Ungdomsakademier i idrott - en kritisk granskning ur ett barnrättsperspektiv
Projektledare
- Karin Redelius
Institution
- Institutionen för rörelse, kultur och samhälle, RKS
Finansiärer
- Centrum för Idrottsforskning
Abstract
Nedan kan du läsa sammanfattningar om projektet på engelska och/eller svenska. Informationen hämtas från publikationsdatabasen DiVA.
A trend in organised sport is the emergence of youth academies. The focus of sports academies is on developing children and youth into high-performance athletes (Baker et al, 2018). In that sense, youth academies stand, at least from the outside, in stark contrast to the guidelines for children and youth that all federations belonging to the Swedish Sports Confederation unanimously have decided on. These guidelines have a child rights perspective as a starting point and the idea is that sport should be conducted in the best interest of the child (children are considered all under 18 years of age).
Academies are in that sense value-laden entities. Their practices contain controversial elements that have been debated for years, such as early specialization and selection of young players. Nevertheless, the youth involved in academy programs are considered the most talented, making these programs prestigious, and sought-after. The Swedish Elite Football Associations for the 42 men’s clubs (SEF) and 28 women’s clubs (DEF) in the two highest divisions have developed a specific certification and scoring system. The clubs are assessed annually and the purpose of the certification system is to assure the quality of the 60 academies that are run by the elite clubs and directed towards young players aged 10–19.
The aim of this study is to critically review and analyse the content of this certification system from a child rights perspective. Key questions are: What is considered a good practice and developmental environment? Which aspects that are assessed and valued can be related to a child rights perspective? What is not valued?
The theoretical framework is based on Bourdieu's conceptual tools: symbolic capital, doxa, and illusio. The methods that will be used are qualitative document content analyses and individual interviews. The main documents in the text analyses are the reports from the annual certification processes of football academies for boys' (aged 10-19) and girls’ (aged 13-19). Interviews will be conducted with those who are involved in the certification process and with head coaches for youth academies, both those who scored high and those who scored low when assessed.
The goal is to contribute knowledge about the seemingly different value systems that permeate Swedish child and youth sports. By highlighting those norms and values, the power structures and hierarchies that affect the accessibility to sport can be illuminated.
En trend inom den organiserade idrotten är framväxten av ungdomsakademier. Inom fotboll talas det om en"akademiboom" (SvFF). I akademiverksamheten befinner sig de barn och unga som anses ha störst talang och därmed är det en statusfylld och värdeladdad verksamhet, som ofta framhålls som föredöme. Intresseorganisationerna för elitfotbollsklubbar på herr- och damsidan har utarbetat en certifieringsmodell för föreningars akademiutbildning i åldern 10–19 år. Syftet med studien är att med utgångspunkt i ett barnrättsperspektiv kritiskt granska innehållet i denna certifieringsmodell för fotbollsakademier. Centrala frågor är: Hur konstrueras en god utvecklingsmiljö? Vilka bedömningsområden kan relateras till ett barnrättsperspektiv? Vad värdesätts, och vad värdesätt inte?
Forskare knutna till projektet
Projektmedarbetare
- Åse Strandbu, GIH, Institutionen för rörelse, kultur och samhälle
Projekttid
- 2025 - 2026
Projekttyp
- Projektbidrag
Nationell ämneskategori
- Pedagogik