioners
Young males from
Afghanistan
Fingerle etal.
(2021)
Explore matching
perceptions of refugees
and VSCs
Germany Self-determination theory Quantitative; survey
methodology
85 VSC representatives and
35 refugees
Nine women, and 26 men,
with a mean age of 31.31.
No background mentioned
but framed in light of
forced migration from
Africa and Middle East.
Hertting and
Karlefors (2021)
Explore organizational
conditions for refugees’
integration through sport
Sweden No explicit theory but
contextualized with
literature on integration
typologies
Qualitative; semi-structured
interviews
10 VSCs, out of which at
least two worked with
refugees
No mention but framed in
light of ‘refugee crisis’
Michelini etal.
(2018)
Analyze sport offers for
refugees by VSCs
Germany Luhmann’s system theory Qualitative; semi-structured
interviews
49 VSC representatives No mention but framed in
light of ‘refugee crisis’
(Continued)

8 T. B. MICKELSSON
Author Purpose Setting Theoretical model Methodology Sample Newcomer characteristics
Michelini and
Burrmann
(2021)
To outline an impact model
for refugees’ integration
in German VSCs
Germany Realist evaluation and Essen’s
concept of integration
Qualitative; document
analysis, semi-structured
interviews, and
participant observation
28 VSCs Mainly young males,
occasionally females.
Framed in light of ‘refugee
crisis’
Nowy, Feiler, and
Breuer (2020)
Analyze VSCs’ engagement
with refugees
Germany Institutional logics and
organizational capacity
Quantitative; survey
methodology
5140 VSCs No mention but framed in
light of ‘refugee crisis’
Simonsen and
Ryom (2021)
To construct an inter-sectoral
collaboration with
academia, refugees, the
municipal and a VSC
Denmark Uses ‘action research’ as
theory—implies
collaboration and
co-creation of
intervention based on
previous theory
Qualitative; community-
based participatory
research; scoping review,
semi-structured
interviews, workshops,
focus group interviews.
1 municipality
representative, 1 VSC
representative and at
least 4 refugees
Syrian refugee women
between 20 and 40 years
of age
Stura (2019) Explore access and factors
impinging upon refugees’
integration in and
through VSCs
Germany Berry’s integration typology Qualitative; semi-structured
interviews
32 VSC representatives
(from 15 VSCs) and 35
refugees
Male refugees from
Afghanistan, Syria, Nigeria,
Ethiopia, Eritrea, Senegal,
Belarus, Sudan, Mali,
Gambia, and Azerbaijan
Tuchel etal.
(2021)
Explore how sport is offered
in VSCs
Germany Communities of interest Qualitative; semi-structured
interviews and
participant observation
37 VSCs No mention but framed in
light of refugee crisis
Table 1. Continued.

SPORT IN SOCIETY 9
most newcomers sought respite in Germany, followed by Sweden. Methodologically, ten
studies used qualitative methods, two engaged with quantitative assessments, and one
study can be considered a mixed-methods study (Anderson etal. 2019). In the qualitative
studies, a range of methods were applied. The most common were semi-structured inter-
views (n = 4), a combination of interviews, document analysis, and participant observation
(n = 3), interviews complemented with participant observation (n = 2), and one study
utilised action research through workshops, preparatory talks, and interviews (n = 1).
The quantitative studies (Fingerle et al. 2021; Nowy, Feiler, and Breuer 2020) used
cross-sectional surveys. The remaining study (Anderson etal. 2019) utilised a Delphi
design whereby experts filled a questionnaire with open-ended semi-structured questions.
After coding, the generated statements were transformed into a quantitative Likert scale
and rated by the experts.
The studies were theoretically homogenous, and no study utilised the same theoretical
underpinnings as the others. System theories were used, including Luhmann’s theory
(Michelini etal. 2018) and Bronfenbrenner’s socioecological model (Anderson etal. 2019).
Meta-theoretical perspectives were also present, including critical realism (Blomqvist
Mickelsson 2022) and realist evaluations (Michelini and Burrmann 2021). Other studies
used concepts from the migration literature, including Berry’s acculturation typology
(Stura 2019) and Essen’s concept of integration (Michelini and Burrmann 2021). Other
studies analysed the organisation’s logic (Nowy, Feiler, and Breuer 2020) or ‘interests’
(Tuchel etal. 2021). Fingerle etal. (2021) referenced the self-determination theory, while
Agergaard etal. (2022) used a more critical post-colonial- and transnationalism perspec-
tive. Finally, some studies’ theories were fused with their methodological procedures,
including discourse analysis (Dowling 2020). To summarise this section, most of the
research has been conducted in Germany, with qualitative methods, and is theoretically
heterogeneous.
To what extent are VSCs making sport accessible for newcomers?
This section reviews if and to what extent VSCs are attempting to include newcomers.
Nowy, Feiler, and Breuer (2020) found that, out of 5170 German VSCs, 28% perceived
themselves to be highly concerned with newcomers’ integration; however, only 14% of
the total sample implemented any initiative (e.g. reduced fee or specific activity directed
at newcomers). Similarly, the results of Fingerle etal. (2021) support Nowy, Feiler, and
Breuer (2020). Fingerle etal. (2021) were concerned with how the newcomers’ needs
and preferences corresponded to what the VSCs offered. That is, Fingerle etal. (2021)
analysed whether the VSCs were suited to the needs of the newcomers. In this regard,
few respondents reported implementing initiatives to ease newcomers’ sporting par-
ticipation. Only a small minority, 11 out of 84 VSC representatives, indicated that
integrative measures are necessary in the current context (such as reduced fees; Nowy,
Feiler, and Breuer 2020). In this regard, a palpable discrepancy was found concerning
the answers provided by the newcomers; financial and material resources were cited as
the top reasons for not participating (Fingerle etal. 2021). Although sport for new-
comers is frequently mentioned as part of the European government’s agenda, most
VSCs do not engage with newcomers.

