Speakers
Description
Community sport clubs (CSCs) can provide newcomers to a country an opportunity to engage in sport. Building social contacts, developing relationships and emotional bonds, and learning social and cultural norms of the local community through sport can help promote integration (Nagel et al., 2015; Waardenburg et al., 2019). The purpose of our study was to learn about the willingness and capacity of CSCs in Canada that offer programs for newcomers, and to understand the consequences for the clubs. Sport clubs are established across Canada, and so drawing on the experience and knowledge of practitioners engaged with newcomer programming can provide insight to help scale up CSCs’ efforts that may facilitate integration.
Framed by capacity theory, with its focus on understanding organizations’ ability to draw on key assets to achieve their goals (Hall et al., 2003), our study complements the growing body of research on newcomer sport programming in Canada and elsewhere (e.g., Barrick et al., 2021; Forde et al., 2015; Jeanes et al., 2015; Rich et al., 2015; Spaaij et al., 2018, 2019). Using a multiple case study approach (Stake, 2006), we conducted semi-structured interviews with CSC leaders from six clubs who are directly involved with newcomer programming. They shared with us their club’s capacity to introduce and maintain effective programming for newcomers, and the implications for other aspects of their club. Our findings highlight the experiences and challenges practitioners in Canada face with programming for newcomers and inform recommendations to mobilize the potential of CSCs to support integration efforts.
