Cypriot Olympians’ Socialization into Sport

• Authors: Panayiotis Shippi
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

Since the mid-20th century, and parallel with the devaluation of the classical Olympic idea, the classical Olympic amateur status has been modified: Olympians have been permitted to earn money legally via their sport performances. They have been legally defined as employees, and they have become to be regarded as "Olympic professionals".The Cypriot elite athletes, who joined the Olympic family in 1980, did not follow international trends regarding this special kind of professionalism. Their start in sport also was to be different from the beginning of most professional Olympic athletes’ sporting careers. The objective of this article is to present information on the particular characteristics of Cypriot Olympians’ socialization into sport based on the findings of an empirical research carried out by the author. The investigation was carried out by quantitative (standardized questionnaire) and qualitative (in-depth interviews) methods among Cypriot Olympians, their coaches, and managers. The quantitative data were summarized by Microsoft Excel 2003 program. Qualitative information was analyzed according to the special criteria.The results deal with the following topics: the athletes’ age at the start and at the specialization, their motivations, their socializing agents, and their parents’ sporting experiences. In the conclusion the impact of the Cypriot sport culture and the ambivalent Cypriot sport politics on the athletes’ early sport socialization is emphasized.

Keywords

EN

amateur status; elite athletes; sporting career; socializing agents

• Publisher: De Gruyter Open
• Journal: Physical Culture and Sport. Studies and Research
• Year: 2012
• Volume: 54
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 78-85

Dates

published

1 - 6 - 2012

online

21 - 6 - 2012

Contributors

author

Panayiotis Shippi

• Semmelweis University, Hungary

References

• Brackenridge, C., Kirby, S. (1997). Playing Safe. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 32(4), 407-418.
• Donelly, P. (1997). Child labor, Sport labor: Applying Child labor Laws to Sport. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 32(4), 389-403.
• Fialova, L. (2004). The role of sport and gender in the body care in Czech adults. In J. Kosiewicz, K. Obodyński (Eds.), Sport involvement in changing Europe (pp. 94-99). Warsaw: Koraw.
• Foldesi, S.G. (1999). Félamatőrök, félprofik /Semi-amateurs and semi-professionals/. Budapest: Hungarian Olympic Committee.
• Gupta, S.K. (1987). Parents and teachers attitudes and reactions towards participation in Sports by Young Athletes of a University in an Indian State. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 22(4), 305-313.
• Knoppers, A, Schuiteman, J., Love, B. (1988). Professional Orientation of Junior Tennis Players. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 23(3), 243-252.
• Weber, R. (2009). Protection of children in competitive sport. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 44(1), 55-69.[WoS]

Identifiers

DOI

10.2478/v10141-012-0009-0