Corporate DispatchPro KEVIN AZZOPARDI
New tracks for sport Half a century ago, sport was generally considered a leisure activity pursued mainly for socialisation and recreation. Things have changed drastically since then, and virtually all disciplines today are moving rapidly towards professionalisation. Perhaps this fundamental transition is best illustrated in the transformation of the Olympic Games: originally, only amateur athletes were allowed to participate in events, but from 1986 onwards, the International Olympic Committee began opening the games to professional athletes too.
This change can also be observed at the level of community sport. The importance of sport to both individuals and societies has grown considerably in recent decades and, with this, athletes found new opportunities for development and specialisation. Policymakers, too, are increasingly taking a strategic approach to sport, positioning it as an investment in national health as well as in the national brand. More people are responding positively to campaigns promoting an active society and, although physical activity and sport are distinct spheres, the former usually reinforces the value of the latter. Meanwhile, sports are evolving away from formal championships and official leagues as global trends shift to unstructured models of performance. By adopting models that have proved successful in other areas, particularly the business sector, sports are finding new niches and firing up new fan bases. This is a welcome development because it is making sports accessible to more people while diversifying the range of disciplines. Importantly, forward-looking approaches to sports are creating new funding sources. Financing is crucial for the professionalisation of disciplines; however, we must be careful to protect the integrity 17
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