27/11/2015

Authenticity and the changing face of Sport

Dr Tony Oldham

“Like every other instrument that man has invented, sport can be used either for good or for evil purposes.”

Aldous Huxley (1937)

1 27/11/2015

Change

• The role of sport in our lives has changed

• Academies, commodification, politicisation, early selection

• I am seeing more parents who think their children have performance problems

What’s changed in 30 years?

• What impact has this had on:

• You?

• Your sport?

• Our performers?

2 27/11/2015

Commodification, Competition & Us

• Global sports market grew from 107.5 to 145.3 billion US$ between 2006 and 2015

• Over 100 rugby boots?

• 12 to 41 Ironman events worldwide between 1985 & 2015

• HPSNZ may spend as much as NZ$20million in 2016?

• $180 pcm on training fees alone

Events - ships with everything?

1985 FIFA U16/17 1986 IAAF World Junior Championships 1987 Hillary Commission First 1988 First professional Olympics Under-19 1989 Aranui sports academy SKY TV/BSB UK & Europe 1990 SkyTV NZ launches UCI Mountain Bike & Trials World Championships 1991 FIFA Womens World Cup Football Women's Rugby World Cup 1992 FIFA Confederations Cup Finals BWF World Junior Championships 1993 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) 1994 UCI World Time-Trial Championships 1995 Aerobic Gymnastics World Championships FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 1996 FIS Snowboarding World Championships World Armwrestling Championship 1997 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships 1998 ICC Champions 1999 IAAF World Youth Championships 2000 Women's World Cup ICF Canoe Polo World Championships 2001 World Championships Women's wrestling 2002 FIFA U19 Women's U21 2003 UCI Mountain Bike Marathon World Championships ITU Mixed Team World Championships 2004 Beach Handball World Championships Fast5 Netball World Series 2005 Womens Rugby World Cup Sevens 2006 World Squash doubles FINA Junior Swimming 2007 Cricket T20 World cup 2008 FIFA U17 Women's World Cup 2009 ICC Women's World Twenty20 2010 First Youth FIBA Under-17 World Championship 2012 FIBA 3x3 World Championships UCI Team Time Trial

3 27/11/2015

Selection ENGLISH ASSOCIATION FOOTBALL WORLD CUP SQUADS 1982-2014

Average age of squad Average age of debut Linear (Average age of squad) Linear (Average age of debut)

29

28

27

26

25

24

23

22

21

20

19 1982 1986 1990 1992E 1996E 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014

Development

• Sport players at rep tournament in 2006 average age 17.4 yrs

• Multiple teams same sport, already specialising

• 12 hours of organised sport, plus: Work (5), school (45), travel (4) and other (2)

• Not a lot of time for playing life and normal development

• Very transactional in their thinking

4 27/11/2015

Adolescence

• Development of identity

• Affirmation of morals and values

• Challenging and re-examining role models

• Independence

• Exploration

Reality

• We are not in a position to change sport structures

• What can we do for those within those structures?

• Children's lives in sport are becoming more transactional…..

5 27/11/2015

Authenticity

• Jean-Paul Sartre

“Let us consider this waiter in the café. His movement is quick and forward, a little too precise, a little too rapid………….. We need not watch long before we can explain it: he is playing at being a waiter in a café. There is nothing there to surprise us.”

• Bill George, 2003 Management - Transactional managers acting like transformational ones.

Authenticity in a serviced world

• The McDonalds moment

• The rise of social networking when you realise what Facebook, Twitter and Apple really want to do with your life.

• How do children and adults manage the relationships around them in this context?

• Seeking authenticity and rejecting a lack thereof

• Authenticity as a mediator and social currency

6 27/11/2015

Conflict: Between sport as play, competition and commodity

• Organisations and people: eventually competition demands we pick the best performers (but what level) - funding for top eight sports

• My goals as a coach and your needs as a performer: “this is my living but your hobby”

• Bad faith emerges where both parties act without authenticity

• Transactions in bad faith: “pretend to be interested in me I’ll pretend this is good for me”

Authenticity and Bad Faith

• The difference between acting and being

• People not behaving according to their expected roles

7 27/11/2015

Authenticity in:

• Motivation - We are motivated when we get to do authentic things consistent with our own goals

• Relationships - The sacrifice is worth it when it adds to something we feel less authentic and engaged when we make sacrifices in order to avoid conflict

• Casual encounters – Authentic smiles get bigger tips

• Well being - Contingent self-worth can cause us to question the authenticity of feedback we are given by important others – “but you’re just saying that”

Contemporary context

• Developing athletes are adept processors of authentic and inauthentic interactions

• What implications does this have for the support we provide for them?

• To what extent does this interact with normal social development across the lifespan?

• How will it effect development as competitive sport reaches further and further into childhood?

8 27/11/2015

Issues • Parents as managers

• Teachers as enablers

• Performance issues at ages 14 – 18 years old

• The privilege of representing your country?

• Do they know what this is costing?

• Which bit of this is supposed to be character building?

The little things we do and say

• Patesy’s moment

9 27/11/2015

Thoughts? Questions?

10