IntroductionSport and trust-based governance is a cornerstone of Swedish sport management. There are more than 20,000 sport associations, and the sport sector receives approximately USD 20 million in public funding yearly. The Swedish Sports Confederation (SSC) is a non-profit umbrella organisation that coordinates the management of Swedish sport. SSC’s “what sport wants” is an appropriation document on the vision of the Swedish sport movement wherein SSC advise sport clubs to focus on inclusivity, hard to reach societal groups, and sport for the masses rather than the fostering of elite players. Concurrently, it is problematic that there is no research on what motivates sport clubs to apply what sport wants (Book, Hedenborg & Andersson, 2022). Accordingly, the purpose of this study is to contribute new knowledge on what influences Swedish sports clubs in carrying out what sport wants’s national goals for sport participation.

MethodsThe data consists of self-rated answers (N = 1,937) from a questionnaire, distributed to all non-profit sport organizations in southern Sweden in 2017, 2018 and 2020. The questionnaire focused on sport organizations’ 1) perceived support from SSC, 2) perceived trust in SSC, 3) competence in what sport wants and, 4) how frequently the sports associations worked with equity (including anti-discrimination and inclusion). X2-test and regression analyses were used to analyze differences between the years 2017, 2018 and 2020, and the relationship between perceived support from SSC, perceived trust in SSC, competence in what sport wants, and how frequently the sports association worked with equity. Effect size measurements were calculated and interpreted based on established guidelines.

ResultsPreliminary results indicate that sport organizations’ perceived support from SSC has decreased significantly and continuously between 2017 (M = 3.0), 2018 (M = 2.9), and 2020 (M = 2.8). It does not seem to be any differences in perceived trust in SSC and equity. The results also show that, competence in what sport wants (β = .225), and perceived support from SSC (β = .278) can predict to which extent sport organizations work with equity (R2 =.278).

DiscussionPreliminary results indicate that more support and trust in SSC lead to increased realization of what sport wants. However, since the results show that perceived support for SSC has decreased between 2017, 2018, and 2020, this study illuminates an urgency of maintaining a strong relationship between Swedish sport clubs and SSC. Moreover, the results confirm the efficiency of the trust-based management model used in Sweden, which seemingly leads to deliverables among the participating associations.

Book, K., Hedenborg, S., & Andersson, K. (2022). New spatial practices in organised sport following COVID-19: the Swedish case. Sport in Society, 25(7), 1343–1357. https://doi.org/10.1080/17430437.2022.2031017