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Sport, Education and Society

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The impact of media sport events

on the active participation of young
people and some implications for PE
pedagogy
a
Gill Lines
a
University of Brighton, UK
Published online: 27 Sep 2007.

To cite this article: Gill Lines (2007) The impact of media sport events on the active participation
of young people and some implications for PE pedagogy, Sport, Education and Society, 12:4,
349-366

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13573320701464234

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 Sport, Education and Society
Vol. 12, No. 4, November 2007, pp. 349
366

The impact of media sport events on the

active participation of young people and
some implications for PE pedagogy
Gill Lines*
University of Brighton, UK
Downloaded by [University of Otago] at 06:18 29 September 2013

This article addresses the impact of selected sports media events on the active participation of a
group of young people aged 14/15. Its particular focus is on an intense period of media sport
coverage during the European Soccer Championships (Euro ’96), the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis
Championships and the Atlanta Olympics and on how a group of British young people articulate
ways that consumption of these products creates opportunities and challenges for their own sports
participation.
The data reported here focus on one aspect drawn from a wider media sport and audience
investigation designed within a hermeneutic and interpretative methodological framework.
Through daily diaries and interviews this article draws particularly on young people’s interpreta-
tions of sport and media as competing leisure activities and lifestyle choices; ways in which they
perceive that watching sport provides them with new motivations and opportunities for physical
activity; and the potential of sport media messages and images to ‘inform and fashion
performance’.
The results suggest that whilst there are associations to be made in relation to motivation,
modeling and performance levels, connections between the intensity of media sport coverage and
sustained involvement and improvement in young people’s sporting activity remain tenuous. The
article concludes by revisiting the author’s professional concern in the light of the research process
and considers the pedagogical implications for PE professionals to strengthen links between media
sport and active sports participation.

Keywords: Media sport events; Young people; PE pedagogy; Active participation

Introduction: physical education, sport and media relationships

This article focuses on an intense period of media sport coverage in the British press
during the men’s European Soccer Championships (Euro ’96), the Wimbledon
Lawn Tennis Championships and the Atlanta Olympics and on how young people
from the United Kingdom articulate ways that consumption of these products
creates opportunities and challenges for their own sports participation. The analysis
indicates that despite associations to be made in relation to motivation, modeling and

*University of Brighton, Chelsea School, Sport and Leisure Cultures, Denton Road, Eastbourne,
East Sussex BN20 7QW, UK. Email: g.a.lines@bton.ac.uk

ISSN 1357-3322 (print)/ISSN 1470-1243 online/07/040349-18 # 2007 Taylor & Francis

DOI: 10.1080/13573320701464234
 350 G. Lines

performance levels, connections between the intensity of media sport coverage and
sustained involvement and improvement in young people’s sporting activity remain
tenuous. In conclusion, consideration is given to some pedagogical implications for
PE professionals, in order to strengthen links between media sport and active sports
participation.
The data reported here are one aspect drawn from a wider media sport and
audience investigation designed within a hermeneutic and interpretative methodo-
logical framework. The analysis identifies young people’s interpretations of sport and
media as competing leisure activities in terms of the time spent on each and the
values young people place upon them; ways in which young people perceive that
watching sport provides them with new motivations and opportunities for physical
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activity; and the potential of sport media messages and images, in Thompson’s terms
(1995, p. 233), to ‘inform and fashion’ performance in the ‘project of self’. Such an
analysis can provide for ‘a narrative framework within which individuals recount their
thoughts, feelings and experiences, interweaving aspects of their own lives with the
retelling of media messages and with their responses to the messages retold’
(Thompson, 1995, p. 43).
Whilst the research is UK-based, and thus draws upon illustrative examples from
the British press and popular British sport stars, there is an opportunity to draw
comparisons with similar global mediated sports events which repeat on a regular
cycle, as well as with contemporary concerns around the world about young people
and their lifestyles. For there are varied public agendas about young people’s sporting
participation and evidence supporting low activity rates and rising obesity figures
(Campbell, 2002; Times Educational Supplement, 2002; The Observer, 2003). The
International Obesity Task Force (2004) reports that one in ten children worldwide
is overweight. Two problematic social trends it identifies in this respect are multiple
television channels around the clock and increased sedentary recreation. The Henry
Kaiser Family Foundation (2004), reviewing a range of research exploring the role of
the media, concludes that more research is required to fully understand how media
may contribute to obesity and place limitations on time for active play and recreation.
Ongoing Sport England initiatives (www.sportengland.org), National Curriculum
documentation and social inclusion strategies (DfEE & QCA, 1999) in the UK
accentuate the significance of sport as a culturally valued activity and lifestyle choice
for young people. However, much of the focus of this attention has been directed
towards young people as participants and performers. For despite the pervasiveness
of the media, little consideration has been paid to their audience role, as this has been
less ‘culturally valued’. Yet young people are exposed to a whole range of sport media
discourses and imagery that have the potential to impact on their values and attitudes
about sports participation. For notions of an inclusive sports and PE agenda (DfEE
& QCA, 1999) are contradicted by media sport representations, where analysis
suggests a highly differentiated sports world, reinforcing social distinctions and
stereotypes, patriarchal, white, able-bodied dominance and the marginalisation of
any ‘other’ (Hargreaves, 1994; Duncan & Messner, 1998; Humberstone, 2002;
Maguire et al., 2002).
 Impact of media sport events on young people 351

