Teaching sports geography

ABSTRACT

This short essay introduces the symposium “Teaching sports geography”. The six papers that make up this symposium represent the first substantive interventions into the pedagogies of sports geography. Sports geography has a rich research literature that is briefly reviewed, before the paper goes on to consider enduring concerns that sports geographers have pursued over several decades. The paper also notes some of the many opportunities and challenges associated with the teaching of sports geography, before going on the provide an overview of the six papers in the symposium. The paper ends by briefly outlining prospects for the teaching of sports geography. It also acknowledges the recent death of John Bale who was the preeminent pioneer and scholar of sports geography, to whom this collection of papers is dedicated.

KEYWORDS:

• Sports geography
• teaching
• sports studies
• pedagogy
• higher education

Introduction

Sports geography occupies a curious position within human geography. It has produced long-standing, significant and diverse bodies of work, that in many ways mirror the intellectual, theoretical and methodological development of its wider discipline (Andrews, 2020; Bale & Dejonghe, 2008). However, the contribution of sports geography (to sports studies), as Gavin Andrews (2020, p. 451) is able to argue, is “less than one might have expected”. Sports are globally popular and significant forms of entertainment, business, elite practice, mass leisure and popular culture. They offer platforms for nations and empires to advance their geopolitical ambitions (Bale, 1996; Chadwick, 2022; Koch, 2013) and sites of political contestation for their opponents (MacLean, 2000). They support a range of associated industries, most notably extensive media (Bailey et al., 2017; Oldenboom, 2008), gambling (Evans & Cross, 2021; Orford, 2020), manufacturing and technology (Henry & Pinch, 2000; Henry et al., 1996), tourism (Higham & Hinch, 2018), and clothing (Crewe, 2008) economies, many of which have been analysed geographically. Whilst they attract dishonest, corrupt and criminal actors and practices (Brooks et al., 2013) they also offer contexts within which local communities can be brought together (Schulenkorf & Sugden, 2011) and can express shared senses of identity (Lawrence, 2016), and sometimes difference (Pavlidis, 2018; Tonts & Atherley, 2005). Sports developments reshape urban and rural landscapes (Koch, 2018; Roberts & Schein, 2013), they are implicated in processes such as urban regeneration and gentrification (Lauermann, 2023) and they are parts of regional and national cultures (Maguire, 2011; Pillsbury, 1974). They are deeply important aspects of many people’s lives on multiple psychological, health, economic and social levels. Sports are intensely geographical in multiple ways. Geographers have responded to all of this, and more besides, yet, as Andrews reminds us, sports geography sits somewhere towards the margins of human geography. Perhaps it is a little like an outfielder in baseball or cricket, often unnoticed as the action unfolds in the middle and whose interventions are only fleeting and occasionally significant. The reasons for this positioning are worth considering, and they affect us as both researchers and teachers interested in thinking and talking about sport as an object of geographical enquiry. They have also prompted recent calls for a renewed, outward looking sports geography (Andrews, 2017; Wise & Kohe, 2020).

As geography educators we are deeply aware of what engages our students in our teaching and what bores or alienates them. Sport is very, although not universally, popular amongst students internationally. Many are active participants and many more fans of various sports. Many of us, no doubt, drop in sports examples to illustrate geographical concepts such as globalisation, migration, climate change, geopolitics, and identity. Some of us teach more substantial sports related contents, perhaps in some cases, whole modules. Despite the value of sports to geographical education, and the challenges it faces, we have not seen, to date, any interventions within sports geography’s literatures that have spoken to its pedagogies. We have not previously seen, for example, a paper published in Journal of Geography in Higher Education’s 47 volume history that has been focused solely on the teaching of sports geography.¹ The six papers collected in this symposium offer the first instances where sports geography’s pedagogies have been pushed to the fore.

Sports geography today and in the future

As stated above, the literature on sports geography has increased substantially over the last few decades. John Bale, often seen as the pioneer of the development of sports geography, in his book on Sports Geography (Bale, 2003, p. 5) identifies three key concerns of the sub-discipline’s exploration of issues across different scales such as,

1. sports activity on the earth’s surface and how the spatial distribution of sport has changed over time;

2. the changing character of the sports landscape and the symbiosis between the sports environment and those who participate in it; and

3. the making of prescriptions for spatial and environmental change in the sports environment.

