Competitive computer gaming, under the name e-sport, have become a popular activity inSweden and worldwide. Within the e-sport community the question about the relationbetween the e-sport and sport has been discussed. Despite of this, very few sport scientistshave studied e-sport. The aim of this licentiate thesis is to create an understanding of thephenomenon e-sport. As a theoretical framework the concept of sportification was used. Inthree articles aspects of sportification in e-sport was studied. E-sport as a concept evolvedin the late 1990 and is used by many people and organizations. The reasons why theconcept of e-sport is used are probably manifold. In the thesis three reasons are presented,namely higher legitimacy, social recognition and autonomy. Furthermore, the results showsimilarities between e-sport and contemporary sport. E-sport has, in contrast tocontemporary sports, developed from commerce around computer games to sport, and notonly from spontaneous play. In conclusion, e-sport is e-sport. By that I mean that e-sport issomething that goes beyond contemporary sport. Probably, it is due to the fact that e-sportevolved in a time when industrial society was transformed into an information- andcommunication society.

Floorball is a Swedish sport that was introduced in the late 1960s and grew immensely during the 1970s and the 1980s. In the beginning it was mostly played at leisure centres by adolescents but was soon to become one of the biggest sports in Sweden. This study aims to distinguish how the sport was established, how it expanded and how it was treated by the surroundings in the Swedish county of Västerbotten. The study also examines what role the non-profit leadership had when floorball was established in Västerbotten. The source material for this study is three interviews with former floorball pioneers and statistics of the license development during the period of 1986–1996.The result shows that floorball initially had a hard time establishing itself because of the negative responses from other already established sports. The municipality and the media were, however, more positive which helped the sport to develop and expand. The manufacturing of new equipment evolved quickly which helped to formalize the sport. Individual actors played a vital role in the establishment phase and were the backbone of the sport, both as players, leaders, organizers, and educators. The establishment of the district association Västerbottens Innebandyförbund was also a vital affair as the sport became more organized and formal in the county.

