Dissertation: Perspectives and Experiences of Duty of Care and Welfare Provision for elite Athletes in “funded” and “non-funded” sports

Name: Jeff Brider

Role & company: International Taekwon-Do Federation, Board Member

Dissertation length: 10,411 words

Introduction:

The aim of this research was to assess the extent, and effectiveness, of access to welfare provision and independent advice for elite athletes. Although there are independent services, such as the BEAA (British Elite Athletes Association), for athletes who receive APA (Athlete Performance Award) funding,  described as “funded” athletes, no such services are available for elite athletes who do not receive such funding,  defined as “non-funded” elite athletes.  This has been identified as a gap in the existing research.

The central research question was to investigate experiences and perspectives of duty of care and associated welfare provision for elite athletes and the literature review therefore considered recent research on duty of care and welfare issues. Recognising that duty of care and welfare provision has had a higher profile following allegations of athlete maltreatment, evaluation of the recommendations emerging from reports on these allegations was also considered.

Following on from the literature review participant interviews were undertaken. Participants (n=10) were identified by approaches to key individuals who had developed policies on duty of care and welfare issues. In addition, contact was made with academics working in the field who were not formally interviewed as part of the research but who offered advice and suggestions of individuals who could offer views on the research question. Where possible, attempts were made to triangulate information by interviewing representatives from a single sporting organisation. A desk-based analysis of statements on duty of care and welfare in twenty-nine sporting organisations was also undertaken to assess whether the espoused policy statements were consistent with the received knowledge from the participants’ perspectives and experiences.

Key findings:

Participants’ knowledge of safeguarding for children and adults with vulnerabilities, and the importance of welfare provision and systems to support athletes, was noted, but  their knowledge of the availability of access to independent advice was limited.  The findings also revealed that even athletes who could access such provision were unaware that this provision existed. The proposal made by Baroness Grey-Thompson (2017) to create a Sport Ombudsman found favour with the majority of participants. Participants’ knowledge of abuse of athletes was limited to athlete maltreatment in British Gymnastics and US Gymnastics.

Underlying many of  the issues that emerged from the literature and the findings from the participant interviews was the issue of power in sporting organisations. The role of power was examined in a number of different contexts using Gramsci’s framework and Goffman’s hypotheses on organisational control.  Notably, participants raised issues concerning the culture within organisations which inhibited raising welfare issues.  Of relevance here is Goffman’s point that the stigma that attaches to those who deviate from the norm is likely to lead to their ostracism by those who do conform to the cultural norms. A current example of hegemonic control in sport can be found in relation to the role of WADA where its position is only maintained through the consent and cooperation of all involved in sport, including the athletes, sport organisations, fans, the media, and sponsors. The relevance of hegemonic power to this research is that it describes how the values and ideals of a group, in this case National Governing Bodies and coaches, can dominate elite athletes with the athletes’ acquiescence so that when issues emerge they find them difficult to raise. This could potentially be mitigated by the provision of independent advice, including a Sport Ombudsman. The literature on the range of issues covered in this research rarely touches on “non-funded” sports.  Elite athletes in this category, who may be training on a full-time basis, have little or no access to external support.

The findings of this preliminary research indicated that more detailed research is required in a number of crucial areas. These include: the complexity of funding arrangements by UK Sport and Sport England, and how this impacts welfare provision; the reasons why the provision of independent advice is not understood by athletes who are eligible to access the services of the BEAA; the lack of independent advice for “non-funded” athletes; the lack of external scrutiny of “non-funded” sports; and, how independent support can be extended to all athletes, irrespective of how they are funded. 

Conclusion:

The focus of this research was on access to independent advice when duty of care issues arise. This required consideration of the following issues: the abuse of athletes; recommendations of reports into allegations of abuse, which touched on the coach-athlete relationship;  the espoused statements on duty of care and welfare within sport governing bodies; and awareness, especially by elite athletes, of how to access independent advice. At the outset, based on the literature, it was assumed that access to independent advice was limited to a small number of athletes, and that a research gap existed on this important issue.  However, the research revealed a lack of knowledge of independent support that was available to “funded” athletes which raised a further question concerning the effectiveness of such support.

The research revealed that there is still much to be done by sporting organisations to increase both the knowledge and understanding of duty of care and welfare issues. In this regard Baroness Grey-Thompson’s  statement, in her report on Duty of Care in Sport (2017), that sport cannot “think of itself as special or different and able to behave outside what is considered acceptable behaviour” bears repeating.

Finally, I realise that I have only just scratched the surface of the research topic and want to take this further. It is, for me, a critical area as Andries Pretorius  says in his article, which references James Kerr’s work on the All Blacks (J. Kerr, 2013), “better people make better players.”  I was fortunate enough to interview someone from the Welsh Rugby Players Association of which Andries Pretorius is the CEO, which is referenced in the body of this research, and provides an excellent example of embedding independent support within sporting organisations. This will be  difficult for some sports to implement but the time has surely arrived for an integrated approach to be adopted to ensure that the welfare and well-being of athletes is put centre stage.

This dissertation was part of the MA Leadership in Sport course, co-delivered between the Institute of Sports Humanities and Loughborough University London, educating current and future leaders.