Current Projects in Centre for Sport in Society

Project Overview

TOHIF is centred on framing, tracing and combating online hate in football. This is important given the impact of online media on how people watch, read, discuss and engage with football, and the wider challenges posed to society by social media. By analysing football fans’ digital conversations, reactions and behaviours, TOHIF generates deep insights into the context within which ideologies of hate grow online, how and where this happens, the main features of these ideologies and, from this, what strategies might be used to empower football stakeholders in their responses.

TOHIF examines Twitter/X content about eight European Football Championships from 2008 to 2022 and identifies key fault lines and flashpoints in this dataset. This longitudinal research allows for a rigorous analysis and includes men’s and women’s Euros and is paired with critical discourse analysis of selected instances of football-related hate speech on Twitter/X and a survey with fans. TOHIF is also informed by rich qualitative insights from interviews with a range of stakeholders, including sports media organisations and individuals (e.g., journalists, editors) and professional football clubs, players, coaches, academy directors and player care employees.

TOHIF is working closely with Sky Sports News on its STEP-UP recommendations, and with the Irish Football Association and the Professional Footballers’ Association of Northern Ireland to disseminate VAR4OnlineHate with youth players.

TOHIF has generated 10 research outputs that have shaped research on online hate, it has contributed to government calls for evidence around online hate and has (co)written a number of policy reports/recommendations for/with key stakeholders.

More information is available on the Tackling Online Hate Website

Funder

Arts and Humanities Research Council (UK) and Irish Research Council (Ireland)

Collaborators

UK (Loughborough University; Leeds Beckett University and Sheffield Hallam University); Ireland (Dublin City University).

Project Overview

The GAA, LGFA, and Camogie Association (CA) are engaged in an integration process, which will result in a single body to govern Gaelic games. At the Club level, there has been significant cooperation between units, with clubs forming under a single governance structure providing multiple codes across genders, called One Clubs.

The Steering Group leading the Integration process have identified the need to better understand the lived experiences of key stakeholders (e.g., players, administrators, officials, parents, and other volunteers) who have been engaged in the One Club process. Therefore, this research project will investigate the experiences of Clubs that have 1) engaged in the One Club model process and now operate collectively, 2) Clubs who were unsuccessful in developing One Club, and 3) Clubs who were hesitant/reluctant to develop a One Club. Data will be generated through documentary analysis and interviews with key stakeholders.

This research will inform planning/decision-making across the Associations, including renewed One Club Model Guidance.

Funder

Sport Ireland

Collaborators

GAA (Dr Peter Horgan)

Project Overview

While all marketing aims to inform audiences about the features of goods and services, gambling companies build brand awareness and position their brands in consumers’ minds, being especially visible during some live sporting events. The island of Ireland provides a unique comparative context from which to study live and mediated forms of sport. However, the policy and regulatory situation for gambling is very different.

This research project on young people’s exposure to gambling marketing through live sport on television and social media on the island of Ireland was conducted jointly with academics at Maynooth University.  The project was funded by the North-South Research Programme under the Government of Ireland’s Shared Island programme and administered through the Higher Education Authority (HEA) in Ireland.

Our research included the voices of young people on both sides of the border who encounter gambling marketing, and their awareness and perceptions of gambling marketing. We analysed sport programming and social media campaigns which cross borders with little impediment. With partners, Extern Problem Gambling and Gambling with Lives we ran knowledge exchange sessions. We garnered the insights of those experiencing gambling harm and contributed to the ongoing efforts on the ground to build awareness of commercial gambling marketing tactics. This research holds a unique data set from which to make policy recommendations.