10 T. B. MICKELSSON
Person: the significance of the individual(s)
As the forthcoming sections imply, a unified and coherent program delivery seemed critical
for VSCs in delivering sports for newcomers. However, this point differs from saying that all
members are equally engaged in such initiatives. As Michelini etal. (2018) noted, VSCs are
generally formally inclusive, but most do not have an official statute that explicates their aims
concerning underrepresented groups. What usually follows is that handling such initiatives
becomes the responsibility of a few or even a single ambitious individual (Michelini etal.
2018; Tuchel etal. 2021). Tuchel etal. (2021) noted that VSCs can often respond with quick
turnarounds and creative solutions through these single individuals. One explanation is the
need for more directives in statutes and the autonomy of VSCs that enable individuals to
pursue things quickly. The spontaneous, individual-based, and at times unorganised and
affectional nature of sport delivery for newcomers in VSCs is illustrated well in Blomqvist
Mickelsson (2022) study when the sport manager for a VSC met personally with a newcomer
and was spurred by an emotional response to the newcomer’s situation. Struck by the vulner-
ability of this newcomer, the sport manager started a joint initiative between the sport club
and a refugee reception centre, offering free training and transport.
Some other examples that reinforce the importance of specific persons are derived from
Tuchel etal. (2021), who explored the various forms of sports delivery for newcomers. Specifically,
Tuchel etal. (2021) constructed four categories of different sport initiatives, with different actors
and settings from their material. Three of the four categories emerging from their work are
mainly driven by the VSCs’ individuals, which can, for instance, include initiatives focusing on
delivering activities outside of VSCs, where these individuals construct activities at the reception
centre. Other activities occur within the VSC, in separated newcomer groups, or are integrated
into the existing training structure. These forms have different implications for collaborations
and contact between newcomers and VSC members, but all share that individuals drive them.
The individuals who constitute these initiatives’ core are often emotionally affected and
driven by a sense of justice (Blomqvist Mickelsson 2022; Doidge, Keech, and Sandri 2020;
Tuchel etal. 2021). However, this point is not to say that the outcomes of these actors’ doings
are socially just or correspond to their intentions, as other sections will show. Moreover,
Michelini etal. (2018, p.28-29) findings led them to conclude that most of these individuals
are ‘…already active in the sport club and disposed to social engagement beyond the expec-
tation implied by their positions.’ These individuals’ pre-existing capital and predisposition
were further corroborated in Michelini and Burrmann (2021) article, as they discovered
that all contact persons of these initiatives already had experience and enjoyed support
from extensive networks. These findings indicate that the individuals within VSCs generally
have a pre-existing sense of social justice and usually have experience with social issues.
Accordingly, these ambitious individuals are more likely to have a pre-existing interest in
social justice rather than humanitarian crises being a trigger for such interests. As Michelini
etal. (2018, 30) state, the ‘…results thus underscore how the individuals behind VSCs are
the most powerful engines for the creation of sport offers for refugees.’
Person: VSCs’ ‘othering’ of the newcomers based on sporting capital
The inclusiveness of VSCs was not only reliant on the characteristics of the VSC’s staff but
often contingent on the characteristics of the newcomers. In this regard, some authors

SPORT IN SOCIETY 11
(Blomqvist Mickelsson 2022; Dowling 2020; Michelini and Burrmann 2021; Stura 2019)
uncovered how different types of sporting capital excluded newcomers from the VSCs. As
Stura (2019) noted, a consistent finding across VSCs was that major challenges arose when
the newcomers lacked the sport skill level required by VSCs. This factor had severe impli-
cations for how newcomers were supposed to be integrated into the existing structure and,
as noted by some respondents in Hertting and Karlefors (2021), most newcomers were
excluded from the VSC because of these lacking sport skills. In their analysis of sport pro-
grammes, Michelini and Burrmann (2021) explored one programme that targeted new-
comers. However, one partial reason was to identify talented newcomers that could be
integrated into existing teams later.
In this regard, newcomers are usually constructed as ‘…being “in need of” of being
taught the “right” skills…’ (Dowling, 2020 1159), which seems to serve as a boundary
between host society members and newcomers in terms of inclusion. Specifically,
Dowling (2020) illustrated, in the Norwegian context, how boundary-making took
form through both overt racism and more subtle practices. In this critical interrogation
of a VSC with a newcomer initiative, Dowling (2020) explored how newcomers were
frequently positioned as ‘others’ both on ethnic and racial features but also regarding
their lack of various types of cultural capital. As an illustrative example, Dowling (2020)
found that newcomers were often associated with fear-inspired narratives about rape,
and a potential threat against the existing youth sport division. In other cases, respon-
dents in Michelini etal. (2018) referenced the perceived temperament of specific new-
comers, arguing that bad temperament made them less inclined to play under pressure,
and they generally lacked experience in organised sport. In turn, the lack of experience
in organised sport was assumed to be related to clumsy motor coordination and flawed
skills. The emphasis on not playing ‘right’ or lacking the skills necessary to join a VSC
indicates that these informants rejected dialogical concepts of inclusion, in which the
structure is altered, instead of focusing on the individual level. In this sense, when
sport’s competitive logic remains unaddressed and unaltered, it may obscure the goals
of VSCs’ social inclusion initiatives.
Context: human and financial resources
Human resources
The second most robust predictor of supporting newcomers’ inclusion into German
VSCs in Nowy, Feiler, and Breuer (2020) was human resources. This factor included,
for example, the number of volunteers and whether VSCs had a paid board member
(Nowy, Feiler, and Breuer 2020). In addition to Nowy, Feiler, and Breuer (2020) quan-
titative findings, Michelini etal. (2018) respondents also confirmed the significance of
this particular factor. This factor emerged as the most crucial and gained the highest
consensus score among sport-and-integration experts in Anderson etal. (2019, 86)
study. The identified factor is expressed in the statement, ‘More facilitators with skills,
e.g. sport, culture, language’. This alignment across multiple studies underscores the
importance of this factor in the context of sports and integration efforts. This finding
is not surprising, as previous sections illuminate the burden of a few individuals in this
line of work.

