Sports and Exercise Science: Part-funded MSc by Research Scholarship: Social, Cultural and Historical Context in Which Sporting Talent is Identified and Developed Within South Wales

This study will adopt an innovative cross-disciplinary mixed-method approach to exploring the social, cultural and historical context in which sporting talent is identified and developed within a geographical region of South Wales.

Description

Specifically it will:
Identify the geographical locations of the home clubs of the most talented players from the Ospreys rugby union region in the past decade.
Establish ‘hot spots’ or clusters of areas/communities where these ‘talented’ players have come from.
Consider the local history and culture of these specific areas/communities from a socio-cultural perspective and how they contribute to developing talented sporting individuals.

The search for talented individuals to secure the next generation of employees, often described as the global ‘war for talent’, is a fundamental activity for work-related professions, with billions of pounds and thousands of hours invested annually (Michaels, Handfield-Jones, & Axelrod, 2001). In the UK, sports governing bodies benefit from an annual Government investment of approximately £100 million into identifying, developing and supporting athletes to achieve potential success. The literature on talent identification and development in sport suggests many factors should be considered in this process, both of nature (genes) and nurture (environment) in origin (Baker & Horton, 2004). Despite the acknowledgment of genetic and biological factors, recent evidence highlights the role that the environment plays in shaping talented individuals in sport. Indeed, birthplace location (rural versus urban), early socialization experiences, and the role of family, significant others, and peers, are all salient (Côté, Macdonald, Baker, & Abernethy, 2006). To date, however, no research has considered the role of communities and local culture in shaping talent, with units of analysis focusing solely on the individual or family system at best (Balish & Cote, 2014). The potential study of the historical and social-cultural factors that shape and bind communities and the individuals within them therefore offers a truly unique approach to understanding how sporting talent is developed.

Supervisor: Dr Camilla Knight (ASTEM)

Collaborating Staff: Dr Joe Taylor (English Institute of Sport); Professor Frances Rapport (College of Medicine); Dr Phil Jones (College of Science); Dr Kerry McGannon (Laurentian University, CA); Mr Ben Rose (Welsh Rugby Union); Dr Martin Johnes (College of Arts & Humanities)

Nr of positions available : 1