Whilst written two decades ago, such fundamental concerns still remain the general approach to the studies of sports geography. The sub-discipline of sports geography developed more conceptually in relation to geography’s key tenets of space and (sense of) place and complemented other more established human geography sub-disciplines such as social cultural geographies, political geography, and economic geography in the last two decades. Andrews (2017) further stretched sports geography’s theoretical potential by linking to non-representation theory, focusing on the physicality, energy and feeling of sport. Even though sports geography may be still viewed as at the periphery of human geography, it is worth noting that the field is burgeoning with case studies (as highlighted in the introduction) and more importantly, developing theoretically in a robust manner, to supplement our conceptual understanding of the discipline.

Furthermore, sports geography and geographers are seen as growing contributors to cognate disciplines such as sports studies in the last two decades. One key output is Wise and Kohe’s co-edited Special Issue on “Sports Geography: New Approaches, Perspectives and Directions” in the interdisciplinary journal of Sport in Society (Wise & Kohe, 2020), offering a distinct spatially-informed analysis and reaching a wider target audience beyond geography. This echoes Andrews’ (Andrews, 2020, p. 454) call to make “sports geography the driver of spatial sports studies” and “create more inter- or trans- disciplinary scholarship”, and arguably enhance sports studies academic rigour.

This symposium, however, wants to push these boundaries further within and beyond geography. We identify one key aspect of sports geography that is not often discussed or well-developed, and that is teaching this sub-discipline. More than 40 years ago, Bale (1981, p. 114) suggested that “both recreational-participatory and commercial-consumer sports are of sufficient importance in modern society and of sufficient interest to students to justify inclusion in a geography curriculum”, and predicted “pressure for an education for leisure is likely to increase in the nineteen-eighties and beyond” and sport as one of the most rapidly growing leisure industries is a great starting point to do so. Current developments in sport, on and off the sporting arena since then certainly support Bale’s observations.

We seek to intensify the efforts of using sports geography to teach and to let students learn and understand wider geographical and societal concerns. We use an example on horse racing in Singapore to quickly illustrate how case studies of sports geography could speak to several issues all at once. In mid-2023, the Singapore government announced that it will close the Singapore Turf Club to make way for future housing and high-tech agri-food industry developments, and the last race (Singapore Gold Cup) will take place in late 2024 (Goh, 2023). The closure also means the end of over 180 years of horse racing and betting in Singapore, which has seen dwindling spectatorship over recent years, where the majority are elderly men engaging in it (see Figure 1). This relates to the gaming industry of sport, where horse racing’s revenue has fallen sharply in relation to lottery tickets and football betting in Singapore. The Turf Club is also seen as an “elderly leisure landscape” soon to be gone, and offers a small window of learning opportunity to understand the ageing population’s concerns in Singapore from the public perspective. It further reinforces the Singapore government’s high level of control of land need uses for national objectives and rather top-down approach.

Figure 1. Passing time and trying their luck: elderly men at Singapore Turf Club. Photograph taken by Shaun Lin.

We are also attentive of situating sports geography in the realm of higher education and this needs crucial engagement to ensure that the pedagogical aspects are best managed to boost the research development of the subdiscipline. Hence, this international collection of papers in this symposium not only offers a series of deep critical reflections on teaching sports geography across a number of higher education systems, both within and beyond geography departments; it also considers both the challenges and opportunities of teaching sports geography as well as a series of pedagogic examples to inspire readers to reflect upon their own practice, be it teaching specialist sports geography modules or using sports examples to illustrate wider geographical issues. The papers of the symposium then critically reflect on these four points,

• Teaching the subdiscipline of sports geography in light of wider human geography offerings

• International perspectives and regional differences.

• Institutional constraints driving sports geography teaching (recruitment of faculty and/or students).

• The “respectability” of teaching sports geography

Sports geography within and beyond: overview of the papers

Several contributors in this themed symposium foreground their papers in light of pedagogic observations, and reflecting on prior or ongoing teaching experience in sports geography. Ferbrache (2024) contributes an investigation of sports mega-events, using the example of the Tour de France cycle race as a way to tap in on the rich and varied opportunities for educating students of key geographical concepts. She demonstrates using the key concept of place, linking it to three different sources concerning the Tour de France as an issue-based enquiry, and explores how understanding of place through a cycling sports mega event can be further expanded conceptually and empirically amongst students upon deeper reflection carried out. Ferbrache’s usage of three vignettes sees her first “mapping the tour”, and through it “consider the importance of mobility in constituting place” (2024, p. 5) given that the Tour does not have a fixed place. Secondly, she raised the observation of the “transient place of finish lines” and questions the meaning of place, further relating it to power and a politics of place (2024: p. 7). Lastly, on “promoting connections: the Brittany-Plymouth Tour stage” (2024: p. 8), Ferbrache considers this venture into the UK to “rethink place as more connected” rather than bounded, given that that the cross-Channel Tour took place in 1974, after the UK gained accession to the European Economic Community in 1973. It is also worth noting that Ferbrache also gave pedagogical insights in the form of how to shape the conceptual learning of place in terms of its level of questioning through sports mega events among junior and advanced undergraduates in her three vignettes.

