departmental bulletin paper

Departmental Bulletin Paper

Text

Osaka Human Sciences. 2021, 7, p. 19-33

Initiatives aimed at reducing poverty with sport : A case in the Netherlands

Okada, Chiaki

Graduate School of Human Sciences, Osaka University

English

Text

2021-03

The Homeless World Cup (HWC) is an international futsal event in which only homeless people can participate. Over 500 players annually are sent from over 60 countries by national partners (NPs) that conduct selections and daily team activities. Life Goals Foundation (LGF) is one of the NPs, established in 2010 in the Netherlands, that aims to help vulnerable people on the edges of society integrate through sports. The foundation provides special sports programs for people who have faced major negative life events (LGF’s webpage). One of the distinctive features of LGF is its Social Sport Coaches (SSCs): LGF operates sport programs at 24 venues in the Netherlands under the supervision of specially trained SSCs. The authors conducted semi-structured interviews with a total of 15 SSCs, mainly in English (Dutch ↔ English for two persons). These interviews were held in December 2018 and lasted approximately 26 minutes each. The key themes of all interviews were: (1) background information, (2) sport careers, (3) coaching careers, (4) activities as an SSC, and (5) opinions on the combination of sports and vulnerable youth. Prior to these interviews, The author held pre-interviews with the staff members of LGF in (1) 2017 in Oslo, the venue of the HWC of that year, (2) 2018 in Utrecht, and (3) 2018 in Osaka. The authors noted several outcomes/contributions of LGF’s and SSCs’ activities from our conversations with the interviewees, and successful examples, in particular, of proactive socialization through commitment to sport activities. LGF seems not to set the typical goals of success based on an ideal model of participation in their activities, but tries to accept each participant’s circumstances and sets goals according to each person’s needs. Although the LGF’s activities are offi cially supported by government policies and budgets, the concept of the SSC itself has limitless potential for poverty reduction through concrete sports achievements.

10.18910/78938

78938

Initiatives aimed at reducing poverty with sport : A case in the Netherlands

Okada, Chiaki

Graduate School of Human Sciences, Osaka University

English

2021-03

Osaka Human Sciences

7

19

33

https://hdl.handle.net/11094/78938

10.18910/78938

https://doi.org/10.18910/78938