*
Theoretical frameworks identifying media impact: moral concerns, media
rhetoric and ‘effects’ theory
Theoretical frameworks informing audience analysis during the twentieth century
have shifted from effects and positivist paradigms through to reception theory and
ethnographic approaches (Moores, 1993; Gunter, 2000; Watson, 2003). Each
approach has identified strengths, limitations and oppositional ideas, yet over recent
decades there has been some convergence of perspectives (Gunter, 2000, p. 9).
Defining ways in which media experiences impact on their audience is complex
(Nightingale, 1996; Whannel, 1998a) and the problematisation of media influence
with regard to young people has centered on a number of moral debates and the
‘effects’ of the products they consume (Osgerby, 2004). Stimulation theory,
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imitation or learning theory, catharsis theory and cultivation theory are all
approaches used to explain ways in which the media can be influential (Gripsrud,
2002). Gauntlett’s (2002, pp. 29
33) critique of the media ‘effects’ model argues
that the relationship between media and identity is more complex than merely
seeking causal links. Some of the flaws in this model, he argues, have been to position
young people as ‘media victims’; to set up artificial studies; and to make little attempt
to understand media meanings and audience interpretations. Following this line of
argument it is suggested here that approaches which act to determine ‘actual’ effects
and causal links between sport media engagement and sports participation cannot
readily explore ways young people interact with and talk about the broader aspects of
media culture on an everyday basis. In addition, it becomes increasingly difficult to
disentangle other agencies and social interactions aside from the media, which act to
shape the individual’s sense of self.
In relation to physical activity and sport, several themes have been identified as
potential sites of negative impact. These include media representations of body
images and eating disorders (Oliver, 2001); inactivity (Halpin, 1998); and the social
and moral requisites of sport stars as role models (Harris, 1994; Whannel, 1995,
1998b, 2001; Lines, 2001, 2002).
Taking these three themes, it is clear that media discourses related to the issues
identified above can act to fuel concern and ‘panic’, and support ‘effects’ theory
about how the media relationship may impact on young people’s sporting identity.
For example, an article in the Daily Mail suggests that young people, aged 8
16,
spend five times as long in front of the television as they do outdoors, list sport stars
as heroes, yet ‘have little chance of emulating their success’ (Halpin, 1998, p. 20).
The media too amplified concerns voiced at a head teachers’ conference, ‘TV
football corrupts children’. Footballers, it was suggested, were providing poor
examples of role models and ‘copycat behaviour by pupils made teaching infinitely
more difficult.’ (BBC news, available online at: www.news.bbc.co.uk/).
Conversely, media rhetoric reinforces commonsense assumptions that images of
sporting success can inspire and motivate young people to participate themselves.
For example, in the British press following England’s World Cup rugby success it was
suggested that acclaimed heroes, such as their successful player Jonny Wilkinson,
 352 G. Lines

could inspire a whole new generation of players*‘Now every child will want to give
the game a try . . .’ (Daily Mail, 24/11/03, p. 6).
Gripsrud (2002, p. 155) suggests rhetoric ‘is often shallow and evades the facts of
the matter’. It can, he argues, promote ‘agitation and propaganda’ around key issues
and, as Watson (2003, p. 359) intimates, it is ‘communication that is declamatory
but without substance’. So whilst commonsense assumptions have constructed a
general consensus about youth vulnerability to media influence and the inability of
young people to be discerning readers of the sporting texts, media discourses have
been particularly ‘declamatory’ in Watson’s terms. A shift away from ‘effects’ theory
towards more interpretative paradigms has shown that young people are more
reflective and critical than is often assumed (Buckingham, 1993a, b; Livingstone,
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2002).