Toute pratique sportive est dépendante d’un système de règles qui simultanément prescrivent et prohibent. Codifiées, ces règles participent de l’institutionnalisation sportive propre au sport compétitif contemporain. La modalité sportive reposant sur une pratique fédérale, en club, nous intéresse ici. Ce travail de thèse rend compte de la transmission du code du jeu, des représentations sociales des acteurs du sport – pratiquants, entraineurs, arbitres et dirigeants – ainsi que de la gestion de la norme sportive – espaces, durées, règles du jeu – par les institutions référentes. Notre recherche repose sur une approche comparative entre trois sports, distincts par leur degré d’institutionnalisation : le basket-ball, l’escalade et le paintball. Ce travail s’appuie simultanément sur l’usage des observations –séances d’entrainements en club, compétitions –, des entretiens semi-directifs (n = 52) et de la méthode des comparaisons par paires. Il en ressort une perception différenciée de l’application de la règle sportive qui dépend tout autant du niveau d’institutionnalisation – le paintball étant le moins sportifié des trois sports – que des caractéristiques de la pratique (situations sociomotrices ou psychomotrices). La transmission du code du jeu est consubstantielle à une culture en acte de la pratique alors que les représentations sociales se distinguent en fonction de la carrière sportive. La gestion de la norme repose sur des principes différenciés selon le processus de sportification de la pratique. Le basket-ball en club se joue sur un format pérenne et un terrain normalisé, ce qui n’est pas le cas du paintball où de multiples formats de jeu sont encore d’actualité. L’escalade se situe quant à elle dans un entre-deux, sommée de sélectionner une discipline au détriment des autres en vue d’une future olympisation. L’intérêt principal de cette étude réside notamment dans le fait de rendre compte de la socialisation sportive comme inductrice de la réalisation subjective des individus. Cette socialisation s’opère par le biais du rapport à l’institution qu’entretiennent les pratiquants avec la normativité sportive. / Any sport practice is dependent upon sets of rules which simultaneously prescribe and forbid what must or mustn’t be done. These rules are codified, they contribute to the sport institutionalization specific to modern competitive sports. We’ll focus on club-organized practice. This thesis work gives an account of how game codes are passed on, of the social representations of sport’s stakeholders - players, coaches, referees and managers - as well as how its norms – game rules, space, length – are dealt with by the various organizations. Our research is based on a comparative approach between three sports that reflect different levels of institutionalization: basketball, paintball and climbing. This work concurrently builds on the use of observation – i.e. training sessions in clubs, competitions -, semi-structured interviews (n = 52) and the method of pair-wise comparisons. It shows sport rule implementation is perceived differently depending on the level of institutionalization - paintball being the least sportified among the three sports - as much as on the practice characteristics (socio-motor and psycho-motor situations). The passing on of the game’s codes is consubstantial with an actual practice culture whereas social representations can be distinguished by one’s sporting career. Also, the way norms are handled lies on differentiated guidelines depending on the practice’s sportification process. Club basketball playing is performed in a durableformat on a normalized sports ground; this is not the case of paintball for which different game formats are still being explored. As for climbing, its format falls somewhere in-between as it has had to opt in for a specific discipline rather than another with the view of an Olympic status. The particular relevancy of this study lies in the fact that it shows sport socialization can induce the individual’s subjective fulfillment. This socialization operates through the institutional prism of the link the players have with the sport’s normativity. / Toda práctica deportiva depende de un sistema de reglas que prescriben y prohíben al mismo tiempo. Estas reglas están codificadas y forman parte del marco de la institucionalización deportiva propia del deporte de competición contemporáneo. Nos interesan los deportes basados en prácticas federadas, es decir, en clubes. Esta tesis da cuenta de la transmisión de los códigos de juego, de las representaciones sociales de los actores del deporte (practicantes, entrenadores, árbitros, dirigentes) así como de la gestión de la norma deportiva (espacios, duraciones, reglas del juego) por parte de las instituciones de referencia. Nuestra investigación adopta un enfoque basado en la comparación de tres deportes que presentan un grado de institucionalización muy distinto: el baloncesto, la escalada y el paintball. Este trabajo se apoya simultáneamente en el uso de observaciones (sesiones de entrenamiento en clubes, competiciones), entrevistas semi-estructuradas (n = 52) y el método de la comparación por pares. Cabe destacar una percepción diferenciada de la aplicación de la regla deportiva, que depende tanto del nivel de institucionalización (el paintball es la menos deportivizada de las tres disciplinas) como de las características de la práctica (situaciones sociomotrices y psicomotrices). La transmisión de los códigos de juego es consustancial a una cultura activa de la práctica deportiva, mientras que las representaciones sociales se distinguen en función de la carrera deportiva. La gestión de la norma se basa en principios diferenciados que varían según el proceso de deportivización de la práctica. El baloncesto, en club, se juega en un formato perenne y en un terreno normalizado, lo cual no ocurre en el paintball, disciplina en la que varios formatos de juego permanecen en uso. La escalada se sitúa en un punto intermedio, dada la selección necesaria de una disciplina con respecto a otras de cara a un futuro reconocimiento como disciplina olímpica.El principal interés de este estudio recae en el hecho de abordar la socialización deportiva como motor de la realización subjetiva de los individuos. Esta socialización se manifiesta a través de la relación que los practicantes mantienen con la institución y con la normalización deportiva.

Title: Problems of sportification of parkour Goals: The main aim of this thesis is to introduce the origin and development of parkour and to explain its changes caused by sportification. Partial goals were to describe historical development of parkour and freerunning in the world and in the Czech Republic, then to describe in detail and explain values of the parkour that changed with the development of this discipline, but also those values that have not changed. Further partial goal was to describe parkour as a subculture. Inclusion of parkour on the programme of Olympic Games caused its sportification, which is introduced together with the structure and evaluation of parkour and freerunning competitions. Methods: Collection of information, analysis and synthesis, deductive reasoning Keywords: parkour, freerunning, subculture, sportification, Olympic Games, values

The sportification process of e-sports and padel in Sweden is analyzed by using the concepts of institutionalization and standardization, which are closely related elements of sportification. This contributes to map, and better understand the sportification process of emerging activities in Sweden. This is relevant, as there is a lack of research on this topic in Sweden, and previous research has shown conflicts between different stakeholders may arise. A multiple-case study design is used to draw different perspectives on the topic, where empirical data is collected through online documents and interviews with players and sport managers. Padel in Sweden is in the process of sportification and will grow its institutions with an upcoming membership with Riksidrottsförbundet (RF). Motives towards it are increased accessibility for youth to play padel, and a wish for clearer classifications according to level. On the other hand, a barrier might be the corporate character of the clubs, as they might wish to remain independent and have no incentive to grow towards more traditional sports practices, something that is in line with the commercialization of sports. Moreover, players appreciate the freedom they currently experience in their clubs. For e-sports, there are currently two national federations. The sport will likely become a member of RF in the future, with the main focus on facilitating grassroots competitions. Standardization is very limited, as competitions are organized by commercial entities that provide what is demanded by the audience. Moreover, the e-sport community has resistance towards more institutionalization and standardization, even though the importance of it for grassroots development and competition is acknowledged. Future research with analyses of other, carefully chosen cases will contribute to draw a more complete picture of the sportification process of emerging activities in Sweden and will enable to further generalize the findings of this study.

