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WHAT HAPPENS AT THE NATIONAL LEVEL. STAYS AT THE NATIONAL LEVEL: A CASE STUDY OF COMMUNITY CURLING. D.J. Brooks. Martha Barnes.
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International Journal of Sport Management Volume 18, 2017, 1-24

WHAT HAPPENS AT THE NATIONAL LEVEL STAYS AT THE NATIONAL LEVEL: A CASE STUDY OF COMMUNITY CURLING D.J. Brooks Martha Barnes Julie Stevens

INTRODUCTION

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n Canada, the sport delivery system is comprised of various levels (i.e. local, provincial, federal) that operate across various sectors, each with its own management structure and value system. Grassroots sport resides at the local level and focuses on the production of viable options for youth and adults with the goal of participation and increased physical health. Smith (2000) defines grassroots organizations as “locally based, significantly autonomous, volunteer-run, formal nonprofit (i.e. voluntary) groups that manifest substantial voluntary altruism as groups and use the associational form of organization and thus, have official memberships of volunteers who perform most, and often all, of the work/activity done in and by these nonprofits” (p. 7). Alternatively, Canadian National Sporting Organizations (NSO)s reside at the national level and govern sport with a focus on elite performance, domestic competition, and sport promotion. In

order to accomplish their evolving goals, NSOs have shifted from kitchen table management (Robinson, 2003; Stevens, 2003), to professional management (Amis, Slack & Hinings, 2002). Beyond this operational transition towards greater professionalization, the national level has also seen a number of sport organizations adopt a corporate management style which emphasizes sponsorship deals, media contracts, and market based revenue streams. Provincial sport organizations bridge local and national levels of sport. A result associated with the adoption of a corporate perspective within a national sport federation is that ideological tensions can arise as grassroots sports organizations are pressured to re-focus their mandate and bureaucratize. While the professionalization of a community sport organization may produce a more reliable product or service (Kelly & Caputo, 2005), disagreement exists around the consequences of such actions. Mason (2007) argues against professionalization in the context of professional European Volume 18, #1, January 2017

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football because it replaces what has been a voluntary driven ‘by participants for participants’ process to a business model. Green (2004) claims that in the United Kingdom (U.K.), changes in sport policy have resulted in the prioritization of elite sports and constructed a class system in school sport and recreation programs. Along with shifts in management styles, shifts in values have also occurred. As sport organizations reposition from kitchen table management towards corporate management, goals which emphasize broad participation and fun may be replaced with goals that emphasize winning, elitism, market based revenues, and media contracts. While these examples suggest that professionalization (Amis et al., 2002), and to a lesser extent corporatization (Harvey, Thibault & Rail, 1995), have occurred at the national level, it is less clear whether a similar transition has also impacted community sport.

CURLING IN CANADA Nationally, curling is considered part of the Canadian cultural landscape and has “has made a unique and valuable contribution to the social and sports histories” of Canadians (Mair, 2007, p. 41). In terms of who curls in Canada, slightly more males (57%) curl, almost half (41%) of all curlers are between the ages of 25-49 years; and over 50% of Canadian curlers volunteer in their communities (Lunt & Potwarka, 2011). Curling clubs, especially in Western Canada were built for the community INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SPORT MANAGEMENT

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(Maxwell, 2002; Pezer, 2003) and intended to serve multiple roles (e.g. gathering spot, town bar, town hall, reception hall) creating an accessible place for all members of the community (Maxwell; Pezer; Russel, 2003). Local curling has traditionally focused on socialization and social development with curlers identifying their curling club as a safe and homey third place for social interactions (Mair, 2009), which contributes to their physical and mental wellbeing (Leipert et al., 2011). While curling is somewhat unique to Canada, previous research also conveys a similar emphasis for sport in other countries, such as Sotiriadou, Shilbury and Quick’s (2008) study on socialization and rugby in Australia, and Spandler, McKowen, Roy and Hurley’s (2013) research on well-being outcomes of football programs in England. At the national level, curling is expressed in a different way as it transitions towards a corporate management structure. The Canadian Curling Association (CCA), recently renamed Curling Canada, supports approximately 1,000 clubs (CCA, 2014) across each province and territory in Canada. In the 2013-14 Annual Report the CCA proclaimed to have almost 1 million active curlers. After 39 years of advocating for curling’s inclusion in the Olympics, the first medal was awarded during the 1998 Winter Olympics (Maxwell, 2002), representing a significant milestone for the sport. In 1997, building on its Olympic momentum; the International Management Group (IMG) signed a contract with the World Curling Players Associ-

Community Curling

ation to manage and maintain its curling properties (Wieting & Lamouroux, 2001). This partnership produced the Grand Slam of Curling, four major events during the World Curling Tour season with significant prize purses. More significantly, however is that these four major events operated outside of the provincial/territorial associations in curling and had no direct affiliation with the CCA. Similar examples exist across the sport industry such as the World Cup which is managed by the National Hockey League as opposed to Hockey Canada. The creation of the Grand Slam of Curling was a significant addition to the Canadian curling landscape which created many problems for players and the CCA. For example, the top Canadian teams in curling boycotted the men’s national championship (The Brier) and chose to play in various cash lucrative Grand Slam events. Prior to the introduction of the Grand Slam events, the Brier was the CCA’s most marketable and profitable property. The boycott was based on disagreements between curlers and the CCA over sponsorship rights and athlete salaries. Further evidence of curling’s shift at the national level was the hiring of a Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) in 2007 who embraced a new direction for the CCA; one that focused on financial stability and commercial practices over traditional grassroots, kitchen table type management. For example, major television deals were finalized and curling’s expansion was linked with increased television viewership. In 2010, the Season of