Interpretative paradigms: a way forward to identify adolescent

consumption, lifestyle choices and sporting identities
In the light of the deficiencies in the ‘effects’ models and the need to consider the
nature of the relationship between identity and media engagement, an interpretative
framework can offer access to appropriate types of knowledge.
Approaches to media impact confirm that young people live within a contempor-
ary ‘mediascape’ consuming a wealth of information on aspects of identity, lifestyle
and personal performance (Gauntlett, 2002; Abercrombie & Longhurst, 1998; Real,
1996). Consumption patterns, interpretations of specific cultural products and the
media role in the development of gendered and ethnic identities are all key
conceptual concerns within cultural studies and interpretative frameworks of
analysis. To fully explore media culture, Real (1996, p. xviii) argues for selecting
specific cultural products and ‘staying close to the texts, narratives, interpretation
and rituals of actual people’.
In terms of impact, this article argues that research into levels and patterns of
consumption with regard to particular products can determine their significance
within youth group culture. For example, the role of the media in the more inactive
lifestyle of some young people seems clear in terms of the amount of time spent
engaging in media-related leisure. In Livingstone’s (2002, p. 77) UK survey, two-
thirds of children aged 6
17 have a bedroom television and spend five hours daily
with media technology.
The growth in media sports has been prodigious (Rowe, 1999; Boyle & Haynes,
2000, 2004; Sage, 2002), increasing consumption opportunities for young people
with an escalation of coverage of top-class competition in a range of sports, together
with the higher celebrity profiles of sport stars. Sport is clearly a popular genre and
Livingstone (2002, p. 91) refers to ‘screen entertainment fans’ (most likely to be
working-class boys, aged 12
14 years) for whom sport is a main interest across
outdoor activities, computer games and television programmes. A survey (AAF/
ESPN, 2001, p. 5) amongst 8
17-year-olds in the USA reveals how 3 in 10 children,
 Impact of media sport events on young people 353

42% of boys and 13% of girls, are involved daily with sports media. The main point
here is the low figure for girls in comparison to boys.
The potential of sport media to impact on positive or negative affirmations
between the sporting genre and feminine and masculine sub-cultures (Humberstone,
2002) has remained underdeveloped in research terms. Suggestions to use sporting
texts and sports stars as a stimulus to enhance the literary skills of boys may be
explained by the cultural connections assumed between masculinity, boys and sport
(Salisbury & Jackson, 1996; Tomlinson, 1999; Whannel, 2002), yet a US children’s
report expresses concern that media images of sport are potentially limiting in the
construction of masculinity for boys (see www.childrennow.org/media/boystomen/
report-sports.html). Similarly, despite arguments that English soccer star David
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Beckham’s iconic status is shifting notions of masculinity (Cashmore, 2002; Daily

Mail, 19/2/03, p. 33), little is known beyond anecdotal claims, headline-seeking
documentaries and features, and commonsense assumptions as to whether young
boys do prioritise the more feminised images of Beckham and aspire to emulate
them.
Whilst media sport offers a wealth of hegemonic masculine images for consump-
tion, such images raise a different set of issues for girls. Evidence shows that girls’
magazines marginalise sport (Cockburn, 2000), whilst sports magazines seek to
exclude females except in decorative or supportive roles (Whannel, 1995). Buck-
ingham (1987) and Gillespie (1995) advance the significance of ‘media talk’ as a
social activity, yet ways girls can contribute to ‘media sports talk’ is questionable, if it
is rarely featured in media products they consume. This demonstrates reasons why
girls might question the value of their own position within the patriarchal world of
sport.
Interpretative approaches offer frameworks to explore young people’s engagement
with media sport products, the meanings they attach to these products within
particular social networks and how they make use of them in identity formation.

