Scheduled for Research Consortium Sport Management, Recreation and Leisure Poster Session, Friday, April 28, 2006, 1:15 PM - 2:45 PM, Convention Center: Exhibit Hall Poster Area I


Sport for All in Korea

Jinmoo Heo, Lynn M. Jamieson and Carina King, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN

The Sport for All (SFA) movement was initiated in the European countries in the mid 1960's with the purpose of understanding the value of sport participation as it relates to promoting a healthy lifestyle. Along with other Asian countries, the SFA movement in Korea began in the 1980s when the National Sports Promotion Act was amended (Chang, 2002). The National Council of Sport for All (NCSA) developed a successful five-year plan called National Sports Promotion in the 1990's, and the impact of SFA on the Korean society was significant. However, no SFA research has been conducted in Korea. As the benefits of SFA has been acknowledged by the government officials, practitioners, and participants, it is important to identify what policies gave rise to the widespread advancement of the recreational sport delivery system. This study attempts to identify the roles and values of recreational sport in the Korean society. A qualitative methodology was employed in this study. Seven recreational sport program providers at the national, municipal, and local levels were interviewed. Each interview, lasting an hour, was conducted in summer 2003 in Seoul, Korea. The semi-structured interviews were tape-recorded and transcribed. The investigator took field notes to record emerging thoughts during the interviews and triangulated data. Content analysis of government SFA documents was also conducted. Analysis of the interview data gave rise to three central themes describing the SFA policy in Korea: (a) effects on local level, (b) impact on economy and tourism, (c) challenges that the providers face. Following the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games, the focus of Korean sport policy shifted from elite athletes to the general public. As a result public sport participation increased to 10 million and the number of organized sport clubs increased. It was also found that the recreational sports industry became an employment opportunity as the SFA movement gained popularity. Even though the SFA movement has been successful in Korea there are challenges need to be overcome. They include over-dependence on the national government, insufficient field practitioners with leadership roles and insufficient emphasis on youth programs. This study confirms that SFA in Korea has gained quick popularity and the number of participants are expected to increase as Korea begins to implement a 5-day work schedule. It is also expected that SFA in Korea will be more developed when the expected continuous government financial support is guaranteed.


Keyword(s): administration/mgmt, international issues, recreation programming

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