Abstract:
There are various contributing factors to sporting success among elite athletes, including Olympians. The purpose of this paper was to investigate the enablers and/or barriers to sporting success among South African former Olympians from historically disadvantaged areas (HDAs) using the SPLISS framework. This would enable an understanding of the factors that lead to sporting success among athletes from HDAs. A qualitative research design was employed for this study, whereby semi-structured interviews were conducted among 15 former Olympians who represented South Africa between the 1992 and 2016 Olympic Games. The ATLAS.ti (version 22) software tool was used to analyse the data. The study found that athletes from HDAs attributed their sporting success to the functional competition structure, sports access at community level, access to scholarships and bursaries to elite schools/universities, good coaching support and mentorship, access to local and international competitions, as well as community and peer athlete support. The highest barriers reported by athletes were inadequate financial support, a dysfunctional school sport system, lack of sports facilities, equipment and transport system, poor post-career and scientific support. Elite athletes from HDAs need consistent financial support, school/foundation level sport access, quality sports facilities, equipment, and reliable transport to training and competitions, post-career, as well as scientific support to achieve their full potential and attain international sporting success.
摘要:
精英运动员的运动成功有各种各样的因素,包括奥运选手.本文的目的是使用SPLISS框架调查来自历史上处于不利地位地区(HDA)的南非前奥运选手在体育成功方面的促成因素和/或障碍。这将使人们能够了解导致HDA运动员运动成功的因素。本研究采用了定性研究设计,在1992年至2016年奥运会期间代表南非的15名前奥运选手进行了半结构化采访。ATLAS。ti(版本22)软件工具用于分析数据。研究发现,来自HDAs的运动员将他们的运动成功归因于功能性比赛结构,社区一级的体育准入,获得精英学校/大学的奖学金和助学金,良好的教练支持和指导,参加本地和国际比赛,以及社区和同行运动员的支持。运动员报告的最高障碍是财政支持不足,功能失调的学校体育系统,缺乏体育设施,设备和运输系统,糟糕的职业生涯和科学支持。来自HDAs的精英运动员需要持续的财政支持,学校/基金会级别的运动访问,优质的体育设施,设备,以及训练和比赛的可靠运输,职业生涯后,以及科学支持,以充分发挥其潜力并取得国际体育成功。