Next, Storey’s (2024) paper examines geographic ideas and socio-spatial processes of migration, citizenship and national identity in relation to football, focusing on migrant footballers. His detailed coverage of football migration from Africa and South America to specific European countries in light of the globalisation and commercialisation of the game, shows that despite migration of talent that could be thought of as taking place as a borderless phenomenon, is still may be influenced by colonial, cultural and linguistic linkages, and social networks over time (Storey, 2024, p. 4). This definitely speaks beyond the teaching of sports geography, and enhances the case studies approach for geographies of migration classes. The second coverage on sporting citizenship and national identity through migration is useful to “encourage students to think about different ideas of the nation” (Storey, 2024, p. 7), going beyond the narrow definition of national identity, and thinking it “in more fluid, flexible and inclusive ways” (ibid.)

Koch (2024) approaches the teaching of sports geography by deeply reflecting on her experiences in teaching sport in political geography undergraduate courses in the United States (US). She points out explicitly the relative lack of prestige of Geography as a discipline in the US among students and faculty members, and to counter those prevailing stigmas, she uses the term “geopolitics” instead of “geography” in the course titles (2024: 2). Koch, however, seizes the opportunity to teach others that geography is a serious subject and to open them up to the complexity and breadth of both political geography and sports geography (ibid). Koch’s pedagogical approach overcomes the perception constraint of geography among students. Whilst students of International Relations and Political Science are drawn to her class, Koch admits some frustrations in delivering geographical reasoning to these students of hers who are more attuned to the essentialist ideas of those disciplines, and she recounts her efforts to de-essentialize geopolitics among them (ibid). It goes beyond delivering lessons as Koch also de-essentializes sport by getting her students “to put their own interests into conversation with the political geography themes via a group presentation and individual research papers” (2024: 4). Such a pedagogical approach allows students to present their passion in an academic exercise and arguably helps to generate and sustain learning interest among themselves.

Another deep reflective episode of sports geography teaching sees Catherine Waite (2024) discussing her experience of developing a standalone “Geographies of Sport” module that is taught using an Active blended learning (ABL) pedagogical approach. This draws upon six years of qualitative feedback from formal student evaluations. Given that this is a third-year module, the module engages to a large extent with research-led teaching and being delivered in an ABL approach allows space for a task-oriented and independent blended learning outcome in preparation and follow up manners (Waite, 2024, p. 3). The research-led teaching and learning also extend into the assessment strategy as students undertake further secondary data-analysis for more advanced critical thinking, and Waite observes that 5–10% of dissertation projects in the department are sports geography related since the module has been established (2024, p. 6). This advance undergraduate development offers a small window to inform sports geography teaching beyond general education or introductory levels as educators shape curriculum based on institutional demands.

Moving on to the challenges of teaching sports geography, DeChano-Cook and Hallett (2024) highlight some institutional constraints in the US higher education system and offer suggestions on how geographers, physical geographers in particular, can incorporate their expertise into the subdiscipline and beyond. Despite repeated rejections from the department to offer a sports geography module with human geographic and environmental themes in the module proposal (due to a lack of “respectability” for the subdiscipline and favouring more “traditional” offerings), DeChano-Cook and Hallett still came up with recommendations for physical geographers. These include examples of the greening of sports and climate change, which are strong relevant topical issues to weave into any planned syllabus. However, what is interesting is that they identify opportunities and possibilities beyond the geography department, in the context of sports management. This external approach pushes geography and geographers to contribute meaningfully in interdisciplinary ways, where they argue the environmental knowledge and geospatial technological skills transferred will “benefit students during their career because they will get versed on the science and impacts of the sports-environment relationship and will be able to put their knowledge into practice” (DeChano-Cook & Hallett, 2024, p. 5).