Funder

Government of Ireland

Collaborators

Maynooth University, Gambling with Lives, Extern Problem Gambling

Project Overview

This landmark research project sought to quantify the economic and social impact of Gaelic Games across the island of Ireland. Commissioned in October 2023, the project was led by the Sport Industry Research Centre at Sheffield Hallam University, Manchester Metropolitan University and Ulster University. It is the most extensive study of its kind undertaken in Irish sport.
The research analysed consumer spending on Gaelic games, employment, Gross Value Added (GVA), volunteering, and social outcomes such as health, wellbeing, and social capital. Using a Social Return on Investment (SROI) approach, it was found that for every €1 invested in Gaelic Games, €2.30 in social value is returned. The project conservatively estimated the total value of Gaelic Games to the Irish economy and society at €2.87 billion. Significant outputs include a comprehensive summary report, detailed regional data, and the establishment of a replicable measurement framework to assess the future development of Gaelic Games. The findings are already informing policy advocacy, funding discussions, and integration planning across the GAA, LGFA, and Camogie Association.

Funder

Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA)

Collaborators

Sheffield Hallam University (Sport Industry Research Centre); Manchester Metropolitan University; Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA); Ladies Gaelic Football Association (LGFA); Camogie Association

Project Overview

This project set out to establish the elements necessary for effective strategic planning in youth football in Northern Ireland. Specifically, the project sought to inform the development of a Youth Football Framework by identifying the influence and impact of football structure, playing formats, rules, benefits and barriers on youth football development in Northern Ireland.

A five step outcomes-based accountability (OBA) model (Freedman 2015) was adopted to explore the processes, practices, accumulated knowledge, and support structures that help football to function. Insights were generated by combining theory, practice and lived experience. In particular, this involved: A rapid review of literature; Analysis of secondary data held by the Irish FA on lived experiences; Analysis of objective statistical on field data; Regional focus groups involving coaches, administrators, club officials and parents; and Irish FA staff interviews.

The findings of the project have underpinned the Irish Football Association’s Youth Football Framework . This framework provides a clear outline of how the youth game will be organised and structured across football pathways in Northern Ireland, providing clarity and consistency of rules, regulations, formats and minimum standards and offering learning for footballing authorities globally.

Funder

Irish Football Association

Project Overview

Parents are an integral part of the youth sport experience, as they socialise children into sport, and provide opportunities and resources necessary for participation (Coakley, 2006). The ‘Grounded Theory of Parental Support in Youth Sport’ (Burke et al., 2023a) reported that youth athletes seek four types of parental support: (1) instrumental; (2) informational; (3) emotional; and (4) autonomy support. Youth athletes also acknowledged unsupportive parental behaviours present in the youth golf environment, consisting of: (1) emotional ill-treatment, (2) physical ill-treatment, and (3) pressurizing behaviour (Burke et al., 2023b). These behaviours may potentially impact children’s development and continued participation in sport.

Our research team have explored parents’ perspectives of providing support within youth golf (McIlmoyle et al., 2024). Within youth golf, it has been reported that parents provide six types of support, specifically: (1) emotional; (2) financial; (3) organisational; (4) practical; (5) reflective; and (6) technical support (McIlmoyle et al., 2024). However, while providing this support, parents often experience a range of stressors within the youth sport environment. Specifically, parents of youth golfers report experiencing (1) emotional stressors, (2) stressful expectations, (3) financial burden, and (4) organisational stressors (McIlmoyle et al., under review).

Parents play a complex yet pivotal role in youth athletes’ development, despite the associated stressors. It is therefore beneficial for parents to be educated and supported to provide them with the tools and awareness to navigate the constantly evolving and complex needs their child-athlete will require within the sport environment. Parent-education programs in youth sport can provide an appropriate avenue to encourage healthy parental involvement, increase positive parental support, and help to relieve stressors placed on parents (Burke et al., 2021).

Informed by this contemporary evidence base, and working closely with Golf Ireland and Sport Ireland, the research team aim to move beyond simple one-off parent education support sessions and move towards the development and implementation of longitudinal educational programs. This program of research aims to translate and disseminate contemporary research findings into the development, implementation, and evaluation of a theoretically based, scientifically grounded parent education and support program, for parents of youth golfers.

Funder

Sport Ireland Research Grant Scheme

Collaborators

Golf Ireland and Munster Technological University.