TY - JOUR

T1 - Football Fitness - a figurational study of a new type of leisure football as a meaningful activity for men

AU - Frydendal, Stine

AU - Pedersen, Line Kremmer

AU - Ottesen, Laila Susanne

AU - Thing, Lone Friis

N1 - CURIS 2022 NEXS 162

PY - 2022

Y1 - 2022

N2 - This article offers a nuanced exploration of Football Fitness (FF), a newer ‘sport for all' concept carried out in associative sport clubs in Denmark. The aim of the study was to examine FF as a meaningful leisure activity for men. Seven focus group interviews were conducted with 26 heterogeneous male FF players aged 24 to 76. Data were analysed by means of thematic network analysis within the interpretive tradition. Drawing on figurational sociology, more specifically Elias and Dunning’s perspective on leisure sport as a quest for excitement, and Connell’s theory of masculinities, we present three elements of the empirical material all highlighting the social significance of the FF concept. 1: The men’s fight for recognition in the club, 2: Competition as a play element and 3: Social bonding and sport as a male preserve. The findings of the study demonstrate a hegemony of multiple masculinities in football clubs. The play-pleasure values associated with the FF concept does not receive much recognition compared to traditional competitive football. Consequently, the FF players feel like the strange newcomers, experiencing being regarded as outsiders compared to the established players in the clubs. Our study indicates that organisational change do not automatically generate cultural change when implementing health-promotion initiatives such as FF.

AB - This article offers a nuanced exploration of Football Fitness (FF), a newer ‘sport for all' concept carried out in associative sport clubs in Denmark. The aim of the study was to examine FF as a meaningful leisure activity for men. Seven focus group interviews were conducted with 26 heterogeneous male FF players aged 24 to 76. Data were analysed by means of thematic network analysis within the interpretive tradition. Drawing on figurational sociology, more specifically Elias and Dunning’s perspective on leisure sport as a quest for excitement, and Connell’s theory of masculinities, we present three elements of the empirical material all highlighting the social significance of the FF concept. 1: The men’s fight for recognition in the club, 2: Competition as a play element and 3: Social bonding and sport as a male preserve. The findings of the study demonstrate a hegemony of multiple masculinities in football clubs. The play-pleasure values associated with the FF concept does not receive much recognition compared to traditional competitive football. Consequently, the FF players feel like the strange newcomers, experiencing being regarded as outsiders compared to the established players in the clubs. Our study indicates that organisational change do not automatically generate cultural change when implementing health-promotion initiatives such as FF.

KW - Faculty of Science

KW - Football fitness

KW - Leisure activity

KW - Quest for excitement

KW - Masculinities

KW - Established - outsider relations

U2 - 10.1177/10126902211039765

DO - 10.1177/10126902211039765

M3 - Journal article

VL - 57

SP - 758

EP - 776

JO - International Review for the Sociology of Sport

JF - International Review for the Sociology of Sport

SN - 1012-6902

IS - 5

ER -