12 T. B. MICKELSSON
Financial resources
Financial resources became a crucial element in the delivery of sports for newcomers since
a range of measurements are necessary to involve newcomers in VSCs. These can include
reduced or eliminated membership fees (Nowy, Feiler, and Breuer 2020), but the problem
is also pertinent regarding newcomers’ lack of material resources. Specifically, a range of
authors have reported that the newcomers often lacked the appropriate equipment to partake
adequately, which needed to be addressed through financial means (Michelini and Burrmann
2021; Stura 2019; Tuchel etal. 2021). VSCs, in response, are urged to allocate sufficient
financial resources to address these challenges effectively. By doing so, VSCs not only con-
tribute to fostering equity in access but also enhance the overall success of sports programs
in integrating newcomers into the community.
Proximal processes: linking institutional logics and organisational culture to
the practices
The proximal processes in this context link the individuals (notably the VSC staff) to the
contextual factors that enable them to work satisfactorily. Accordingly, this section should
be read while keeping in mind that the culture and logic within VSCs are ‘carried’ by their
individuals. The reciprocal nature of this relationship is further discussed here.
Nowy, Feiler, and Breuer (2020) concluded their comprehensive analysis by offering a
clear takeaway from their paper in the form of the two most powerful predictors of VSCs’
engagement with newcomers: institutional logic and human resources capacity. The one
variable with the most power to explain VSCs’ inclination toward newcomers is their logic.
These logics have undergone different operationalisations but converge in whether the
VSCs conceive of themselves as actors in addressing social issues or if conventional and
well-established logics, such as competition, guide them. In all proposed models, institu-
tional logic constitutes over 40% of the relative variance explained and over 6% in absolute
variance. Naturally, the institutional logic can be viewed as an umbrella concept that encap-
sulates and permeates the practices within the VSC.
In this regard, organisational culture was also a prominent theme in various articles
(Blomqvist Mickelsson 2022; Doidge, Keech, and Sandri 2020; Dowling 2020; Michelini
etal. 2018; Stura 2019). Connected with Nowy, Feiler, and Breuer (2020) typology of logics,
Doidge, Keech, and Sandri (2020) found that VSCs need to be unified in a common vision
that is foregrounded in a social justice and social inclusion agenda if sport delivery for
newcomers seeks to be successful in fostering a sense of belonging for newcomers with
their newly found community. This philosophy entailed downplaying competitive elements
and constructing a pleasant and socialising atmosphere. These philosophies permeated the
practices of the VSC, which ensured a high quality of sport delivery. At its core, these prac-
tices and philosophies allowed diverse individuals to interact and co-exist in the sport
environment because diversity was embraced. In this regard, the case of Doidge, Keech,
and Sandri (2020) aligns better with a dialogical concept of inclusion, as cultural diversity
was actively recognised as something positive. Importantly, the synergy between the sig-
nificant individuals in the context (VSC staff) and the organisational culture and logic
constitutes the proximal process that enables the VSC to achieve social inclusion.

SPORT IN SOCIETY 13
Relatedly, a minority of Stura’s (2019) sample highlighted how the newcomers taught
the VSCs important things and made them more aware, tolerant, and open to other peoples’
perspectives. However, most respondents emphasised the newcomers’ adaptation along
the lines of norms and traditions and reciprocal trust between both sides. A minority of
the respondents said they had not learned anything from the newcomers. In summary,
Doidge, Keech, and Sandri (2020) and partially Stura’s (2019) work illuminated how some
VSCs adopt a more nuanced concept of social inclusion but that most fluctuate between
the normative and the integrative concepts.
Interestingly, in Michelini and Burrmann (2021) study, trainers displayed frustration
and irritation with newcomers’ late arrival and unpredictability, which was addressed by
arranging set expectations, fixed groups, and ensuring commitment from newcomers. These
arrangements ensured that the VSCs ‘… achieve the corresponding goals as conceived (e.g.
conflict and aggression reduction)’ from the VSCs’ perspective (Michelini and Burrmann,2021
271). In this sense, social inclusion is conceived of as an outcome that can be achieved
through steering newcomers into fixed commitments and ensuring that undesirable char-
acteristics are combated so that further integration can be made into VSCs. The trainers’
ambition and consistency, combined with their effort to ensure a high-quality sport delivery,
has the potential to achieve social inclusion; however, it is not the same type as achieved
by Doidge, Keech, and Sandri (2020). In this regard, Michelini and Burrmann (2021) drew
from Essen’s concept of integration, postulating that integration is multidimensional (social,
cultural, structural, and emotional). Thus, some VSCs could perceive combating any
assumed and existing antisocial behaviour as a starting point to achieve social integration
and feelings of belonging. Although briefly illustrated, this point somewhat indicates a
displacement of scope, where structural issues are conceived of as the root of the cause, but
where VSCs usually encourage disregarding the structural issues and encouraging individ-
uals to adapt (Ekholm 2017).
Moreover, a lack of a coherent vision within VSCs or an exclusionary culture showed
several detrimental outcomes. One salient exclusionary mechanism was how VSC mem-
bers engaged in ‘boundary-making’ (Michelini etal. 2018). This practice entailed how
members drew symbolic divides between host society members and newcomers, suggest-
ing that several critical differences inhibit their inclusion into the VSCs. For example,
when talking about the newcomers, Michelini etal. (2018, 31) respondents drew from
evolutionary perspectives, arguing that, for example, in the context of conflicts in the
VSC, that ‘…if you haven’t developed certain competencies at the top, you go back to
primitive measures. Then you think like in the animal world’. These sentiments suggest
that newcomers have not developed the same social competencies, which hinders their
inclusion. Other findings revealed a rather static idea of newcomers ‘ adaptation. Blomqvist
Mickelsson (2022) found that the VSC expected the newcomers to adapt to the VSC
culture, but VSC staff contended that they seemed disinclined. When the original fees
were introduced after a period of reduced fees, the VSC staff argued that the newcomers
who ‘really’ wanted to stay stayed. Considering Fingerle etal. (2021) findings regarding
the lack of financial resources, it is unsurprising that only one newcomer remained in
the VSC after the financial assistance was removed. The main takeaway from Blomqvist
Mickelsson (2022) is that very little consideration was given to the newcomers’ perspective
on inclusion into VSCs.

