International Journal of Sport Management

The Development of Community Sport Councils: Establishing Legitimacy within the Competitive Field of Community Sport

Martha Barnes, Laura Cousens

Abstract: Amid the increasingly competitive institutional environment of community sport in Ontario, sport councils emerged onto the landscape in 2002 because of an initiative lead by the Sport Alliance of Ontario. This research is intended to shed greater light on the development processes of community sport councils and understand why some sport councils became more embedded in the institutional environment of community sport while others faltered. Neoinstitutional theory guided the work. In keeping with basic qualitative designs, data were collected through interviews with key informants representing nine different community sport councils. The research findings highlight that community sport councils were not alike even though they resided in similar organizational fields; community sport councils that linked to municipal bodies achieved higher levels of acceptance; and those with resources were considered more relevant. This research has implications for sport managers who are looking to community sport councils as a mechanism for enhanced collaboration.

Keywords: community sport councils, legitimacy, neoinstitutional theory

Citation: Barnes, M., & Cousens, L. (2019). The development of community sport councils: Establishing legitimacy within the competitive field of community sport. International Journal of Sport Management, 20(1), 19-42.

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