The hermeneutic methodological framework

In the light of theoretical tensions highlighted, the research project, from which the
data discussed in this article was generated, adopted Thompson’s (1990) herme-
neutic framework to inform its methodological design. For ‘Hermeneutics can offer
both a philosophical reflection on being and understanding, and a methodological
reflection on the nature and tasks of interpretation in social enquiry’ (Thompson,
1990, p. 278).
As Gripsud (2002, pp. 128
129) argues, ‘this theoretical tradition primarily
regards the process of communication from the standpoint of the audience . . . but it
also clearly concerns the process as a whole’.
Within the hermeneutic process, media products are appropriated in personalised
ways according to different backgrounds and experiences but within particular socio-
historic contexts (Thompson, 1995, p. 41). Tomlinson (1992), Blain et al. (1993)
 354 G. Lines

and Lines (2000) have shown how a ‘depth hermeneutic’ approach can be applied to
sport media texts in order to facilitate an integrated approach to media under-
standing and interpretation across different levels of analysis. As Moores (1993, p. 4)
suggests, it is often difficult for researchers to access audience media experiences,
sometimes gaining only a partial knowledge and relatively short periods of access. In
addition, Gunter (2000, p. 54) problematises ‘outcomes which comprise little more
than the application of highly personalized ‘‘readings’’ of media or of audiences’
conversational narratives about media’. However, Thompson (1995, p. 8) argues
strongly for the hermeneutic approach which ‘converges with some of the recent
ethnographic work on the reception of media products whilst at the same time
enriching this work by bringing to bear on it the resources of a tradition concerned
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with the link between interpretation and self-formation’.

Thompson’s (1995, p. 233) comments about the ‘project of self’ provide a key
perspective for discussion:
Individuals increasingly draw on mediated experiences to inform and refashion the
project of self.
The growing availability of mediated experience thus creates new opportunities,
new options, new arenas for experimentation.
As Watson (2003, p. 76) advocates, Thompson’s ideas are of particular importance
in reflecting on ways in which recipients draw on their media experiences in a process
of ‘constant scrutiny and adjustment of self’.
Drawing on these ideas, three issues provide the basis of the analysis presented in
this article:
1. To what extent do media and sport compete as leisure activities and lifestyle
choices for young people in their ‘project of self’?
2. To what extent do significant media sport events, such as major soccer and
tennis tournaments and the Olympics, provide young people with new
motivations and challenges?
3. In what ways do young people respond to media images and messages and use
these actions ‘to inform and fashion’ their own performance?

Methods
Real’s (1996, p. 20) justification for a case-study approach to specific media products
or experiences using varied methods supported the framing of this research around a
series of highly profiled mediated sports events within a relatively focused time span
and a mixed-gender case-study group of 25 young people aged 14/15 from the south-
east of England.
To provide young people with a voice in the field and to get close up to their
everyday life, structured daily diaries (Lines, 1998), affording regular insight into
individual daily patterns of consumption and interpretation and immediacy of
comments and recall, were completed by the group during the six weeks of analysis.
The diaries were the precursor, providing the groundwork for determining themes
 Impact of media sport events on young people 355

worthy of more in-depth interpretative work completed through focus-group and

individual interviews. The series of interviews complemented and added to the data
gathered from the diaries. All respondents’ answers were coded and analysed within
the particular themes emerging from the textual analysis and in response to the wider
questions of the project. Selective narratives identified in the results below, rather than
providing generalizations, are used to illustrate particular themes or individual issues
emerging to structured questions within the diaries and semi-structured questions
asked across the focus-group interviews and follow-up individual interviews.
Whilst not reported here, a detailed content and semiotic analysis which identified
a range of ideological themes was conducted alongside the young people’s
articulations of their media experiences. This analysis provided a coherent context
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to identify: the place of the three selected sporting events on the professional agenda
and their news value in relation to other items; the polysemic nature of the narratives
and discourse created by the media texts; the range and style of sports reporting to
which young people were exposed; and the themes and issues which young people
might address in their interpretation of the events. It also informed the interview
questions and provided an opportunity for moving between the different layers of
analysis at various stages of the research cycle. It also showed the complexity of the
hermeneutic method.