14 T. B. MICKELSSON
Collaborative efforts
Collaborative efforts were often made between VSCs and external actors in the public and
voluntary sectors. This point is logical considering the VSCs’ unpredictable qualifications
to recruit and navigate newcomer initiatives.
In terms of recruiting newcomers, one mechanism that facilitated participation in
Michelini and Burrmann (2021) study was the contact with reception centres and the
transportation arrangement, corroborated by Anderson etal. (2019) experts. Other fruitful
collaborations were initiated with the Red Cross, which could provide material resources
to the newcomers to facilitate sport participation (Tuchel etal. 2021). Moreover, since the
newcomers were unfamiliar with the VSCs and the people there, questions remained about
developing relationships characterised by trust. As Tuchel etal. (2021) noted, one key factor
was the social worker who accompanied newcomers to their activities in a systematic man-
ner and worked as a confidante. Accordingly, such officials may serve as a temporal bridge
between newcomers and VSCs in transition.
While intersectoral collaborations are intuitively beneficial to VSCs, which may lack
resources and knowledge, this finding is perhaps not the most novel or interesting. In this
sense, ‘collaborative efforts’ took on another meaning in the study by Simonsen and Ryom
(2021), who engaged in a participatory action research project with a local VSC, the munic-
ipality, and female Syrian newcomers. Simonsen and Ryom’s study illuminates the impor-
tance of engaging with the target group—for instance, facilitating preparatory talks and
workshops and having a dialogue about sports proposals. Simonsen and Ryom (2021) found
that VSCs (and municipalities) have historically experienced a discrepancy in expectations
when engaged with newcomers. The VSC representative argued that these discrepancies
arose because of different ideas about sport, which can hamper newcomers’ inclusion. This
point could, for example, include punctuality, which was deemed a ‘German virtue’ that
newcomers preferably acquired in Stura’s (2019) study. By probing the terrain and engaging
directly with the female newcomers, the VSC was more prepared to deliver sport in the
desired way. This point resonates well with Michelini and Burrmann (2021, 227) conclusions
in the analysis of several sport programmes, that VSCs too rarely involve newcomers in the
construction of activities, which is probably due to the ‘…difficulty of surrendering control,
responsibility and, consequently, power’. In summary, while collaborations with external
actors are necessary to ensure that VSCs can deliver and maintain initiatives, there is a
pertinent need and practical utility to engage collaboratively with the target group directly.
Proximal processes: newcomers’ volunteering engagement as a further mechanism
of inclusion or exclusion
Due to the unstable nature of forced migration, e.g. unstable housing situations, permits to
stay, working conditions, and much more (Ager and Strang 2008), many articles touched
upon the possibility but the difficulty of having newcomers as volunteers. Many VSC rep-
resentatives conceived of this issue as rooted in newcomers’ perceived lack of cultural capital,
linguistic skills, and inexperience in volunteering. This ‘othering’ framing of newcomers
seemed to be foregrounded in VSC representatives’ belief in the newcomers’ unwillingness
to adapt to a more collectivistic ‘me-for-all’ culture. This point was, in turn, framed as a
self-exclusionary mechanism by many VSC representatives (Blomqvist Mickelsson 2022;

SPORT IN SOCIETY 15
Michelini etal. 2018). Both Blomqvist Mickelsson (2022) and Michelini etal. (2018) noted
that these sentiments are rarely coupled with deeper insights into how difficult it might be
to attain volunteering positions and, in general, how little thought is given to the newcomers’
perspective on the subject matter.
Other VSCs have a slightly different perspective, as they wish newcomers to partake in ‘simple’
volunteer engagements but deem more advanced volunteering tasks inappropriate. For example,
in Stura (2019), the main issue cited was the need for more linguistic knowledge. VSC repre-
sentatives feel that it would not be possible for newcomers to do an efficient job in certain
positions. Accordingly, this point tells of stratification within VSCs where ‘lower-bound’ posi-
tions are encouraged as appropriate for newcomers, whereas the traditional members operate
in higher positions. In this regard, apart from the somewhat exclusionary nature of this strati-
fication, some VSCs understand that ‘… inclusive engagement for refugees is not only a challenge
or burden for VSCs but can also provide fruitful impulses for new developments …’ including
an increased volunteer base (Tuchel etal. 2021, 687). In this regard, VSCs that recruit newcomers
as sport coaches, which was the case occasionally (Tuchel etal. 2021), can solve the puzzle of
working with newcomers’ social inclusion in parallel with addressing a lack of human resources.
However, other examples also elucidate how the transfer of responsibility within certain
tasks can induce agency and empowerment. Regarding newcomers’ preference for cricket,
a relatively unknown sport in Germany, Michelini etal. (2018) found that certain VSCs
encouraged newcomers to share their own sports offerings. Michelini etal. (2018) suggested
that leveraging such offers for and by newcomers indicates that this transfer of responsibility
is greatly useful for newcomers’ engagement in voluntary work and further engagement
with the VSC. In this sense, Agergaard etal. (2022) offered a critical perspective on volun-
teering, showing that the newcomer women in their study utilised volunteering partially
to become part of the Danish system, but also to some extent implicitly challenging ‘…
volunteering as a particularly “Danish thing”’ (629). These women held their own inter-
pretation of volunteering, went beyond volunteering for the VSC, and helped refugees in
other areas. One conclusion put forth by Agergaard etal. (2022) is that if newcomers can
help in any way they can, barriers between ‘us’ and ‘them’ are more likely to diminish
significantly.
