Volume 8, Issue 3

The article examines structural and contextual aspects of self-organized migrant sports clubs based on a statistical analysis of data collected for the Sport Development Report 2009/2010 through a nationwide survey of sports clubs in Germany (N=19,345). A comparison of means was conducted in a univariate analysis of variance between migrant sports clubs, categorized as such based on the composition of their members and board, and the other clubs in the sample, complemented by matched pair and regression analysis. The variables under investigation were member structure, club activities, location, and severity of organizational problems. Migrant sport clubs were found to have fewer members and a higher percentage of males on average, and to be more likely to offer soccer and to experience problems threatening their survival than other sports clubs.

The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of the Bologna Process on the sports activities and exercise of students in German higher educational institutions. In this article, we present the results of a mixed-methods study using qualitative, problem-focused interviews (N=30) and a quantitative, representative cross-sectional online survey (N=7060) and discuss these results with reference to approaches from institutional theory. The findings show that students in the reformed (bachelor/master) degree programs perceive the new academic conditions as an increasing burden. Furthermore, the results show a gradual change in these students’ sports behavior, reflected in their organization of physical activity and exercise in daily life. However, a statistically significant difference in the level of physical activity among the individual groups of students could not be proven.

During adolescence, young athletes undergo major social, psychological, and physiological changes that significantly influence their development and careers. The specific constellations of problems resulting from the growth process have been neglected, however, in the research to date. This article examines the conditions underlying the emergence of growth problems and the social significance of these problems in the context of elite youth sports. The young athletes’ development and their bodies’ socialization into elite sports are examined here through the lens of social constructivist theory. The body’s biological and social dimensions are considered as co-constructive. Drawing on qualitative interviews and participant observation in German elite sports, the results indicate four typical problems: misfit, asynchrony, change in reference group, and overloading.