Online school sport club in South Korea: policy adaptation towards youth development through sport during touchless era

ABSTRACT

Using Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological theory, this qualitative case study aimed to explore how the online school sport clubs (O-SSC) were developed and administered as a counteraction against the pandemic and the meanings of the O-SSC from stakeholders’ perspectives in South Korea. Data were collected from official and open-source O-SSC materials, working-level meeting logs, and in-depth interviews with six policy stakeholders that included superintendents and teachers in Seoul, South Korea. The findings revealed four themes regarding the development of the policy and perceived changes as a result of the implementation of O-SSC: (a) thinking outside the box beyond traditional sports, (b) melting the frozen gym, (c) setting the stage beyond stereotypes in sport and physical spaces, and (d) unlimited opportunities to challenge: ‘you can try it again tomorrow’. The discussion addressed the following: (a) O-SSC as a domino effect for youth development through sport and (b) balance between sportisation and healthisation. The O-SSC generated a transformative chain of changes, providing youths with a new sporting developmental asset and prioritising students’ basic psychological needs and motivation. Furthermore, it embraced the inclusiveness, a quality missing in traditional school sport, and integrated aspects of physical fitness to tackle the adolescents’ physical inactivity caused by COVID-19. To conclude, it is imperative to call for the development of school sport policy that is more adaptive, inclusive, and future-oriented, not just to prepare for future contingencies but to embrace new possibilities of school sport for the benefit of school-age adolescents.

KEYWORDS:

• School sport club
• policy adaptation
• non-traditional sports
• online participation
• youth development
• pandemic

Acknowledgments

We would like to express our sincere appreciation to the peer reviewers for their invaluable feedback and constructive suggestions, which significantly enhanced the quality of this manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).