The above findings resonate well with the previous section that elucidates the need to
engage directly with newcomers, and it challenges the dominant stratification of volunteer-
ing positions within VSCs, showing that newcomers can make unique and culturally specific
contributions to the VSCs (e.g. knowledge of cricket or understanding of other newcomers’
experiences). To this extent, it is more valuable to adopt a structural approach, realising
that VSCs must be the main drivers in offering suitable opportunities for newcomers.
Time
One assumption that underpins previous findings is that the relationships between VSCs,
newcomers, and external actors are nurtured over time. In other words, newcomers’ one-
time participation in activities does not achieve social inclusion, and collaborations are
rarely successful if they do not consider the sustainability of such collaborations. For
instance, asylum waiting processes and being transferred between different housing may
severely impact newcomers’ long-term sporting participation since such procedures imply
uncertainty and geographical mobility. Tuchel etal. (2021) found that VSCs were inclined

16 T. B. MICKELSSON
to construct activities close to reception centres, but a critical issue emerged when new-
comers were re-located as part of their settlement process (Anderson etal. 2019; Tuchel
etal. 2021).
Moreover, the historical feature of time was revealed as important to certain VSCs’ prac-
tices and impact. Since most of the included research in this review was based in Germany,
there is much reference to the inception of Willkommenskultur (‘welcome culture’) and how
this culture may have been partially disrupted as part of events in Germany after the recep-
tion of newcomers during the so-called refugee crisis. First, Willkommenskultur refers to
the culture and atmosphere that arose as newcomers entered Germany when a rather phil-
anthropic sentiment permeated many parts of Germany, including (some) VSCs. For
instance, under the banner of the project ‘Willkommen im Sport’ (Welcome to Sport) by
the Germany Olympic Sports Confederation, 200 clubs were funded and participated in
working with newcomers (Tuchel etal. 2021). Initially, many VSCs reported an enthusiastic
atmosphere, and a sense of solidarity spurred this culture (Michelini etal. 2018). However,
one significant event occurred on New Year’s Eve (2015/2016), when women were sexually
assaulted by attackers who included asylum-seekers. The media narratives of newcomers
generally changed across Europe after this event (Michelini etal. 2018), and it also seemed
to impact the VSCs. For example, Michelini etal. (2018) found that there were decreases
in funding for initiatives, and some VSCs experienced elevated member concerns. Michelini
etal. (2018) further stated that awareness-raising was carried out in some VSCs to prevent
relationships between newly arrived newcomers and host society (VSC) members from
being characterised by fear and prejudice.
Discussion
European VSCs have a strong societal position and an immense potential to address social
issues. However, this review has synthesised and shown that various issues impede VSCs’
ability to facilitate newcomers’ social inclusion. These issues are interrelated and include
VSCs’ (lacking) understanding of social inclusion, their organisational culture, and the
consequences of the practices and outcomes of those mentioned above.
Notably, most VSCs understand inclusion according to a normative or integrative con-
cept in which the dominant group sets the standard. Many VSCs understand that, for
example, psychological safety and trust are imperative to building relationships; however,
the intended outcomes are often entangled in the newcomers’ acquisition of language,
norms, etc. Such acquisition is not bad per se and can most likely mediate newcomers’
inclusion and well-being; however, when these concepts start to mimic complete assimi-
lation (i.e. go from integrative to normative), they may threaten newcomers’ identity and
create imagined divides. In this sense, the dominant frameworks on migrants’ integration
have often linked complete assimilation, especially under the circumstances pertinent to
newcomers (e.g. poverty), to suboptimal well-being (Portes and Zhou 1993). Portes and
Zhou’s argument here is that a complete rejection of ethnic and cultural identity may cause
ruptures between migrants and ‘their’ communities, which may be harmful to their psy-
chological and social health.
Moreover, such approaches fail to consider newcomers’ strengths and the learning oppor-
tunities that exist on behalf of the host society. Schaillée, Haudenhuyse, and Bradt (2019)
noted that few sport actors seem aware of how newcomers can contribute with their

SPORT IN SOCIETY 17
strengths. This factor points to a broader feature of civil society’s involvement—the lack of
intercultural education and qualifications and the, perhaps, overreliance on ambitious but
unqualified individuals to address social issues. Since volunteering is indeed linked to higher
degrees of migrants’ social integration (Adler Zwahlen, Nagel, and Schlesinger 2018), there
is a pertinent need to explore this dimension further. Such exploration can be done vis-à-vis
adopting a more strength-based approach to newcomers’ volunteering. As illuminated by
Michelini etal. (2018), newcomers may have unique contributions, such as understanding
preferences for sports that are not necessarily exercised overly much in the host country’s
context (for instance, see the example of cricket in Germany). Other important works are
Agergaard etal. (2022) and Block and Gibbs (2017), which show that volunteering new-
comers and migrants are better positioned to establish trust with other newcomers outside
the VSCs because these individuals understand other newcomers’ situations differently. In
short, if VSCs do not conceive of newcomers as ‘problems to be solved’ and instead draw
from their strengths, a sense of empowerment can be induced on behalf of the newcomers
in parallel to the increased functioning of VSCs. In most cases, this point will require a
general re-orientation in the perception of newcomers and that VSCs can ‘give up’ some of
their power.
Secondly, the foundation of understanding newcomers’ ‘social inclusion’ shapes the prac-
tices and plausibly which organisational culture encapsulates the practices. One salient
finding in the reviewed materials is that while financial resources are important, they are
secondary to the individuals who run the initiatives. A coherent vision and a welcoming
atmosphere, in which little attention is paid to competition, seem crucial for newcomers’
inclusion. The scope of the VSCs is indeed a crucial factor and is not only limited to whether
they centre on competition or inclusion. In this regard, Koopmans and Doidge (2022)
offered some valuable insights, arguing that sport actors should be less concerned with
instrumental goals (e.g. health) and more interested in the joy that sport can bring. This
point also resonates with recent findings on target populations’ perspectives on the outcomes
and meanings of sport initiatives, where fun seems to foreground the experience (Ekholm
and Dahlstedt 2022). This review also suggests that few VSCs adopt a more relaxed vision
of ‘fun’ but focus on means and markers of inclusion and integration, such as language,
health, and norms (Ager and Strang 2008). In this regard, ethno-specific sports clubs and
initiatives are usually ‘safe havens’ with little focus on instrumental social policy goals—
however, such initiatives are also often subject to negative political attention, assuming that
such spaces are ‘parallel societies’ (Lenneis and Agergaard 2018). In light of such broader
political sentiments, it is not surprising that most VSCs adopt a normative or integrative
approach to social inclusion.