Results
Sport and media as competing leisure activities and lifestyle choices
Media viewing and physical activity patterns provide an insight into how these young
people value these activities within the broader context of their everyday life. From
the personal information section of the diary a general overview showed that many of
the young people identified at least one sport among their favourite leisure activities,
yet subsequent diary entries revealed that few participated in physical activity on a
regular daily basis. Diary entries showed that some stereotypical gender distinctions
were apparent both in sport and media interests. For the majority of boys, soccer
featured significantly whilst tennis, basketball and swimming were also popular. A
number of media-related interests listed showed that television, personal computer,
computer games and films were also popular. In comparison, girls frequently cited
swimming as a popular sport, with tennis, soccer and athletics also mentioned.
Television, music and shopping were also popular leisure activities among the girls.
Interview comments revealed the centrality of television viewing as a daily leisure
activity and the values they held about it. A common theme revealed television as
stimulating, social and bonding and an essential feature of their daily lifestyle and
social interaction with their peer group. As some said:
I think watching TV is really important, it helps you to socialise, when you get to
school you can talk to people about what you’ve seen on TV and it’s a starting point
of conversation. (Male)
 356 G. Lines

I think it’s a way of getting away, like if you watch a soap about someone else’s life
like I was just now. I watch TV quite a lot, all the soaps. It’s like a pastime . . . I
couldn’t do without it. (Female)

Such comments indicated ways in which young people accredited television

viewing as significant in their developing ‘project of self’. Sport, on the other
hand, was not discussed in this emotive way across the whole group. As the
comments below illustrate, whilst there were keen sports fans in the group the
everyday appeal and significance of sport was not apparent in the same way as
television viewing was:
I play the sports in school but apart from that I don’t really do a lot at all; I’m a bit
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lazy actually. (Female)

I like watching it and playing it, I’m quite sporty. I like to go for a kick about in the
park or something but I do like supporting football more than playing it because
you can look up to the players. (Male)

These points are indicative of comments also found in a report on sport in the lives of
girls in a London school which indicated that PE, sport and physical activity was not
an everyday discussion point (Denison, 2002, p. 17).
A revealing discussion evolved amongst one mixed ethnic group of young people
regarding cultural distinctions between Asian and English parents with regard to the
emphasis on sport. Whilst this stereotypical comment was disputed by one of the
girls, several boys suggested:
I’m saying in England, Asian parents are more into education than sport . . . Asian
children’s parents want them to have a proper job and their education . . . they don’t
see sports as a proper job. (Male)

Despite cultural distinctions and expectations about the place and value of physical
education, what is clear is that for some of these young people sport participation is
not as central a feature in everyday life as media consumption is.

Media sport events: new motivations and opportunities

Relatively easy access, in expense and frequent scheduling, made watching sport on
television a more popular option for a number of the group than either participating
themselves or attending live events. Preferences between taking part themselves and
watching sport on television were somewhat mixed. Some felt watching was boring in
comparison to playing, whereas others enjoyed the relaxation of watching. As one
boy suggested, finance is also an important issue in the selection of mediated leisure
time activities for young people, for ‘when it comes to sport it is a cheap alternative to
going’. The intensity and significance of media sport experience for one boy was
evident, for when asked how he would cope if there was no sport on television, he
said, ‘I’d die.’ These comments support research by the AAF/ESPN (2001) and
 Impact of media sport events on young people 357

Livingstone (2002) revealing the significance of sport media genre especially to boys
and its potential to impact on their ‘project of self’ (Thompson, 1995, p. 233).
Abercrombie and Longhurst (1998, p. 178) use the term ‘media drenching’, and
the media sport coverage which was the focus of this research did provide six weeks
of intense daily discourses around the events. If any sports coverage was to have
impact then it was considered that this might be more significant than ‘everyday’
sports viewing. There was the potential for ‘drenching’ in terms of amplified
attention to particular sports and their stars with a wealth of intertextual information
and discussion. When asked about the impact of the three consecutive major sports
events, these comments indicate both the mixed responses of boys and girls, and
show that despite assumptions of male-dominated pleasures gained from media sport
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viewing, sports coverage can also be a rewarding experience for girls:

For a little while after it put me off watching sport on TV because I was so sick of it,
so it de-motivated me from watching sport. (Male)