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Champions, which includes the Men’s Canadian Championship, the Woman’s Canadian Championship, and the Canadian Junior Championship, garnered its largest ever television ratings and continuing this trend, 2013-14, aired a total of 135 hours of championship curling on major Canadian television networks. The shift towards corporatization has created many contentious debates about how the sport has changed with respect to both its cultural significance and history over the past twenty years (Mair, 2007; Wieting & Lamoureux, 2001). Mair captures the essence of this tension with the following; On the one hand, the values of small, locally-based clubs are an appealing aspect of what many Canadians consider to be enduring, national qualities: amateurism, sportsmanship, socializing, volunteerism, and so on. On the other hand, the drive to make curling and Canadian curlers dominant in the global sports arena brings in contradictory tensions such as professionalization, standardization, and sponsorship. (p. 55)

The CCA is similar to other NSOs that have faced transition from volunteer run associations to corporate management models during the past few decades (Harvey et al., 1995), and is consistent with the experience of Olympic sports (Kikulis, Slack & Hinings, 1995). Wieting and Lamoureux articulate this changing narrative in curling by rationalizing that all sports which become Olympic sports go through a similar process of professionalization or corporatizing in terms of standardized rules,

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prize levels, and salaries. Given that curling has been an Olympic sport since 1998, the claim that tensions between national and community level curling have developed over time warrants further consideration given that little is known about the differences in curling at either level. Therefore, the purpose of this research was to: 1) to identify the values of community curlers at the grassroots level and 2) to determine if the values at the community level were uniform with values at the national level? In answering these research questions, there is much knowledge to be gained by sport managers at both the community level and national level. First, sport managers will have a fuller understanding of corporatization and its effects on sport. Second, the greater awareness will enable sport leaders to identify and anticipate how national level corporate and professional sport initiatives may, or may not, translate to the community sport environment. Finally, sport managers will be in a more informed position to develop strategies which lessen value-based and operations-based tensions in order to create a more seamless national-to-community level sport system.

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK— INSTITUTIONAL THEORY Insights into the dynamics, or interplay between local and national level of curling, may be gained by using an institutional theory (IT) framework. IT focuses upon “understanding organizaINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SPORT MANAGEMENT

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tional interpretations of, and responses to, contextual pressures, by stressing the political dynamics of intraorganizational behaviour and the normative embeddedness of organizations within their contexts” (Greenwood & Hinings, 1996, p. 1024). Institutional fields are “those organizations that, in the aggregate, constitute a recognized area of institutional life: key suppliers, resources and product consumers, regulatory agencies, and other organizations that produce similar services or products” (Dimaggio & Powell, 1983, p. 148). In curling, the CCA and community level curling operate within the same institutional field; the CCA is the governing body for the sport, which involves various management responsibilities such as nationwide marketing directives, and local community curling clubs are members of the CCA, pay dues to the CCA and serve curling participants. Within the institutional field, or system of Canadian curling, the CCA acts as a regulatory agency, a key supplier, and a resource for community level curling clubs. Within a field, the values that are commonly accepted are predominantly considered legitimate, which in turn, motivates organizations within the field to accept the values (Dimaggio & Powell). Values are the context in which these tensions between voluntary and corporatized sports are born. At their core, voluntary sports and corporatized sports carry and maintain different value and belief sets. For example grassroots sport tends to focus on participation and social benefit while national

Community Curling

sport (which is corporatized) emphasizes profit (Smith, 2000). Within the framework of IT, since grassroots sport and corporatized sport share an institutional field, there needs to be a change in values—provoked by institutional pressures - by either one or both parties to reach/create the standards of the field. Baum and Rowley (2005) claim coercive, normative, and mimetic pressures generate such change within an institutional field. Coercive pressures occur when actors, be they individuals or organizations, utilize power dynamics and relations to force or control change. Coercive power is closely linked to legitimacy as it “stems from political influence and the problem of legitimacy” (Dimaggio & Powell, 1983, p. 150), and is often linked to powers of state and government that mandate change in certain situations. Normative pressures also focus on the act of legitimacy and occur when actors change to gain approval by the greater population (Baum & Rowley). Normative pressures whereby organizations hire like-minded individuals and thus reinforce beliefs within the field are associated with professionalization (Dimaggio & Powell). The third type of pressure found within an institutional field, mimetic pressure, occurs when individuals or organizations act in a manner that models or copies another individual or organization believed to be successful (Baum & Rowley). Mimetic pressure is often associated with change that occurs during periods of uncertainty within an institutional field.

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The concepts of values and pressures are important when understanding whether community level curling club has adapted the mindset of the national curling governing body. Researchers have identified five separate levels of values (i.e. individual, organizational, institutional, societal, and global) along a hierarchy from a micro level towards a macro level (Agle & Caldwell, 1999). This study focused on identifying and understanding values at two of the levels—the individual and organizational—in order to better understand values held by community curlers and subsequently, their community curling clubs. This approach is consistent with Powell and Colyvas (2008) who claim the microfoundation of IT focuses on how institutional forces shape individual interests, frame the possibility for action, and influence persistence or change within an institutional environment. Although IT traditionally examines phenomenon at social or sector levels of analysis, there is a need to refocus upon lower levels of analysis because “institutions are sustained, altered, and extinguished as they are enacted by individuals in concrete, social situations” (Powell & Colyvas, p. 276).