While this paper has systematically reviewed VSCs specifically, it should be noted that
VSCs should not necessarily be regarded as how newcomers partake in sport. Recently,
informal sport settings outside of the mainstream sport sphere have been raised as a poten-
tial and valuable alternative (Alemu, Vehmas, and Nagel 2021). A more critical assessment
of VSCs, as evident in this review, reveals a range of assimilatory and potentially problematic
practices that impede newcomers’ inclusion. In this regard, it is imperative not only to assess
how ‘successful’ VSCs operate but also to understand that VSCs should not represent a
definitive status quo. Newcomers’ non-attendance can be a sign of social closure within
VSCs, but it can also signal newcomers’ agency, i.e. their choice to not partake in mainstream
society sport. Moreover, since many sport federations and larger authorities decide upon

18 T. B. MICKELSSON
the value and direction that VSCs should proceed in, it is an issue that needs to be addressed
at levels above the VSC (Blomqvist 2022). To this end, VSCs can be limited in their capacity
to address structural issues, but they are still autonomous and within their rights to decide
as they see fit within their own space.
Moreover, this paper is framed in light of the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. How the
European sport movement will respond, but the included articles are primarily based on
non-Ukrainian newcomer populations. A critical debate has emerged in Europe, as it seems
that Ukrainian newcomers are received differently and better than other newcomer popu-
lations. De Coninck (2022) recently suggested that ethnicity and geographical proximity
could factor in this differentiated treatment. There is no reason to believe sport clubs are
spared from this double standard; exploring the lived experiences of African and Polish
migrants in the UK, Long, Hylton, and Spracklen (2014) found that Polish migrants, being
a non-visible ethnic minority, seemed to experience less stigmatisation than African
migrants. Sport clubs are also arenas where race, ethnicity, class, and sex intersect in the
broader making of internal hierarchies that impinge upon newcomers’ reception. Recent
research into the subject matter also shows that Ukrainian newcomers may be better received
because they may have extensive experience in organised sport, which is at the core of
European sport movements (Blomqvist Mickelsson 2023). Such intersections must be fur-
ther explored in light of the ongoing differentiated treatment of Ukrainian newcomers.
This review has several limitations. One limitation is the use of English literature—this
point effectively excludes all works produced in the German language, where more research
on the subject matter may exist. Secondly, another limitation is the omission of a large body
of research that did not clearly define what ‘migrant’ entailed. For instance, a large body of
impressive research has emerged from the SIVSCE project (Elmose-Østerlund etal. 2017).
However, the SIVSCE project makes no mention of reasons for migration. Third, and related
to the above, even when newcomers (i.e. refugees) are distinguished from migrants, new-
comers are also heterogeneous. Refugee background is only one part of an individual’s
identity; other factors we know condition sport participation and inclusion are gender. By
invoking a more intersectional lens, we may be better positioned to understand the vividly
differing experiences of newcomers. This factor was, however, outside of the review’s scope.
Relatedly, it finally emphasises that this review centred on the VSCs’ perspective and omitted
newcomers’ experiences. However, since many prior reviews have already done this, nar-
rowing the scope seemed appropriate.
Note
1. The refugee crisis is a problematic definition, but given the lack of other established terms for
this event, it will be referred to as above.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
ORCID
Tony Blomqvist Mickelsson http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2934-9313

SPORT IN SOCIETY 19
References
Adler Zwahlen, J., S. Nagel, and T. Schlesinger. 2018. “Analysing Social Integration of Young
Immigrants in Sports Clubs.” European Journal for Sport and Society 15 (1): 22–42. doi:10.1080/
16138171.2018.1440950.
Ager, A., and A. Strang. 2008. “Understanding Integration: A Conceptual Framework.” Journal of
Refugee Studies 21 (2): 166–191. doi:10.1093/jrs/fen016.
Agergaard, S. 2011. “Development and Appropriation of an Integration Policy for Sport: How
Danish Sports Clubs Have Become Arenas for Ethnic Integration.” International Journal of Sport
Policy and Politics 3 (3): 341–353. doi:10.1080/19406940.2011.596158.
Agergaard, S. 2018. “Rethinking Sports and Integration: Developing a Transnational Perspective on
Migrants and Descendants in Sports.” Rethinking Sports and Integration: Developing a Transnational
Per spective on Migrants and Descendants in Sports 2 (1): 1–116. doi:10.4324/9781315266084.
Agergaard, S., J. K. Hansen, J. S. Serritzlew, J. T. Olesen, and V. Lenneis. 2022. “Escaping the Position as
‘Other’: A Postcolonial Perspective on Refugees’ Trajectories into Volunteering in Danish Sports
Clubs.” Sport in Society 25 (3): 619–635. doi:10.1080/17430437.2022.2017822.
Alemu, B. B., H. Vehmas, and S. Nagel. 2021. “Social Integration of Ethiopian and Eritrean Women
in Switzerland through Informal Sport Settings.” European Journal for Sport and Society 18 (4):
365–384. doi:10.1080/16138171.2021.1878435.
Anderson, A., M. A. Dixon, K. F. Oshiro, P. Wicker, G. B. Cunningham, and B. Heere. 2019. “Managerial
Perceptions of Factors Affecting the Design and Delivery of Sport for Health Programs for Refugee
Populations.” Sport Management Review 22 (1): 80–95. doi:10.1016/j.smr.2018.06.015.