Lastly, Kohe and Wise (2023) explore the idea of spatialising sports studies, arguing for a more pronounced place for sports geography – specifically spatial studies – within Sports Management. They discuss this aspect in relation to their wide-ranging teaching and research experiences across various disciplines and institutions in different countries. Kohe and Wise weave sports geography content in the Sports Management or Sports Development programmes such as in the form of undergraduate introductory courses, and informed by their respective disciplinary training and transnational teaching experience, outline a few practical pedagogical approaches. One key example is the incorporation of Google Earth and ZeeMaps programme (highly spatial contexts) in assignments for students’ practice and interactive learning (extending technological skills) to complement theory and promote critical thinking in the Sports Management programme (Kohe & Wise, 2023). Although this represents a technical example, the overall framework of identifying a spatial aspect is a good practical opportunity for (sports) geography speaking strategically in theoretical or applied manners to allied disciplines and programmes of sports. This indirectly raises the respectability of sports geography beyond Geography itself and more importantly offers a more refined learning of sports and society issues that often need interdisciplinary lenses of comprehension.

‘Go the distance’: future trajectories of sports geography

Given the increasing uneven commercialization of sports through state and private capital (particularly seen in the Middle East), the multi-faceted social and cultural issues such as ableism and gender, evolving national and regional identities, and even climate change influences, sports geography is rapidly changing conceptually and empirically. This also extends beyond research where the teaching of sports geography needs to deeply reflect its current and future practice to fully sketch the contours of the subdiscipline. Sport is intertwined with peoples’ lives be it for health, leisure, or entertainment. Sport is also utilized in varying degrees by states and non-government organizations to advance other wider goals. Its broad spatial pedagogical elements with various actors open up connections for geographers to further question current and future directions of the subdiscipline.

When the two co-editors were organising this symposium, right from the start the concern was not only about reflecting on how to teach sports geography effectively and widening the sub-discipline’s potential through its educational component, we wanted to highlight the various institutional and disciplinary challenges of doing sports geography (be it teaching or research) and how it could be (partially) overcome. In short, we are interested in,

• Sketching out inherent pedagogic contributions and challenges of sports geography

• Situating sports geography within precarious and competitive higher education contexts and the challenges this poses for sports geography

• Calling for more attention to the pedagogies of sports geography and to its pedagogic contributions to secure its position within precarious and competitive higher education contexts internationally.

The six papers that comprise this symposium certainly, in several manners, address these points amply. However, more could be done, and, arguably, should be done. Teaching sports geography could also be more applied in nature linking to the sports itself, where to some extent, Kohe and Wise (2023) in this symposium expose us to in their academic journeys of Sports Management programmes. Whilst not all educators are explicitly involved in such sports programmes in higher education, there is arguably an easier way to engage our students through guest speakers involved in sports themselves. This could be done through general outreach or through personal contacts. An example is given here where one of the symposium’s co-editors arranged a Zoom session as a class supplement in his co-taught “Worlds of Football” general education module in the National University of Singapore with his friend (who happened to be a geography graduate as well!) who was at that point in time, Valencia Football Club’s youth academy Director in Spain, to share some on the ground insights and taking a few of the students’ questions (see Figure 2).

Figure 2. Sports geography meets industry: engaging football behind the scenes with Mr Sean Bai (left) in 2021.

As Pavlidis (2018, p. 343) eloquently put it across in the abstract of her paper on the spatiality of inequality in sport,

Sport is an arena where geographers can make broader and, importantly, bolder contributions, and a concern with spatiality gives geographers unique and critical insights into sport and its manifestation across scales from the global to the local.

It is particularly poignant that this collection should appear shortly after sports geography’s preeminent pioneer and scholar John Bale has died. It is rare to find a subdiscipline of human geography to be so squarely associated with the work of a single person as sports geography is with the work of John Bale. In an obituary honouring John in the Guardian, his son, Anthony Bale, stated that John’s work in sports geography increasingly questioned sport’s ability to be a force for good (Bale, 2023). Such quotes, like much of John’s work, are inspiring and thought-provoking and it is our hope that despite the ongoing challenges for sports geography, we could actively seek to enrich students’ learning of the world through this sub-discipline, and to contribute meaningfully outwards of the Geography discipline, complementing and supplementing the interdisciplinary learning of sports studies. This symposium is testimony to John Bale’s enduring influence and shows that his work will continue to inspire researchers and students long into the future.

Disclosure statement

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

Notes

1. One of the few previous instances where sports geography has been explicitly mentioned in the Journal was a paragraph discussing a geography and football module in a paper authored by one of the convenors of this symposium (Lin, 2022). This paper appeared in a symposium co-convened by the other convenor of this symposium. Indeed, it was from discussions around the submission of this paper that the idea for the present symposium emerged.