The Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism Network Promoting Olympism: The Role of Academia The Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism Network 6 th Annual Conference September 2007Missenden Abbey Promoting Olympism: The Role of Academia Dr Vassil Girginov, Brunel University Dr Jim Parry, Leeds University

Promoting Olympism: The Role of Academia Aim: To Consider the role of the academia in the UK in promoting Olympism by offering an ethical and process oriented approach Structure of presentation: London 2012 promotional strategy for Olympism Lessons from past Games An ethical and process oriented approach to promoting Olympism

London 2012 promotional strategy for Olympism The vision of the London 2012 Olympics is to stage inspirational Games that capture the imagination of young people around the world and leave a lasting legacy Seb Coe, 2007 Future Past A successful promotion of Olympism can only be achieved by adopting a longitudinal, interdisciplinary and historic approach to understanding the processes which contribute to its sustainability in 21 st century.

The Olympic values Excellence Friendship Respect (Mass, 2007, Olympic Review) Tolerance Generosity Solidarity Friendship Non-discrimination Respect for others (Samaranch, 1995, Olympic Review)

WITHOUT going into too many details, it may be useful for the Benefit of future meetings to sketch the outlines of the more important parts of the work undertaken by the British Olympic Council in organising The Games of 1908 in London. (London 1908 Games Report, p.373) MANY suggestions have been made for providing the large sum of money necessary to carry out adequately any celebration of the Olympic Games in modern times…. Different nations have naturally solved the problem in different ways ; but in England we have hitherto been deprived of one form of assistance which is common, I believe, to the rest of the world ; for we never have been able to count upon any Financial contribution from the public funds through the channels of Official Administration nor have we been able to avail ourselves of the patronage of the Government in raising money, by any officially-supported scheme, for these objects. (London 1948 Games Report, p.388)

Lessons from the 2000 Sydney Games 28 Higher institutions in Australia polled 17 questionnaires sent 25 Institutions responded (8 Sydney, 6 NSW and ACT, 11 Interstate) Sydney-based institutions benefited more significantly than regional universities Good staff involvement 10,000 students in total were involved Virtually no educational innovations Did the Olympics lead to a greater collaboration between faculties? – A resounding NO Olympic goal of bringing people together was not fully realised Were the aims of the Olympic movement met? – 3- Yes; 18 –NO Source: Cashman and Toohey, 2002

The Olympic project and Academia From 1908 to Games Knowledge Production From 1948 No to a heavy Governmental support From excellence, equality, education, peace, international understanding to excellence, friendship and respect – IOC – Knowledge Transfer Programme 2000 – Sydney report HE sector and the Games 2008 – First comprehensive Olympic Games Impact Issues for the academia: Focus on processes of knowledge production Understanding the role of the state and other agencies in staging and promoting Olympics Understanding the learning legacy of the Games Who learns what, how, when and to what effect?