Background: Sport is often perceived as inherently positive for sustainable development. This widespread assumption is however found to be quite normative, and the standardization of its boundaries dangerously naive. The lack of contextual specificity across the dominant schools of thought calls for a more comprehensive analysis of what different activities entail in different contexts.  Purpose: This study examines the field of sport for development through a critical lens. Different initiatives using traditional mainstream sports and lifestyle sports, seeking an array of social development objectives, are structurally and systematically unpacked, hence uncovering the attributes that shape the achievements and challenges of the projects.  Methods: Through a qualitative approach, six organisations operating in varying scopes and environments were interviewed using a semi-structured approach.  Results: The investigation pinpoints the encompassing theme of sportification as a force of change influencing the internal and external dynamics of lifestyle sports as well as traditional mainstream sports, though to a lesser extent. Several important issues emerge from the investigation, such as how the notions of focus, networks and the fundamental benefits and challenges underlying each type of sport can materialize into concrete impacts on social development.  Conclusions: A fine balance of sportification is necessary in order to gain the leverage and capital required to access the opportunities presented by organized sport yet without excessively compromising the innate social qualities of the activity.

Toute pratique sportive est dépendante d'un système de règles qui simultanément prescrivent et prohibent. Codifiées, ces règles participent de l'institutionnalisation sportive propre au sport compétitif contemporain. La modalité sportive reposant sur une pratique fédérale, en club, nous intéresse ici. Ce travail de thèse rend compte de la transmission du code du jeu, des représentations sociales des acteurs du sport - pratiquants, entraineurs, arbitres et dirigeants - ainsi que de la gestion de la norme sportive - espaces, durées, règles du jeu - par les institutions référentes. Notre recherche repose sur une approche comparative entre trois sports, distincts par leur degré d'institutionnalisation : le basket-ball, l'escalade et le paintball. Ce travail s'appuie simultanément sur l'usage des observations -séances d'entrainements en club, compétitions -, des entretiens semi-directifs (n = 52) et de la méthode des comparaisons par paires. Il en ressort une perception différenciée de l'application de la règle sportive qui dépend tout autant du niveau d'institutionnalisation - le paintball étant le moins sportifié des trois sports - que des caractéristiques de la pratique (situations sociomotrices ou psychomotrices). La transmission du code du jeu est consubstantielle à une culture en acte de la pratique alors que les représentations sociales se distinguent en fonction de la carrière sportive. La gestion de la norme repose sur des principes différenciés selon le processus de sportification de la pratique. Le basket-ball en club se joue sur un format pérenne et un terrain normalisé, ce qui n'est pas le cas du paintball où de multiples formats de jeu sont encore d'actualité. L'escalade se situe quant à elle dans un entre-deux, sommée de sélectionner une discipline au détriment des autres en vue d'une future olympisation. L'intérêt principal de cette étude réside notamment dans le fait de rendre compte de la socialisation sportive comme inductrice de la réalisation subjective des individus. Cette socialisation s'opère par le biais du rapport à l'institution qu'entretiennent les pratiquants avec la normativité sportive.

