Inevitable Tensions: Swiss and Canadian Sport for Development NGO Perspectives on Partnerships with High Performance Sport

ABSTRACT

Over 400 sport for development non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have formed in recent years, operating projects in more than 125 countries globally. These NGOs typically focus on sport participation in countries in the Two-Thirds World, and usually have partnerships with their more established national sports organizations in their home country. Drawing on partnership theory, the purpose of this study was to analyse tensions underpinning partnerships with high performance sport from the perspectives of staff in Swiss and Canadian sport for development NGOs. Qualitative research methods were used, including a content analysis of the two NGO websites along with various organizational documents. Key staff from each NGO were also interviewed. The findings reveal three major tensions that both NGOs encounter. The first is competing values and this was tied to different approaches to sport programme delivery and concerns that NGO programmes are seen as a feeder system for their high performance sport partners. The second tension related to gaining legitimacy. While there were benefits in being associated with the established histories of high performance sport partners, the NGOs wanted to move the sport for development agenda forward independently but found it difficult to do so. Resource dependency was a third tension identified by both NGOs that shaped and were shaped by power imbalances between sport partners. The implications of the findings for sport for development NGOs and ideas for future research are discussed.

Notes

1. The eight UN Millennium Development Goals aim to reduce poverty in developing countries by 2015.

2. Following Esteva and Prakash (1998), we will use the terms ‘One-Third World’ (to refer to the Global North) and ‘Two-Thirds World’ (to refer to the Global South). These terms represent the social minorities and majorities in both the North and South while removing ideological and geographical binaries as found in other terms (e.g., North/South).

3. For example, websites such as the International Platform on Sport and Development (found at www.sportanddev.org) facilitate forums for online communication between sport for development NGOs and their partners.