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Some thoughts on the role of sports in universities

Ian DiamondUniversity of Aberdeen

6.12.11

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Great increases in numbers in higher education• Structural change post 1992• Increased variety of courses• Multi-campus universities

2011 : Major change in university funding throughout UK

• Questions: – What will happen to demand? – Will demand be price sensitive? – In (some) HEIs money will be tight cases for any (core

and non-core) activity will likely be made on benefit to university agenda

Some Recent Trends in HE

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Justification for a University1490s

‘that both clerics and laymen would readily apply themselves to literary studies and acquire the precious pearl of knowledge in such fashion that the ignorant would become informed and the uneducated learned’

Source: Aberdeen Supplication to the Vatican, MacFarlane, William Elphinstone and the Kingdom of Scotland

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17th Century ballad evidence about football17th Century lewd poem about real tennis

Early evidence of sport

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Why did university sport start?

• Suggestion: Universities were full of young (mostly) men and young men played sport and so this was seen as an extension of school and a way to let off steam (better than insurrection!)

• Sport started often at the same time as the university - Chicago

• Sport built around clubs and an (increasingly) active national organisation

• Little thought of community involvement• Major centres largely the result of ‘people’ eg

Loughborough (but people at all levels)

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Roles of a Twenty-First Century University

• educate the highly skilled workforce of the future; • produce research which is truly addressing exciting new

problems and undertaking this research to the highest methodological and ethical standards;

• where appropriate, ensure that the research has an impact both on the people who paid for this research and further beyond;

• seek to drive its local socio-economy and act as the cultural DNA of its local region.

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Roles of a 21st Century University I. Learning and Teaching• recruit the most talented students from the widest

possible range of backgrounds • increase the numbers of part-time, postgraduate and

international students • brilliant student experience, celebrating staff• continually improve rates of retention and continuation • pastoral support second to none.• ensure our students have informed expectations and

both see themselves and are seen as valued partners in the university community

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Attracting the best studentsDo sports people make good students?

• Courses need intellectual rigour, breadth, employability skills and development as an active citizen

• Sport– Awareness of need for training regimes– Awareness of need for flexibility and adaptability– Awareness of focus and goal orientation– Awareness of teamwork– Opportunities for active citizenship

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Attracting the best Students

In any subject in a university • Top sports people can be great students but will look at

sporting options.• Best students will often look at sports options in the

context of a healthy lifestyle

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Attracting the best students to study sport

• Historic– Sports careers PE teacher Loughborough, St Lukes, Carnegie,

Borough Road...– First sports science programme, LMJU1975

• Current– Societal Change implies Sport as a Business– 1201 Sport related Degrees

• For (many) universities sport related degrees represent a major source of income

BUT• What should the portfolio of Sports related provision be?• Linked to other priorities eg focus sport, wp

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Attracting the best students

PUBLICITY

Do we raise these possibilities– With students– With university administrators– With employers (and do they tell university

administrators)

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Sport and university(HE) choice?I. Best students and WP

• Do best sportspeople have best school qualifications?

• Complex situationa) Yes sometimesb) No because of sport need good pathways/articulationc) No because of background but sport has engendered

potential WPd) No but could still benefit

• b) and c) require good relations with admissions/course programmes acceptance and enthusiasm for university sport

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Sport and university(HE) choice?Attracting the Best Students

• Chicken and Egg for Sports Directors (and University Admissions?)

• Want best sportspeople to get teams to attract best sportspeople!!

OR• Do we need good sport to attract best sportspeople?

• BUILD IT AND THEY WILL COME

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Sport and university(HE) choice?II. Retention

• Big challenge is transition to University

• Sports clubs provide a friendly base particularly for students living at home.

• Friendly advice from peers on how to succeed.• Aspiration raising from postgraduates.

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Build it and they will come

• 1. Clubs– Focus

• Attracts top sports people and less top equally• Links with NGBs• ‘Check your ego at the door’ links with local clubs• Coaching, nutrition and physio advice• Quiet rooms in halls• Flexibility in courses• Sustainable business plans

– Wide range• For all reasons regarding recruitment and retention• Light touch support for development

– Dedicated ‘sports’ and ‘all rounder’ scholarships – range of opportunities

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1980s : Efficiency Gains and High Student DemandCase Study ‘Swimming Pool Working Party’

Build it and they will come

1960s Rapid Expansion in Universities and facilities

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Build it and they will come

Many major investments linked to student recruitmentFuture investments will need evidence and serious business plans (potentially with partners)

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Roles of a 21st Century UniversityResearch

• Research and impact are critical to many universities – does sport fit in? – Chicago then, then and now

• Contributions of Sport– Sports Studies in RAE/REF– Sports has research challenges right across the

research spectrum– Need to be proactive with research problems– Need to celebrate ‘impact’

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Roles of a 21st Century UniversityA Good Employer and a Local SocialEconomic and Cultural Driver

• A healthy university _ ‘What do we do about the 50% of the University who are not active?’ Beattie, 2011

• How do we contribute to a healthy societyt?

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Engendering the Healthy University

• Research Contributions

What are the benefits of being active daily? • � Reduces risk of a range of diseases, e.g. Coronary heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes • � Helps maintain a healthy weight • � Helps maintain ability to perform everyday tasks with ease • � Improves self-esteem • � Reduces symptoms of depression and anxiety

For further information: Start Active, Stay Active: A report on physical activity for health from the four home countries’ Chief Medical Officers (2011)

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Improving LifestylesResearch

• Adults should aim to be active daily. Over a week, activity should add up to at least 150 minutes (2½ hours) of moderate intensity activity in bouts of 10 minutes or more – one way to approach this is to do 30 minutes on at least 5 days a week.

• 2. Alternatively, comparable benefits can be achieved through 75 minutes of vigorous intensity activity spread across the week or combinations of moderate and vigorous intensity activity.

• 3. Adults should also undertake physical activity to improve muscle strength on at least two days a week.

• 4. All adults should minimise the amount of time spent being sedentary (sitting) for extended periods.

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Problem: How does behaviourchange happen??Individuals make decisions

When Communities are supportive

AndGovernment policy supports

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The University as a Supportive Community

• Engendering the healthy university : UoA• Sharing facilities and public involvement: JVs; • Encouraging participation• Local investment in facilities• Adding value to local sport• Publicising university sport as a part of local engagement

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Summary

• Until the 1990s university sport was seen as ‘a good thing’ but was not majorly supported

• What changed?– Society sport as a career/exercise as a business

• Students increasingly discerning consumers• Students demand for u/g degrees• Students need to recruit and retain the best• Research a powerful tool for impact• Public Engagement Necessary and desired

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Summary

• Sport can be central to most (all) aspects of a modern university’s mission

• The case has not always been made cogently• In current world the case for sport has to be carved into

the university’s DNA!!