Berry, J. W. 1997. “Immigration, Acculturation, and Adaptation.” Applied Psychology 46 (1): 5–34.
doi:10.1111/j.1464-0597.1997.tb01087.x.
Block, K., and L. Gibbs. 2017. “Promoting Social Inclusion through Sport for Refugee-Background
Youth in Australia: Analysing Different Participation Models.” Social Inclusion 5 (2): 91–100.
doi:10.17645/si.v5i2.903.
Blomqvist, T. M. 2022. “The role of the Swedish Sports Confederation in delivering sport in socio-
economically deprived areas.” International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics 14 (4): 589–606.
Blomqvist Mickelsson, T. 2022. “A Morphogenetic Approach to Sport and Social Inclusion: A Case
Study of Good Will’s Reproductive Power.” Sport in Society 26 (5): 837–853. doi:10.1080/174304
37.2022.2069013.
Blomqvist Mickelsson, T. 2023. “Ukrainian refugees’ reception in Swedish sports clubs: ‘deserving-
ness’ and ‘promising victimhood’.” European Journal of Social Work 27 (2): 267–280. doi:10.1080/
13691457.2023.2196375.
Bronfenbrenner, U. 1977. “Toward an Experimental Ecology of Human Development.” American
Psychologist 32 (7): 513–531. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.32.7.513.
Bronfenbrenner, U. 1979. The Ecology of Human Development: Experiments by Nature and Design.
Harvard university press.
Bronfenbrenner, U. 2005. Making Human Beings Human: Bioecological Perspectives on Human
Development. Thousand Oaks: Sage.
De Coninck, D. 2022. “The Refugee Paradox During Wartime in Europe: How Ukrainian and
Afghan Refugees Are (Not) Alike.” International Migration Review 57 (2): 578–586.
DeLuca, C. 2013. “Toward an Interdisciplinary Framework for Educational Inclusivity.” Canadian
Journal of Education 36 (1): 305–347.
Doidge, M., M. Keech, and E. Sandri. 2020. “Active Integration’: sport Clubs Taking an Active Role
in the Integration of Refugees.” International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics 12 (2): 305–319.
doi:10.1080/19406940.2020.1717580.
Dollmann, J., K. Jacob, and F. Kalter. 2014. Examining the Diversity of Youth in Europe. A Classification
of Generations and Ethnic Origins Using CILS4EU Data (Technical Report ) (No. 156). Mannheim:
Mannheimer Zentrum für Europäische Sozialforschung.
Dowling, F. 2020. “A Critical Discourse Analysis of a Local Enactment of Sport for Integration
Policy: Helping Young Refugees or Self-Help for Voluntary Sports Clubs?” International Review
for the Sociology of Sport 55 (8): 1152–1166. doi:10.1177/1012690219874437.

20 T. B. MICKELSSON
Dukic, D., B. McDonald, and R. Spaaij. 2017. “Being Able to Play: Experiences of Social Inclusion
and Exclusion Within a Football Team of People Seeking Asylum.” Social Inclusion 5 (2):
101–110. doi:10.17645/si.v5i2.892.
Ekholm, D. 2017. “Mobilising the sport-based community: The construction of social work through
rationales of advanced liberalism.” Nordic Social Work Research 7 (2): 155–167.
Ekholm, D., and M. Dahlstedt. 2022. “Conflicting Rationalities of Participation: Constructing
and Resisting ‘Midnight Football’as an Instrument of Social Policy.” Sport in Society 25 (6):
1142–1159. doi:10.1080/17430437.2022.2064098.
Elmose-Østerlund, K., B. Ibsen, S. Nagel, and J. Scheerder. 2017. Explaining Similarities and Differences
Between European Sports Clubs: An Overview of The Main Similarities and Differences Between
Sports Clubs in Ten European Countries and the Potential Explanations. Odense: University of
Southern Denmark.
Fahlén, J., and C. Stenling. 2016. “Sport policy in Sweden.” International Journal of Sport Policy and
Politics 8 (3): 515–531. doi:10.1080/19406940.2015.1063530.
Fernández-Gavira, J., Á. Huete-García, and L. Velez-Colón. 2017. “Vulnerable Groups at Risk for Sport
and Social Exclusion.” Journal of Physical Education and Sport 17 (1): 312–326. doi:10.7752/
jpes.2017.01047.
Fingerle, M., M. Röder, K. Olmesdahl, and J. Haut. 2021. “Matching Perspectives of Refugees and
Voluntary Sports Clubs in Germany.” Italian Sociological Review 11: 715–735.
Hertting, K., and I. Karlefors. 2021. “‘We Can’t Get Stuck in Old Ways’: Swedish Sports Club’s
Integration Efforts with Children and Youth in Migration.” Physical Culture and Sport. Studies
and Research 92 (1): 32–42. doi:10.2478/pcssr-2021-0023.
Hudson, C., C. Luguetti, R. Spaaij, and C. Hudson. 2022. “Pedagogies Implemented with Young
People with Refugee Backgrounds in Physical Education and Sport : A Critical Review of the
Literature of the Literature.” Curriculum Studies in Health and Physical Education 14 (1): 21–40.
doi:10.1080/25742981.2022.2052330.
Ioffe, Y., I. Abubakar, R. Issa, P. Spiegel, and B. N. Kumar. 2022. “Meeting the Health Challenges of
Displaced Populations from Ukraine.” Lancet (London, England) 399 (10331): 1206–1208.
doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(22)00477-9.
Kataria, M., and N. De Martini Ugolotti. 2022. “Running for Inclusion: Responsibility, (Un)
Deservingness and the Spectacle of Integration in a Sport-for-Refugees Intervention in Geneva,
Switzerland.” Sport in Society 25 (3): 602–618. doi:10.1080/17430437.2022.2017820.
Koopmans, B., and M. Doidge. 2022. “They Play Together, They Laugh Together’: Sport, Play and
Fun in Refugee Sport Projects.” Sport in Society 25 (3): 537–550. 10.1080/17430437.2022.2017816.