The physicality of sports and outdoor life offers great opportunities for intensive experiences – participants ”feel” the happening in their bodies. As well as looking upon physical activity mainly as something instrumental, as for example in competitive sports and exercise culture, other aspects can also be central, for instance the pure joy of movement. The existential or expressive side of physical activity is examined in this doctoral thesis. In order to study such experiential quality more thoroughly, the author’s attention turns to adventure sports participants, as they appear to have a capacity for becoming highly involved and seeking very intense experiences. Who is involved in adventure sports? Why are they engaged in a sport that demands such great hardships and risk-taking? What do they get out of it? The overall objective of the thesis is to shed light on adventure sports as a practice and to discuss the educational significance of flow and other experiential qualities in adventure sports and in schools. The analyses are based on three empirical sub-studies. The first began with a questionnaire that 161 adventure sports participants responded to. This was followed by an interview study of eleven men and three women, all of whom had extensive experience in adventure sports. The categories of sport were evenly divided between climbing, off-piste skiing and hang gliding. In the second sub-study a detailed investigation of climbing was carried out. A notable sportification has brought about a very clear and interesting change in parts of this activity. Six traditional/adventure climbers and six sport climbers were interviewed, of which half were men and half women. All the climbers were experienced and very much involved in their sport. The aim of the third sub-study was to seek an answer as to whether pupils have experiences in their daily school life that are similar to those of adventure sports participants. An ESM (Experience Sampling Method) investigation was carried out with 60 pupils in compulsory school year nine (corresponding to UK schools’ year eleven) from four different schools. The pupils’ parents answered a special parent questionnaire including questions about academic and professional backgrounds, living conditions, habits, interests, attitudes and leisure time activities. The results were analysed taking into consideration the phenomenological perspective and structuralistic or more correctly expressed the cultural sociological perspective. Mihály Csikszentmihályi’s theoretical argument on optimal experiences, which in turn is based on the flow concept, constitutes the phenomenological foundation. Pierre Bourdieu’s concept apparatus and theories were used to closely examine the participants’ backgrounds, life histories and current living situations. The study shows that a preference for adventure sports is clearly linked to the participants’ backgrounds and earlier life experiences. A behavioural pattern is incorporated and developed into an embodied capacity to master a practice, a result of a long learning process. Participants were clearly concordant in these respects. Participants emphasise the abundant opportunities for intensive experiences that arise from adventure sports. It is a matter of something multidimentional: the active body, outdoor life in natural surroundings, exacting and clear goals, total focus, and about exercising control. This approach presents a model for identification of content qualities, which together create the dynamics that form the meaningful rewards that result from participation in adventure sports. The dimensions include flow experiences, but also go beyond them. The deep sense of presence, the physical involvement, the fact that they can choose the path and increase the degree of difficulty themselves – and simultaneously counter this new challenge with increased capacity so that they are engaged at the ”right level” – also provide favourable conditions for a stimulating and successful learning experience. The observation was made that it was primarily in the practical and aesthetic subjects that school pupils had the same deep feeling of presence together with a meaningful and pleasurable holistic experience as the adventure sports participants had. Here they were actively involved with their hands or with their whole bodies, and they could make their own choices and be in control of the activity, which for most pupils led to a strong feeling of satisfaction.

The physicality of sports and outdoor life offers great opportunities for intensive experiences – participants ”feel” the happening in their bodies. As well as looking upon physical activity mainly as something instrumental, as for example in competitive sports and exercise culture, other aspects can also be central, for instance the pure joy of movement. The existential or expressive side of physical activity is examined in this doctoral thesis. In order to study such experiential quality more thoroughly, the author’s attention turns to adventure sports participants, as they appear to have a capacity for becoming highly involved and seeking very intense experiences. Who is involved in adventure sports? Why are they engaged in a sport that demands such great hardships and risk-taking? What do they get out of it? The overall objective of the thesis is to shed light on adventure sports as a practice and to discuss the educational significance of flow and other experiential qualities in adventure sports and in schools. The analyses are based on three empirical sub-studies. The first began with a questionnaire that 161 adventure sports participants responded to. This was followed by an interview study of eleven men and three women, all of whom had extensive experience in adventure sports. The categories of sport were evenly divided between climbing, off-piste skiing and hang gliding. In the second sub-study a detailed investigation of climbing was carried out. A notable sportification has brought about a very clear and interesting change in parts of this activity. Six traditional/adventure climbers and six sport climbers were interviewed, of which half were men and half women. All the climbers were experienced and very much involved in their sport. The aim of the third sub-study was to seek an answer as to whether pupils have experiences in their daily school life that are similar to those of adventure sports participants. An ESM (Experience Sampling Method) investigation was carried out with 60 pupils in compulsory school year nine (corresponding to UK schools’ year eleven) from four different schools. The pupils’ parents answered a special parent questionnaire including questions about academic and professional backgrounds, living conditions, habits, interests, attitudes and leisure time activities. The results were analysed taking into consideration the phenomenological perspective and structuralistic or more correctly expressed the cultural sociological perspective. Mihály Csikszentmihályi’s theoretical argument on optimal experiences, which in turn is based on the flow concept, constitutes the phenomenological foundation. Pierre Bourdieu’s concept apparatus and theories were used to closely examine the participants’ backgrounds, life histories and current living situations. The study shows that a preference for adventure sports is clearly linked to the participants’ backgrounds and earlier life experiences. A behavioural pattern is incorporated and developed into an embodied capacity to master a practice, a result of a long learning process. Participants were clearly concordant in these respects. Participants emphasise the abundant opportunities for intensive experiences that arise from adventure sports. It is a matter of something multidimentional: the active body, outdoor life in natural surroundings, exacting and clear goals, total focus, and about exercising control. This approach presents a model for identification of content qualities, which together create the dynamics that form the meaningful rewards that result from participation in adventure sports. The dimensions include flow experiences, but also go beyond them. The deep sense of presence, the physical involvement, the fact that they can choose the path and increase the degree of difficulty themselves – and simultaneously counter this new challenge with increased capacity so that they are engaged at the ”right level” – also provide favourable conditions for a stimulating and successful learning experience. The observation was made that it was primarily in the practical and aesthetic subjects that school pupils had the same deep feeling of presence together with a meaningful and pleasurable holistic experience as the adventure sports participants had. Here they were actively involved with their hands or with their whole bodies, and they could make their own choices and be in control of the activity, which for most pupils led to a strong feeling of satisfaction.