METHODOLOGY This case study follows a qualitative research methodology based on Yin’s (2009) work. The ability to gather rich data allows the researcher to describe the case in detail and have a deeper and stronger understanding of the phenomenon. For this study, a bounded system Volume 18, #1, January 2017

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Community Curling

(a particular geographical region for the empirical inquiry) exists and the research questions are formed in a way to produce rich, environmentally sensitive data (Creswell, 2007). Participants A purposeful sampling technique was utilized (Patton, 2002) wherein participants were selected for their ability to provide a large amount of data as well as establish an adequate depth of data to ensure a holistic view of the case (Cre-

swell, 2007). To ensure that the selected participants fulfilled these purposeful standards, pre-determined criteria were followed. Criteria included: 1) active curling participation over the past five years and 2) one year of board membership experience for half of the participants. These criteria were chosen to ensure that participants could speak to the changes in curling at the national level as well as understand the operations of club through their experience as a board member.

Table 1 Participate Demographics Pseudonym

Gender

Years Curled

Board Involvement

Alice

Female

Over 20 years, two at current club

No Board involvement

Alex

Male

Over 40 years experience.

Has held multiple Board positions over time. Not currently on Board.

Amy

Female

Over 20 years curling experience.

No Board experience, but has worked as a coach and consultant for the CCA.

Ben

Male

19 years curling experience.

No club Board experience, but has been a Board Member for the Ontario Curling Association.

Brian

Male

Approximately 30 years experience.

No Board of Directors experience.

Brittney

Female

18 years curling experience.

No Board of Directors experience.

Carly

Female

8 years curling experience.

Has sat on the Board of Directors in the past.

Chris

Male

Approximately 28 years curling experience.

Has sat on the Board of Director Multiple times.

Carter

Male

16 years curling experience.

No Board of Directors experience.

Dave

Male

Approximately 42 years curling experience.

Has sat on the Board of Directors multiple times, with a 25-year gap inbetween terms.

Denis

Male

6 years curling experience.

Currently sitting on the Board of Directors.

Darlene

Female

14 or 15 years curling experience.

No Board of Directors experience.

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Community curling clubs in Ontario, Canada are organized into 23 geographic zones. Twelve (n=12) participants were drawn from across four clubs in one zone consisting of 13 curling clubs. The sample size is consistent with other qualitative, interview based research (Baker & Edwards, 2012; Crouch & McKenzie, 2006). Interviews occurred primarily at the curling club, but in a few instances, participants requested an off-site meeting. All names are pseudonyms to protect participant confidentiality. Table 1 summarizes the participants in this study. Data Collection Data collection included documents and semi-structured interviews using an interview guide. Documents (i.e. CCA website, popular press writings, annual reports, etc.) were used to understand national level curling dynamics and interviews were used to understand local level curling dynamics and perceptions about national level curling. Each interview lasted an average of 45 minutes (maximum was 60 minutes) and was recorded using an audio tape and recording device. The interview guide was comprised of two sections. The first section focused upon individual values of curling while the second part of the guide related to curling values at the community club level (i.e. organizational value level). It was at this point, participants were asked to discuss whether they have seen changes in the values of curling over time and its effects. To focus the discussion on na-

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tional level curling during the second half of the interview, a brief script which illustrated curling at the different levels was read to the participants. The design of the script was not to alter answers but rather to prompt participants to recognize and recall their knowledge regarding the Canadian curling system. The information within the script reinforced, contradicted and/or had no relation to the participants’ responses from the first section of the interview. Data Analysis Data analysis followed the work of Neuman and Robson (2009) who describe a coding process where each pass of the data is coded with a different lens or focus. The initial pass of coding is considered “open coding”, the second pass is “axial coding”, and the third is “selective coding”. IT literature was utilized to direct the initial coding process through the utilization of key concepts related to values and pressures. This work was initially done by one researcher and then confirmed by two additional researchers. While interview data analysis was guided by a priori concepts related institutional theory; the potential for emergent categories was considered (Burnard, 1991). Themes were confirmed according to data saturation, which according to Guest, Bunce and Johnson (2006) is the point at which no new information or themes are observed in the data. To ensure trustworthiness and soundness, Patton’s (2002) work which encourages authenticity, triangulation and reflexivity was folVolume 18, #1, January 2017

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lowed. To address issues around authenticity, member checks were included in the process to ensure participants were comfortable with the transcribed interviews. Triangulation of the question design included crafting question based on different question categories (i.e. experience/behaviour, opinions/values, knowledge, sensory, felling/emotion and background/ demographic); while triangulation of the data was achieved by combining interviews with historical data from popular literature, financial records, and annual reports from the CCA. Lastly, reflexivity was established through explaining the researchers’ background and stance which included an extensive history of curling in Canada. The findings of this study are organized based on the more micro level values suggested by Agle and Caldwell (1999). Therefore, the values of curling at an individual level are presented first, followed by the values of curling at an organizational level. Additionally, in order to frame the data within the context of change, the values described by the participants were placed into one of three categories: existing, eroding, or emerging values. Existing values are those which have been maintained over time and are considered legitimate (Danisman, Hinings, & Slack, 2006). Eroding values have been identified as traditional values that either have changed or have ceased to exist in part due to a loss of legitimacy (Oliver, 1992). Finally, emerging values are identified as a current value which differs from traditional values (i.e. profitability). An INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SPORT MANAGEMENT

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emergent value gains legitimacy when “other alternatives are seen as less appropriate, desirable, or viable” (Dacin, Goodstein & Scott, 2002, p. 47).