Lenneis, V., and S. Agergaard. 2018. “Enacting and Resisting the Politics of Belonging through
Leisure. The Debate About Gender-Segregated Swimming Sessions Targeting Muslim Women in
Denmark.” Leisure Studies 37 (6): 706–720. doi:10.1080/02614367.2018.1497682.
Long, J., K. Hylton, and K. Spracklen. 2014. “Whiteness, Blackness and Settlement: Leisure and the
Integration of New Migrants.” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 40 (11): 1779–1797. doi:
10.1080/1369183X.2014.893189.
Michelini, E. 2021. “The Representation of the ‘Refugee Crisis’ and ‘Sport’in the German Press: An
Analysis of Newspaper Discourse.” European Journal for Sport and Society 18 (3): 265–282.
10.1080/16138171.2021.1930945.
Michelini, E., and U. Burrmann. 2021. “A Preliminary Impact Model for the Integration of Young
Refugees through Sports Programmes.” Culture e Studi Del Sociale 6 (2): 265–281.
Michelini, E., U. Burrmann, T. Nobis, J. Tuchel, and T. Schlesinger. 2018. “Sport Offers for Refugees
in Germany. Promoting and Hindering Conditions in Voluntary Sport Clubs.” Society Register
2 (1): 19–38. doi:10.14746/sr.2018.2.1.02.
Middleton, T. R. F., B. Petersen, R. J. Schinke, S. F. Kao, and C. Giffin. 2020. “Community Sport and
Physical Activity Programs as Sites of Integration: A Meta-Synthesis of Qualitative Research Con-
ducted with Forced Migrants.” Psychology of Sport and Exercise 51: 101769. doi:10.1016/
j.psychsport.2020.101769.

SPORT IN SOCIETY 21
Mohammadi, S. 2019. “Social Inclusion of Newly Arrived Female Asylum Seekers and Refugees
through a Community Sport Initiative: The Case of Bike Bridge.” Sport in Society 22 (6): 1082–
1099. doi:10.1080/17430437.2019.1565391.
Nagel, S., K. Elmose-Østerlund, B. Ibsen, and J. Scheerder. 2020. Functions of Sports Clubs in
European Societies. Springer.
Nowy, T., and C. Breuer. 2019. “Facilitators and Constraints for a Wider Societal Role of Voluntary
Sports Clubs–Evidence from European Grassroots Football.” International Journal of Sport Policy
and Politics 11 (4): 727–746. doi:10.1080/19406940.2019.1630469.
Nowy, T., S. Feiler, and C. Breuer. 2020. “Investigating Grassroots Sports’ Engagement for Refugees:
Evidence From Voluntary Sports Clubs in Germany.” Journal of Sport and Social Issues 44 (1):
22–46. 10.1177/0193723519875889.
Portes, A., and M. Zhou. 1993. “The New Second Generation: Segmented Assimilation and Its
Variants.” The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 530 (1): 74–96.
doi:10.1177/0002716293530001006.
Schaillée, H., R. Haudenhuyse, and L. Bradt. 2019. “Community Sport and Social Inclusion: International
Perspectives.” Sport in Society 22 (6): 885–896. doi:10.1080/17430437.2019.1565380.
Simonsen, C. B., and K. Ryom. 2021. “Building Bridges: A Co-Creation Intervention Preparatory
Project Based on Female Syrian Refugees’ Experiences with Physical Activity.” Action Research
21 (4): 382–401. doi:10.1177/14767503211009571.
Smith, R., R. Spaaij, and B. McDonald. 2019. “Migrant Integration and Cultural Capital in the
Context of Sport and Physical Activity: A Systematic Review.” Journal of International Migration
and Integration 20 (3): 851–868. doi:10.1007/s12134-018-0634-5.
Spaaij, R., J. Broerse, S. Oxford, C. Luguetti, F. McLachlan, B. McDonald, B. Klepac, L. Lymbery, J.
Bishara, and A. Pankowiak. 2019. “Sport, Refugees, and Forced Migration: A Critical Review of
the Literature.” Frontiers in Sports and Active Living 1: 47. doi:10.3389/fspor.2019.00047.
Stura, C. 2019. “What Makes Us Strong”–the Role of Sports Clubs in Facilitating Integration of Refugees.”
European Journal for Sport and Society 16 (2): 128–145. doi:10.1080/16138171.2019.1625584.
Truskewycz, H., M. Drummond, and R. Jeanes. 2022. “Negotiating Participation: African Refugee
and Migrant Women’s Experiences of Football.” Sport in Society 25 (3): 582–601. doi:
10.1080/17430437.2022.2017819.
Tuchel, J., U. Burrmann, T. Nobis, E. Michelini, and T. Schlesinger. 2021. “Practices of German
Voluntary Sports Clubs to Include Refugees.” Sport in Society 24 (4): 670–692. doi:10.1080/17430
437.2019.1706491.
Tudge, J. R. H., I. Mokrova, B. E. Hatfield, and R. B. Karnik. 2009. “Uses and Misuses of Bronfenbrenner’s
Bioecological Theory of Human Development.” Journal of Family Theory & Review 1 (4): 198–210.
doi:10.1111/j.1756-2589.2009.00026.x.
UNHCR. 2021. “Syria Refugee Crisis – Globally, in Europe and in Cyprus – UNHCR Cyprus.” https://
www.unhcr.org/cy/2021/03/18/syria-refugee-crisis-globally-in-europe-and-in-cyprus-meet-
some-syrian-refugees-in-cyprus/
UNHCR. 2022. “Situation Ukraine Refugee Situation.” https://data2.unhcr.org/en/situations/ukraine
Whittemore, R., and K. Knafl. 2005. “The Integrative Review: Updated Methodology.” Journal of
Advanced Nursing 52 (5): 546–553. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2648.2005.03621.x.
WHO Europe. 2022. Ukraine Crisis. Public Health Situation Analysis - Refugee-Hosting Countries (17
March 2022). Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization.