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As 2020 marks the 25th anniversary of the well-known Bosman ruling, it has also marked the 15th anniversary of our association. Sport&EU was founded in 2005 by An Vermeersch, David Ranc and Borja García, back then three PhD students who met at a European Studies conferences. It has been growing since then, thanks to the work of many members and under the steer of Borja García and the chairmanship of Richard Parrish.

 

Fifteen years is a long time, and the status of the association is well beyond what any of us would have hoped when it all started. Sport&EU has helped many academics to develop and it has contributed to the academic acceptance of EU sport policy and law as a credible area for research, teaching and learning. Sport&EU features now a membership of almost 600 academics, students and practitioners. We have organised many successful events and established a brand and a name in the academic community.

 

Both sport and the academic world have changed enormously in the last decade, and we feel there is a need for new impetus to ensure Sport&EU continues at the forefront of the academic community, doing what it does best: being a friendly environment for colleagues to exchange ideas and support for one another.

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For these reasons, we believe it is the right time to further develop. After long discussions and reflection, we feel there is a need to form a board that can share the responsibility of taking Sport&EU forward. This is the opportunity to get involved in helping the association grow.

 

Taking into account our activities, we have identified the following key positions: Events coordinator, website and social media director, annual conference coordinator, blog editor, and membership secretary (see description below).

 

Borja García will stay involved in the position of annual conference coordinator, to ensure continuity and to ensure a smooth knowledge transfer to new board members.

 

Also, after 15 years in position our Chair Richard Parrish thinks it is time that the Association appoints a new Chair. This is a decision to be taken by the new board once it is in place. Similarly, the new board might decide, at some point, to create new areas of responsibility by co-opting members.

 

Hence, we are hereby asking Sport&EU members to get involved with the association and to put themselves forward to any of the positions mentioned above (except that of annual conference coordinator). We would like to stress that these are all voluntary positions and that the tasks will not be overly demanding. We are aware these are very busy times for us all, but we are equally convinced that Sport&EU needs the involvement and enthusiasm of its members more than ever.

 

Interested candidates should send their details, stating the position(s) they want to be considered for, a short biography and a 300 words statement of interest to b.garcia-garcia@lboro.ac.uk by 31st January 2021.

 

As it is tradition in Sport&EU (and as suggested by the good governance literature), we are looking to form a diverse board with a wide range of skills, hence colleagues from BAME backgrounds, female members and colleagues from different academic backgrounds, as well as different stages of their careers are strongly encouraged to apply.

 

We hope to have a new board appointed by the time of our annual conference this coming June, to guide the association in the future.

 

It has been a tremendous pleasure to see Sport&EU develop to what it is today. It would not have been possible without the commitment and enthusiasm of those members who gave their time in different roles, such as newsletter editors, Sport&EU Review editors, web editors or conference organisers. We also would like to thank sincerely all our members, and specially those in senior academic and practitioner positions who believed in our idea and have supported Sport&EU throughout, but most specially at the very beginning when the association was just starting.

 

We are specially indebted to our two honorary members, the late David Allen and Jean-Loup Chappelet for their friendly encouragement and support; and to the many senior European Commission and European Parliament officials who have given generously their time to contribute to Sport&EU.

 

We are looking forward to seeing Sport&EU continue growing under the leadership of the new board and chair.

 

Best regards,

Richard Parrish and Borja García

 

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Brief description of board positions and responsibilities

 

Events coordinator: This person will develop plans and ideas for short Sport&EU events other than the annual conference. It could include online events, seminars, roundtables, postgraduate/ECR events, and non-academic events. The events coordinator will most likely work with other members and reach to members who are already organising events to collaborate with Sport&EU.

 

Website and social media editor: The website and social media editor will have overall responsibility for the design and structure of the association’s website. They will develop the website and will also develop the association’s social media presence. Some knowledge of website editing, and social media is desirable.

 

Annual conference coordinator: The annual conference coordinator will be responsible for the annual conference. They will be the board’s point of contact with the local organisers. The coordinator will be responsible for the selection of conference organiser each year, publication of call for papers and overall supervision of the annual conference.

 

Blog editor: The blog editor will be responsible to develop Sport&EU’s blog within the website. They will commission blogposts and seek to have a constant stream of contributions to the blog. The editor, similar to a journal editor, is not expected to write the posts (although they can of course contribute as well if they so wish), but to ensure the healthy development of the blog.

 

Membership secretary: This person will be responsible to design the association’s membership strategy. It will also be responsible to maintain the membership database and to reach out to new groups to increase the association’s membership. Initially the membership secretary will be responsible to coordinate the meetings of the board.