FINDINGS Individual Existing Values The data revealed two main themes related to the existing values of community curlers: respect and belonging. The value respect was enacted through a code of ethics, and self-policing. The following examples demonstrate actions related to these themes and how they were enacted at the local community curling club. Many of the participants believed that respecting themselves, the game, and others was an essential value for those that participated in their curling community. This thought of respect was identified as a thread that connected people to a common understanding and ‘held the game together’. Amy, a curler with over 20 years’ experience, discussed how respect was enacted through a code of ethics: There is a code of ethics for curlers and coaches. And it is essentially meant so that the game is played in an honorable way. It is things like being still while the other player is throwing, shaking hands before and after a game, congratulating good shots, or never booing a missed shot, or applauding a missed shot.

The respect for others and the game also resulted in self-policing—an aspect of curling that many participants were proud to discuss. For example: I like the fact that it is self-policing. You are expected to follow the rules and

Community Curling do the honourable thing. If you burn a rock, call it. That kind of thing. And that people do. And it is not the kind of thing where it is like let’s see how much we can get away with to give us an advantage. (Carly)

The belief that fouls occur during a game and that a player must call her/his own foul, held particular significance among interviewees. Darlene spoke with passion regarding the value of respect being important to the sport of curling, to the point that it is “instilled in you as a young player”. The existing value of belonging was also considered an essential part of community level curling. This value was identified when participants referred to the club as a safe and homey place with a focus on fun and camaraderie. For example: “My favourite thing about the club is that it is home. And I think it is home for a lot of people. I think a lot of people really like that come October you are ready to get back into the club. I know it is going to be there and very much like that for another 30 years” (Dave). Socialization, camaraderie, and having fun were behaviours associated with the value of belonging. When asked why people participated in curling Alice responded with, “people come out and have fun. They don’t care if they win or lose. They like to have a good time after the game and they go home.” Alex responded similarly rebuffing the idea that the game itself is a main factor in participating in curling: “People are doing it for social reasons; they aren’t doing it for competitive reasons.”

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Understanding an individual’s rationale for participation is important in understanding the values of community level curling. As Alex stated, people register and participate in curling for social reasons and have limited or no competitive intentions with the game of curling. The lack of competition and a focus on camaraderie reinforces the idea that belonging is a strong value within community level curling. Carly stated, “most people that curl there really enjoy the people and it works for them”. The ideas of camaraderie and socialization— aspects associated with the value of belonging—were mentioned in all twelve interviews. In addition, the value was enacted through social protocols such as the importance of sharing drinks with the opposing team after a game. Individual Eroding Values Findings from this research suggest that the values belonging and giving back were eroding values for community curling. The value of belonging was also noted as an existing value. The dualism of this specific value within eroding and existing categories was highlighted by participants who described belonging as important to community level curling, but also as eroding in three ways; declining social events, increased legislative restrictions and time constraints. Even though all twelve participants discussed the socialization and camaraderie of curling, 10 of 12 also mentioned that the social atmosphere had degraded from its previous form over time. Alex explained his thoughts Volume 18, #1, January 2017

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on the social changes at his curling club as follows: “A game with the mixed [league] used to be the entertainment hub in the winter for a lot of people and so, they had the piano there. They had singalongs. You go back and look at the old picture books. I remember we used to do skits”. Alex went on to discuss that those events no longer took place in his particular club for a host of reasons. When asked to speculate on the changing social atmosphere at the curling club, participants suggested time pressure and a general adjustment in Canadian lifestyle priorities as reasons. Darlene’s thoughts regarding extracurricular events, outside of typical league play, reveal the shifting priorities of members: People are really gung-ho to come out on a league night but they don’t really come back to the club at any other point. From my observations, people are less likely to come out for a 1-day bonspiel [tournament] and for a fundraising spiel than they used to when I was younger.

Within the same vein as personal time pressure, Ben described a lack of participation at extra bonspiels and social events outside of the regularly scheduled league play, “When I first started there the social aspect of the [city name] Curling Club was huge. Our fun curling night, which was Friday night, was packed. We had two draws. You had to get there early. We had some fun mixed bonspiels”. Similarly, Carly described a lack of participation in many social based events at her club and Chris stated that legal drinking issues have INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SPORT MANAGEMENT

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affected the degree of socializing at his club: RIDE [Reduce Impaired Driving Everywhere]. You know, that has changed big time. Now it is a couple drinks. When I joined this club people would stay until 4 in the morning. So that has changed big time. This club is empty at midnight now. I would say that part has changed a fair bit. We don’t have as many big parties as we did have. We used to have a lot of parties that went late. We used to have New Year’s Parties. We don’t do that anymore. So I think the partying side has gone down.

Whilst the act of drinking alone does not define socialization, all 12 participants recognized the traditional perception of how socialization includes drinking at community curling clubs. The historical connection between the curling club and activities that involve alcohol and drinking is considered a part of the sport, at least by members of community curling clubs. Stricter legislative practices regarding smoking and drinking were considered a contributing factor to participants’ understanding of why the social aspects of curling have changed. The second value that was categorized as eroding was the value of giving back, which manifested as a decrease in volunteerism by club members for the club. Traditionally the community level curling club has been a volunteer run organization with a strong emphasis on giving back to the membership through board work. Members took on various board roles such as social convenor, treasurer, fundraising, memberships, and programming etc. to ensure the ef-

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fective operation of the leagues and club in general. Eleven of the twelve participants identified the erosion of volunteering at the community curling club. As Dave stated “I think you should volunteer for something in a club like this, it could use that support. I think over time you should serve on the Board”. Ben described how club members’ busy lives have affected the events at the club, “The volunteering and the events have dried up too. People used to want to do stuff at the club, they wanted to help out. Now it is like, I don’t know—I have stuff to do”. While volunteering and giving back to the community can be linked to the social erosion of the club, it can also be considered a value in itself that is eroding within the curling club atmosphere. Historically, member based clubs have survived on volunteer and membership support yet participants spoke to the decline of this practice. Amy explained why there are less people volunteering, “I don’t think that same volunteerism exists within the club environment always. You have say 350 members and about 80 of them are the ones who are volunteering every year over and over and over again. So I think people are getting tired”. The notion of burnout within the curling community arose from the data, especially in this context of volunteering. Brian believes people would rather just pay more money instead of volunteering to accommodate their busy lifestyle. The newer mindset that people are too busy and are able to buy their way out of volunteering has

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altered how members contribute to their local community curling clubs. Individual Emerging Values No data were presented to show emerging new and unique values that have been legitimized within the local curling community. Multiple opportunities were provided during the interview process to identify emerging values and yet each value that was identified by the participants related to historical values. Values of Community Curling The second focus of the interviews related to the organizational level of values associated with community curling. The process of learning the social norms inherent within community curling begins the moment a new curler enters a club. Carly recalled her arrival into the curling environment as a process where new members, including her, were guided into the beginner section— “Friday nights tend to be the night new people join. If you’re a couple you join on Friday nights at our club. They pair up the new people with some established curlers”. Carly elaborated on her idea of partnering new and experienced curlers as a way to teach beginners the ropes: And actually, that was probably one of the biggest things when we first started and we had the mentors who were teaching us. They made sure we got that information. And in fact I think the etiquette, if the etiquette breaks

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Although mentoring was not the only means by which a new member learned about community curling values, the impression that the older generation of curlers moulded and taught the younger generation of curlers was very prevalent within the interview data. One of the big things about curling is it’s like being passed down, you learn traditions, you learn etiquette, you learn everything from older more experienced curlers. Whether it be a coach or someone on your team, you learn that from playing, and if you don’t have that same passing down of skills and even coaching, I think it will have an impact down the road. (Darlene)

According to Ben, the experienced curler seemed to feel a heavy responsibility to ensure that this learning took place; “right down to guys who are brand new. And what you do is you take those guys and more or less try and help them along. Put them on a team, coach them, teach them”. Further, according to Alex, the coaching and teaching extended beyond the basics of the game: “They [the experienced curler] have a responsibility to not only get them up and through 8 ends, but to try and help them play better. Try to help them enjoy the game. Try to help them understand there are other things you can do in the game” (Alex). The process by which values were reinforced and transmitted was important within the curling community, as seen from the statements above. Equally as central were the ways in which the INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SPORT MANAGEMENT

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curling community dealt with opposing ideals and values that were enacted by new members in the curling community. For example, “Curling weeds out bad people. You can golf on your own, but you can’t curl on your own” (Alex). Such notions suggested that certain actions were enforced within the local curling community, and others deterred. Through mentoring, new members gained knowledge about acceptable practices, under the guidance of the experienced community level curler. In so doing, community curling values were (re)legitimized. These normalized values were then perpetuated over time within the club environment, and as such, were the accepted social protocol. To determine if the values within community and national level curling were uniform, documents and the perceptions of community curlers were used. Documents were traced to show the introduction of curling into the Olympics, the creation of a World Curling Players Association, and the CCA’s hiring of a new CEO with a focus on financial functions—all events that contributed to a corporatized value set at the national level of curling. Interview participants discussed multiple values within the context of the national level of curling with an emphasis on the disconnect between community level and national level curling. Participants believed national level curling was so far removed that its values did not permeate local curling. Alex summed up the views of the participants related to this disconnect:

Community Curling There are not that many people that would care. Most people who are curling there are there to curl their one night a week. Some of them probably don’t even know there is an OCA [Ontario Curling Association]. They know there is a Brier, but they probably don’t even know there is a CCA [Canadian Curling Association]. I guess they know there is some kind of association but they couldn’t tell you what it is or how it works, or anything about it. So I don’t know that necessarily translates to the grassroots curling.

The idea that the common community level curler had no interest or knowledge of the national level governing body and how it affected the sport was directly discussed by Ben as well: No we [the club] are part of the OCA, but what I am saying is we are not a competitive club. Most of the people in the club don’t have the foggiest idea about the OCA. Usually we get maybe a seniors team in, and it will probably involve me and another guy.

In addition to a general lack of common knowledge regarding provincial and national level associations, there were comments regarding people’s interest in reaching the highest level of the sport. As such the “growing gap” that now seemed to exist in skill level extended to also include value sets. Those that participate in curling at the most basic participatory level seem to have a lack of interest in the competitive loops of curling: I could be wrong, but I sense that there are fewer people that care about competitive curling. A smaller percentage of curlers that curl care about competitive

13 OCA curling than there used to be. That is just a sense I get, again because I see the number of entries being less and less. Even in our zone I think it is less and less, but certainly across the province they have charts on how many entries all these different events are getting and almost without fail it is on a downward trend across the board. (Alex)

As well as understanding that there were less people participating in national level curling, a participant described a potential reason as to why this decrease had taken place. The community level curlers, especially Alex, seem to understand the skill and time that a national level curler must put into the sport: I am not sure people necessarily aspire to that. Just because Glenn Howard is out there doing all the things he is doing, doesn’t mean that Joe blow curler thinks that he can be Russ or Glenn Howard. They recognize the time and effort that they put into the game. People just aren’t necessarily willing to do that.

The idea that national level curling is disconnected from community level curling was based on the community level curler’s lack of interest in competing at that level of curling. However, the perceived disconnect by community curlers did not extend to all facets of curling because these two curling entities were linked for marketing and spectatorship purposes because many local curlers were spectators of national level curling and enjoyed the enhanced visibility attained for the sport through national campaigns. Brittney disagreed Volume 18, #1, January 2017

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with the sentiment that there had been a positive windfall from the corporatization of curling as follows:

est seemed to have a complete lack of knowledge associated with governance structures:

We had this enormous upswing in money into the sport, in terms of advertising, and the Olympic money. And now just private sponsors like JVC, Tim Hortons, and Scotties. The Brier sponsorship is worth over a million bucks now. And all that TV time really hasn’t translated into an enormous influx into the sport. At least at our club. I don’t know if they are seeing it in bigger centers, I don’t know, but we aren’t seeing a change.

I think you see most of those guys at the Tankard play downs don’t you? Like if they are going to go to their provincials….I am not real big, I don’t happen to know a lot about the provincial structure, but Glenn Howard and those guys they have to play if they are going to advance if they are going to represent the province for things they have to play in those don’t they? (Carly)

While this statement disagreed with the idea that community level curling has benefited, Brian suggested the notion that a disconnect between community level curling and national level curling remained. This participation disconnect is so strong interviewees could not even identify a link between the community level curler and national level curlers: I can’t see why it would. I mean I can’t think of why [professionalization of elite level curling] would affect anybody. People have their curling favourites, you know fans of curling. The only thing I can see is it could make someone come in the door and try curling. I don’t see it as ever affecting anybody. (Chris)

The suggestion that community level curlers seem to have no interest in national curling other than as spectators has a large effect on understanding how, or if, community and national level curlers exist within the same organizational field. Despite the idea that there seemed to be little interest in the governance of curling from community level curlers, those that did show interINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SPORT MANAGEMENT

Darlene acknowledged that she personally had knowledge of the organizational structure, but admitted that it seemed as though the average community level curler does not: “I think the changes behind the scenes happened and that’s what people are doing. I think they’ve branded it in a way that people, the everyday club people might not notice it as much as someone who’s more knowledgeable of what’s actually happening”. There are two conclusions that may be drawn from this last set of data. The first being, community level curlers do not have enough knowledge or understanding to comprehend the changes happening at the national level. The second being, national level curling is branding itself and its change in a way to limit its effect on community level curling. In summary, individual values of community level curling fell into the categories of belonging and respect (existing values) and belonging and giving back (eroding values). At the organizational level, the data indicated the links between the national and local level of

Community Curling

curling were weak at best. Participants described national level curling being so far removed from their abilities that it did not permeate into the ways in which they interacted with the game of curling.

DISCUSSION IT is considered one of the preeminent theories to explain organizational change and organizational structure in various disciplines, including sport management (Washington & Patterson, 2011). As discussed earlier, two key theoretical concepts within this perspective offer valuable relevance to the interpretation of data in this study. First, the notion of institutional pressures—coercive, mimetic, and normative—provided insight into why existing, emerging and eroding values were or were not evident within community curling. Second, the notion of institutional fields provided insight regarding the difference between values within national and community level of curling. Each set of insights have relevance for sport managers beyond curling as they speak to the tensions associated with navigating change between corporatization and professionalization established at the national level down to the community level. Current Values Explained Through Institutional Pressures The data suggested multiple instances of coercive pressures at play within the Canadian curling system. Washington and Patterson (2011) argue that “while

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this often looks like strong governmental or regulatory pressures these coercive pressures could come from any actor that has the potential to sanction organizations if they do not comply with their wishes or demands” (p. 3-4). When discussing social changes at the community level of curling, participants identified alcohol and smoking legislation as integral catalysts. For a local curling club to be seen as legitimate, and to keep its liquor license, it must adhere to strict rules. As well, participants understood the consequences of drinking and driving laws and have altered their behaviour accordingly. Legislative changes regarding alcohol and tobacco have had an effect on traditional values of curling. Canada has amended the Criminal Code with respect to drinking and driving laws (Asbridge, Mann, Flam-Zalcman, & Stoduto, 2004) and some lower-tier jurisdictions have enacted new rules governing smoking in public areas (Lemstra, Neudorf, & Opondo, 2008). Alcohol has been directly linked to sports participation, including but not limited to curling, in Canada (Kunz, 1997). Stricter liquor license law enforcement often prevents alcoholic beverages from being consumed while curlers are on the ice surface and places greater legal responsibility on the curling club management. If the value of belonging, as identified by participants, is reinforced within the curling community through social interactions before, after, and during the game, then it is prone to regulatory pressures that limit such social opportunities. Participants stated that while Volume 18, #1, January 2017

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individuals continue to sit and have two drinks after the game in order to fulfill their social role as a club member, the traditional social culture of staying late into the night, having live music, and other social events (Mair, 2007; Mair, 2009; Maxwell, 2002; Wieting & Lamoureux, 2001) has been affected, and in some cases even ceased to exist within the community level of curling. This coercive pressure was enacted on the community curling environment from a source outside of the institutional field. Typically, institutional theory suggests that pressures are enacted from within the field in which an organization exists. However, the wide reaching implications of the legislative changes noted in this study have affected a significant amount of Canadian life, not just curling. There has been research showing regulation or legislation affecting other types of institutional fields through strong coercive pressures such as Abrams and Settle (1993) who studied the impact of legislation upon the banking industry, during the Great Depression. Local curling was also affected by a second coercive pressure from outside of its institutional field—busier lifestyles. Data pointed to the evolution of the value of belonging through declining social events at the local club as strongly linked to the suggestion that members now have busier lives, and as such, cannot commit as much time to the local club and its events. This idea of a busier life mirrors research by Cerin, Leslie, Suiyama and Owen (2010) who explain how individuals’ busier lives INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SPORT MANAGEMENT

Community Curling

correlate to a lowered participation in leisure time activities. Reichert, Barros, Domingues, and Hallal (2007) show that one of the most common barriers for participation is feeling too tired. While Reichert et al. focused on physical activities, and a lack of social atmosphere as barriers, the commonality of time pressures leading to feeling too tired for participation concurs with the data in this study. Further, the data indicated multiple normative pressures enacted at the local community curling club. Participants identified examples of how information was exchanged and how appropriate social protocols were maintained at the local club. Often, new curlers were paired with experienced curlers to show them the protocols at the club. Experienced club members felt it was their role to help new curlers. All participants explained their introduction into the sport of curling involved either family involvement, school introduction or a pairing with an existing member. All three of these actions enabled the club to maintain traditional social protocols at the local club. Normative pressures are explained by Dimaggio and Powell (1983) through the concept of filtering and allowing likeminded individuals into the organization. As can be seen from the data, community curling clubs use these teacher-student relationships to explain the social protocols to the new entrants into the organization, as well as to displace those who refused to adhere to these rules. Normative pressures are typically associated with the professionalization of an industry as

Community Curling

schools, accrediting agencies and other powerful actors have influence over what new entrants to the field deem as important values (Dimaggio & Powell; Scott, 1987). As such, explaining a normative pressure within community level curling as permitting the organizations to maintain a non-professional value set seems counterintuitive. Yet, this normative pressure is enacted from the membership base as a whole, which acted as the accrediting agency, replacing the role of the CCA. Growing Gaps—Explained through Institutional Fields In addition to identifying the local club as the “accrediting agency”, the findings of this study contradict the notion of congruence between values and institutional fields because even though national and community curling existed in the same institutional field, the value sets of these two fields were not homogenous. At the community level, values such as belonging, giving back, and respect were emphasized as compared with the National values of professionalization, fiscal responsibility and competitive success (Maxwell, 2002). A possible explanation for these differing values is that these two organizations do not actually exist within the same institutional field. While NSOs frequently interact with the base level of sport through policy implementations, rules governance and marketing strategies (Skille, 2008), the distance from the NSO to the community level of sport is so large that their interactions do not occur

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at a frequency that is greater than other agencies, thus placing the community level of curling and national level of curling in different institutional fields (Scott, 1995). While the community level of curling operates the daily leagues of the recreational curlers, the administration of the overall sport is overseen through a hierarchical model at the provincial and/or national level. With such an approach to sport management, there is an assumption that decisions made by the national sporting bodies impact those at the provincial level, which, in turn, trickle down to the community level. Therefore, it is logical to think that community level sport and national level sport exist within the same institutional field. Yet, this data show participants do not feel connected to the national level of curling in any manner, often stating they are unaware of the processes of the authoritative bodies and seemingly lack interest in knowing about those agencies. Danisman et al. (2006) point to the close nature of Canada’s NSOs in stating; “These organizations had strong patterns of interaction with each other (they all had their head offices in the same building in Ottawa), with a central, legitimating organization in Sport Canada; and they shared a common meaning system” (p. 304) thereby suggesting that the institutional field to which national level curling exists are other national level sport federations in Canada. This kind of understanding about institutional fields infers community sport organizations (in this case,

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curling clubs) are excluded from the institutional field. Looking at community level curling club as residing outside the institutional field of national level of curling is consistent with the view that the role of the “national sports organization is confined to the promotion of the sport within the country and the attainment of excellence internationally” (Papadimitriou, 2010, p. 205). This connection to the community level of curling through control of the rules and marketing of the sport as a whole fits within Scott’s (1995) definition of existing within an institutional field but this link does not relate to the values in which community level curling define as important. Organizational fields— institutional logics A second argument supporting the notion that community and national curling exist within different fields is based on differing institutional logics which allows each level to remain legitimate yet hold unique value sets. The growing value gap between national and community level of curling also fits within the institutional logic literature within the realm of institutional theory. Hinings (2012) describes institutional logics to be the “common meaning system” (p. 99) that holds an institutional field together. Within the institutional logic framework the community level of curling could potentially represent a subgroup within the institutional field. Within an institutional field, when subgroups exist, “logics are at the field level INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SPORT MANAGEMENT

