‘One size does not fit all’: Commonwealth Games Associations’ Gold Coast 2018 team development from a stakeholder perspective

Abstract

The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) is an international sport federation that constitutes 72 Commonwealth Games Associations (CGAs) which oversee, amongst others, the delivery of a quadrennial  Commonwealth Games (CG). As part of a philosophy of member development, the CGF implemented the Gold Coast (GC) 2018 Development Grant Programme as strategy to facilitate the funding of CGAs towards the development of their teams (athletes and support structures) for the GC2018 CG.Where CGAs were dependent on stakeholders such as National Sport Federations (NSFs), government, sponsors and others to deliver on Gold Coast 2018, the question arose regarding the extent to which applications by CGAs for funding reflected the roles and  responsibilities of stakeholders in the administration and preparation of athletes for CG 2018 teams. Documents were analysed according to the criteria provided by the CGF for fund application, allocation and reporting, while structured interviews and focus group discussions were analysed utilizing line-by-line open coding for theme generation and clustering according to axial coding. Trustworthiness of interviews and validity criteria for questions and emergent data were ensured through applying modalities of authenticity and member checking during interviews. A total of 71 (97%) CGA applications for funding and 63 (89%) allocations and mid-term reports were analysed. Twenty-seven (n=27) research participants from as many CGAs (38%) participated in interviews and 55 from 25 CGAs (34%) were involved in the focus groups. A total of 82 participants from 52 (73%) CGAs collectively participated in either interviews or focus groups. Results indicated that the approach of CGAs to the application and use of GC2018 development funds relates directly to the capacity, level of  professionalization and specialization of CGAs as well as the number, level of professionalization and capacity of stakeholders such as NSFs, government and sponsors.

Keywords: Team development, Commonwealth Games Federation, Commonwealth Games, Gold Coast 2018 Development Grant Programme.