Syfte: Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur tidig specialisering framför allt påverkar handbollsföreningen Ystad IF (YIF) och få en uppfattning kring hur IFK Ystad (IFK) tänker när spelare som inte platsar i YIF går till IFK i stället. Studien kommer också fokusera på hur det påverkar ungdomsleden i IFK och om det försvårar för ungdomarna i IFK att kunna ta en plats i A-laget samt hur samarbetet ser ut idag mellan föreningarna i förhållande till deras historiska rivalitet.  Metod: Denna studie utgår från en kvalitativ strukturerad intervjustudie med ett induktivt angreppsätt. Fem intervjuer gjordes där två av dem representerade YIF, en av dem från IFK och två spelare som tidigare spelat i YIF men som idag spelar i IFK. En avgränsning gjordes där fokus endast låg på handboll. Tillsammans med information från intervjuerna användes vetenskapliga artiklar, relevant litteratur samt allmänna källor och hemsidor för att kunna analysera fram ett resultat.  Teori: Det teoretiska ramverket som användes för studien utgick från sportifieringsmodellen samt tre av de sju processer som beskriver idrotten av Guttmann (2004).  Resultat och slutsatser: Resultaten visade att YIF strävar efter att skapa en balans mellan tidig specialisering och att uppmuntra ungdomarna att delta i flera sporter. De ansåg att tidig specialisering bör ske vid gymnasieåldern, runt 16 år, för att spelarna ska vara mogna att satsa på en sport. IFK har idag heller inga problem med att rekrytera spelare från YIF utan snarare kan se det som en fördel. IFK betonade vikten av att vilja satsa på talanger som vill bli bäst och att de bästa spelare ska spela oavsett vart de kommer ifrån. Samarbetet mellan föreningarna ansågs vara gynnsamt, och rivaliteten mellan dem hade i stort sett försvunnit i jämförelse med förr. Studien anses ha nått sitt syfte genom att ge insikter om YIF:s syn på tidig specialisering, IFK:s attityd till att ta emot spelare från YIF och det nuvarande tillståndet av rivalitet mellan föreningarna. / Purpose: The aim of this study is to investigate how early specialization primarily affects the handball club Ystad IF (YIF) and gain an understanding of IFK Ystad's (IFK) perspective when players who don't make it to YIF join IFK instead. The study also focuses on how this affects the youth teams in IFK and whether it hinders the youth players' chances of making it to the senior team. Additionally, the study examines the current state of collaboration between the two clubs in relation to their historical rivalry.  Method: This study employs a qualitative structured interview study with an inductive approach. Five interviews were conducted, two representing YIF, one from IFK, and two players who previously played for YIF but now play for IFK. The study specifically focuses on handball. Alongside the interview data, scientific articles, relevant literature, and general sources were used to analyze and derive results.  Theory: The theoretical framework of the study is based on the sportification model and three of Guttmann's (2004) seven processes that describe sports.  Results and Conclusions: The results revealed that YIF strives to strike a balance between early specialization and encouraging youth players to participate in multiple sports. They believed that early specialization should occur during the high school years, around the age of 16, when players are mature enough to commit to a single sport. IFK currently has no issues with recruiting players from YIF. In fact, they see it as an advantage. IFK emphasized the importance of investing in talented players who aspire to excel and that the best players should play regardless of their origin. The collaboration between the clubs was considered beneficial, and the rivalry between them has largely diminished compared to the past. The study has achieved its objective by providing insights into YIF ́s perspective on early specialization, IFK ́s attitude towards recruiting players from YIF, and the current state of rivalry between the clubs.