Community Curling

and are thus upheld by a connectedness of field participants and not one dominant institution” (Washington & Patterson, 2011, p. 8). Our findings are similar to the work of researchers who analyzed the differing views of the NCAA organization and the NCAA woman’s basketball tournament (Southall, Nagel, Amis, & Southall, 2008). These two organizations (i.e. NCAA organization and NCAA tournament) are in the same institutional field, yet reflect differing values—here defined as institutional logics. Southall et al. have found that the NCAA tournament focused on commercialization while the NCAA organization was committed to the values of academic responsibility and athletic growth. Having different values, while still being legitimate, allowed these two groups to remain heterogeneous within the same institutional field. The existence of unique sub-groups explains how community level curling and national level curling have been able to co-exist within an institutional field and yet remain heterogeneous in regards to values. Participant data presented multiple instances of curlers identifying the need, or want, of increased volunteering within their clubs. This identification shows a strong link to the traditional grassroots sports ideologies. As Staples (2004) describes, volunteering and community development are key aspects to grassroots organizations. Participants identified giving back (enacted through volunteering) and belonging (enacted through socialization and camaraderie) as important values of community level curling. These values rein-

Community Curling

force the grassroots nature of curling at the local level.

CONCLUSION The first research question relates to the values of the community level of curling. The data suggests that respect and belonging are current values, and that these values have existed in the curling community over time due to normative pressures and social protocols enacted that the local clubs. Evolving values at the local level are belonging and giving back. The value of belonging has been shown to be evolving due to coercive institutional pressure brought upon by changing laws regarding tobacco and alcohol. The value of giving back has evolved due to the mimetic pressure of time pressures within a changing Canadian society. The uniformity of values at the community and national level of curling was also identified in this study. A growing gap in the values between national level and community level of sport was explained by IT. By the nature of their position at the top of the system, Canada’s NSO's predominantly focus upon high performance sport and in so doing establish close knit relationships with other NSOs as opposed to clubs and associations at the community level of the system. The results is a separation whereby NSOs, or in the case of this study the CCA, is situated outside of the organizational field in which community level organizations, or in the case of this study curling clubs, operate. Given the two types of organizations do not

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exist within the same field, there would be no impetus for homogeneity in values between national and community level curling. Further, as the community level of curling and the national level hold unique institutional logics they are able to remain heterogeneous in terms of values sets. System heterogeneity has significant practical implications for sport managers involved in the elite and community levels of a sport system. Andersen, Houlihan and Ranglan (2015) suggested the high degree of heterogeneity and complexity within contemporary sport systems generates various management challenges. For example, how might managers better coordinate resources within and across national and community levels of the system? This study on curling in Canada demonstrated an increase in resources, primarily sponsorship and broadcast revenues for Curling Canada but a growing scarcity of resources for the community curling clubs. Curling club managers must attract members but also maintain the curling facility. The movement of resources from the national level to the community level for club programming or operations may be a wise investment for the national curling federation. Fundamentally, elite sport systems depend upon grassroots development but as this study demonstrated the flow of new resources into the sport system tends to focus upon the elite or national level of the system. One risk of this trend is pressure upon the financial viability of community sport clubs, such as the curling clubs examVolume 18, #1, January 2017

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ined in this study. While not a historical practice, sport practitioners may need to prioritize national-to-community coordination as a strategy for the future. A core principle of the current federal government Canadian Sport Policy (CSP) (Government of Canada, 2012) is sustainable, which includes the “sharing and economizing of resources” (p.1). The CSP, or its equivalent in other countries, may provide a means by which national and community sport managers may justify new initiatives to better integrate resources across all levels of the sport system. A second practical implication of this research relates to sport governance and which structures best enable the alignment between low and high levels of a sport system. The Canadian sport system encapsulates both participation and performance objectives (Government of Canada, 2012). These expansive goals have generated, and continue to generate, tension that many sport managers must reconcile on a day-to-day basis . De Bosscher, Sotiriadou, Brouwers, and Truyens (2015) claimed policy impacts the transition of athletes along their high performance pathway through critical functional support areas that are under the direct purview of sport managers. Given this, sport managers working within each level of the sport system need to cooperate when making strategic and operational decisions related to infrastructure, training, development and atmosphere. Green and Houlihan (2008) proposed a holistic approach to sport delivery and recommended sport leaders, be they a professional or execuINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SPORT MANAGEMENT

Community Curling

tive volunteer, follow an integrationist as opposed to isolationist managerial approach if they hope to achieve high performance success in the future. This research has provided answers to questions regarding community level curling, specifically what values the local clubs enact and enforce as well as refute. Yet, many questions remain for future research such as: is the institutional field of Canadian curling unified or fractured?; and is the void between dominant values at national and community level curling expanding, why/ why not? Finally, this study focused upon comparing local and national level values within the Canadian amateur sport system through a curling lens. The relevance of this work extends beyond curling and through the investigation of this phenomenon in other sport contexts greater understanding will be reached in terms of the impact and integration of management styles and value systems within and across community and national levels of sport.

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march madness? Institutional logics and the 2006 National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament. Journal of Sport Management, 22, 677–700. Staples, L. (2004). Roots to Power: A Manual for Grassroots Organizing. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishing. Stevens, J. (2003). The Canadian Hockey Association merger and the emergence of the amateur sport enterprise. Journal of Sport Management, 20(1), 74-100.

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D.J. Brooks is in the Department of Recreation and Leisure at Brock University. Dr. Martha Barnes is Associate Professor in the Department of Recreation and Leisure at Brock University while Dr. Julie Stevens is an Associate Professor at Brock University, Department of Sport Management.

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