It was pretty exciting, pretty thrilling . . . that has to be one summer of sport to
remember. (Female)

It’s really good, you don’t normally get such a big amount of coverage in the
summer, normally I’m really bored because the football season is over . . . but it was
just a whole summer of sport. (Male)

The appeal of super-mediated sports events, especially the soccer competition, was
significant for a number of the group, exceeding the amount of time spent either on
physical activity or going to the events. Girls especially watched matches selectively,
choosing the England games in particular, whereas boys were more likely to tune in
for a wider range of matches. The excitement of the soccer competition was rarely
matched during Wimbledon or the Olympics. The gymnastics, swimming and
athletics offered brief moments of interest, but what appeared to be missing was the
lack of British success. Celebratory effect, celebrity appeal and national identification
were central pleasures from viewing for these young people (Lines, 1998, 2000). So
despite the global profile of international sport, young viewing audiences can be
culturally parochial.
Television viewing eroded time left for more active leisure pursuits. Daily records
from the individual diaries (each individual was asked to record how much time they
had spent watching television and how much time they had spent taking part in sport
each day) revealed that none of the case-study group spent more time taking part in
active sport than total television viewing during the investigation. Individual times
taking part in active sport ranged from just 20 minutes to 25½ hours (during Euro
’96), 0 to 13 hours (during Wimbledon) and 0 to 12½ hours (during the Atlanta
Olympics). The period during the Atlanta Olympics gave the clearest representation
of practical activity in their own time, yet offered the lowest figures despite being
during the school holidays. During both Wimbledon and the Atlanta Olympics, 36%
took no part in physical activity in their own time over both two-week periods. This
 358 G. Lines

indicates the significance of school physical education, as for some young people this
was the only physical activity they took part in.
For a number of the group an immediate impact of watching sporting events was a
desire to participate themselves. Diary records reveal how sporting activities related
to each of the events did capture popularity during the scheduling, followed by a
subsequent decline post-event. Playing soccer was at the height of its popularity
during Euro ’96 (60% of the group took part on one or more occasions*decreasing
to only 18% during the Olympics), whereas swimming and running both increased
substantially from 4% and 0% respectively during Euro ’96, to 46% and 36% during
the Olympic coverage. In contrast, tennis participation increased consistently across
the three events, from 24% during Euro ’96, to 28% during Wimbledon, to 36%
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taking part themselves during the Olympics coverage. The following interview
comments exemplify ways in which sports viewing generally provided a stronger
emotional attachment and motivational tool for boys than girls:
At half time I wanted to just go out and kick about. (Male)

After a game when England win you want to go out and have a little game of
football cos you’re in the mood. (Male)

In football, not any other it made me want to go outside and play the game. (Male)

You know what it’s like when Wimbledon is on and the whole courts are booked
out. (Male)
The girls were generally less vocal about how viewing experiences motivated them to
participate. Even whilst they expressed considerable interest and enthusiasm for
watching the three events, the following comment exemplified how initial motivation
lacked momentum:
I watched the swimming . . . and it gave me the impulse ‘cos it’s in the holidays. I
went swimming with my friend every day for a week . . . partly because you want to
be as good as them. (Female)

Girls revealed how the magazines they read during the events offered them few, if
any, serious articles on sport supporting previous textual readings of girls’ magazines
(Cockburn, 2000). A number of girls were fully aware that the main sporting
references were to male footballers as pin-ups and to sports clothing as fashion items.
In many cases the girls argued there simply wasn’t a call for sport in their magazines.
Although some girls were fully aware they were interpellated to sports events in
different ways to boys, they were not especially troubled that they were not subject to
the same sport ‘media drenching’ as boys. This clearly has ramifications for the
sport media knowledge and information that girls receive in comparison to boys, its
impact on the gendered development of sporting identities and the status attached to
sport amongst female peer groups.
 Impact of media sport events on young people 359

Sport media images and messages: exploring the potential ‘to inform and fashion’
performance
Young people in conversation were more sceptical, however, about the long-term
motivational effects, the potential of the media to inform and fashion their long-term
performance and the extent to which the ‘mood’ of participation was maintained:
Yeah, but after Wimbledon finishes . . . (Male)

