“Small country with great potential” - Institutionalising sporting success in national policies
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| Year of publication | 2015 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
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| Description | The phenomenon of elite sport and its effect on the nation state’s policies have been found problematic in several national contexts. Success at prestigious international sporting events is set as a goal, and therefore also a reason to reform existing policies, moreover to create new structures, which should lead the nation state to its “victorious future”. Sporting success is most comprehensively objectified in medal tables and overall championship rankings, where nation states fight for better placement, as it is believed that it not only fosters prestige of the nation from the outside, but moreover, contributes to national identity and social cohesion from within. In this paper I point to the interesting phenomenon of “smaller nations”, which strive for similarly objectified success within the international sporting scene dominated by “big and powerful” countries. The Central European region, with its specific historical, political and cultural setting, provides examples of countries that are yet creating their idea of sporting success and follow-up policies. Using the case of Slovakia, I apply the methods of interpretative analysis to the strategic document Slovak Sport 2020, as well as to the results of the latest public poll asking both laic public and sporting bodies about the future of Slovak sport. From the sociological point of view, this analysis should contribute to the general discussion on transforming the structural conditions of success to institutionalised agency. |
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