"Reclaiming Sport for the Common Good" - a roundtable discussion hosted by Sportsthinktank and think tank Theos

Driving Educational achievement through PE & Sport

An invited Roundtable discussion of CEOs and leading experts in the sports field will be discussing the post 2012-2020 sports funding landscape. A summary will form part of our work programme for 2012-13

With the Olympics fast approaching, much of the nation is looking forward to a sporting summer. The rhetoric is at fever pitch, but much of it is misleading.

Theos and the newly launched Sports Think Tank have collaborated on a report reflecting on the place of sport in the national imagination. It explores why leagues, tournaments and entire sports increasingly justify their presence by appeal to being 'big business', an important public health strategy, morally improving or peace building.

'Give us Our Ball Back: Reclaiming Sport for the Common Good' considers the evidence for a number of these claims, and finds it wanting. Over-marketisation, over-politicisation and 'producer capture' of sport has led to overclaiming and under delivery. It argues that we should reject these utilitarian justifications, and look to a long tradition of seeing sport as valuable in and of itself, and belonging to us all.

To mark the launch of the report, an invite only reception is being held in the House of Commons.

ISSA World Congress of Sociology of Sport 2012, Glasgow 16-18th July

In our host city of Glasgow, the ISSA World Congress of Sociology of Sport 2012 will examine how sport can bring lasting social, cultural and economic change to communities.

Taking place days before the opening ceremony of the London Olympics, delegates will examine the long-term impact of major international sporting events on host cities and the role sport plays in addressing social inequalities.

We look forward to welcoming you to Glasgow.