No, when it was there I thought I should go out and get more exercise but then you
forget about it, when it’s all gone, you don’t think about it as much as you did when
it was around, you always make promises to yourself but you never keep them.
(Female)
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Young people rarely openly acknowledged benefits accrued for their own sporting
performances from watching sport on the television in terms of learning how to refine
and improve their personal skills. Yet a number did admit pretending to be certain
players when they next played, indicating identification with particular stars and
specific sporting moments. The diaries indicated that during both Euro ’96 (36%) and
Wimbledon (14%) young people identified certain skills that they attempted to imitate:
When you go over the park you are always trying to copy what the players do . . .
You wouldn’t try to do it in a game for your Sunday team but when you are
mucking about over the park you always try to copy them. (Male)

I remember going over the park, seeing all the boys trying to do the moves of
Gascoigne [the English soccer star]. They kept shouting look at my Gascoigne
move. (Female)

Girls’ comments reassert their belief in the greater likelihood for the enhancement of
boys’ performances than theirs, as a chorus of laughter greeted the question when
asked whether they would copy anything about the football they had watched from
the event. In many ways this supported the girls’ lack of belief in their own sporting
ability to emulate male play.
In Thompson’s (1995) terms, the potential of media as a ‘new arena for
experimentation’ and skill development may be more limited than is assumed in
relation to sporting performance. For one tension identified by young people
suggested that their previous experience had taught them that images of skill on
television make sporting success look easy, yet in reality it is far more difficult to
achieve. When asked whether what they had copied had been successful, there were
derisory comments like:
No, not normally no! (Male)

Oh yeah . . . I could serve in the box for a change. (Male)

You think I’m gonna go out and play*it goes miles and you think, how the hell do
they do that. You watch it, and they’re whacking that ball, there’s so much topspin,
and then you think how the hell do they do that. And it’s just unbelievable, just the
skill. (Male)
 360 G. Lines

I learnt a lot about the gymnastics . . . the things they can do with their bodies is like
really amazing, no normal person could do that unless they took a lot of training.
(Female)

You look at them admiringly cos they’re doing something you definitely can’t do. I
couldn’t do it. (Female)

Such comments disclose the ways in which young people admire outstanding
performance but perceive it beyond the reach of ‘normal’ individuals like themselves.
Interesting distinctions evolved with regards to the performance demands between
tennis and soccer. One boy suggested that tennis was a more difficult sport to copy
than others:
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I think that was a good serve but I don’t think that I can learn from it . . . whereas
people who watch basketball think I can imitate that dunk or whatever, tennis isn’t
one of those sports you can imitate because you either know how to hit the ball or
not. (Male)
Another makes a similar point in comparing tennis with football:
If you see Tim Henman win a game you really fancy going over the park to play but
I never try and copy things because they are world class players and it’s not so easy
to imitate a tennis player as a footballer. (Male)
When asked why this was, he was less able to clearly articulate his reasons:
You hear about tennis players with 130 mph serves but you know you’ll never be
able to do that, so you just don’t, it doesn’t appeal as much. (Male)

Achieving high-level tennis performance appears more elusive, and seems to act to
deter some youngsters, whereas basketball and soccer present themselves as more
attainable. Whether such discourses simply reflect young people’s own experiences of
access or skill development in these two sports is unclear.
In this sense, it is argued that media texts fail to emphasise the hard work, training,
moments of failure, and varying yet acceptable levels of performance on the pathway to
success. It amplifies instead elite performance, high achievement and instant success.
As a result, sports performance seems all the more elusive to the young armchair fan
who quickly becomes despondent with his/her limited success at imitation.
Whilst a number of sport stars were identified as role models throughout the
investigation female sport stars were rarely mentioned, or when they were, comments
indicated the relative low status and trivialization attached to female sport (Lines,
2002). The potential of sports stars as role models was problematic for some girls
who expressed little interest in imitating sports stars because of the body image,
lifestyle and commitment involved in sporting participation. The female gymnasts
evoked particular concern:
I wouldn’t want to do that all the time, cos you have to train all the time.

You can only do certain things, like eat certain things.

 Impact of media sport events on young people 361

Yeah, they’re all short and skinny. Stunted. It’s not natural. They’re all the same.
They’re what I call steroid. (Females)

These comments reinforced contradictions girls observed between sporting lifestyles

and images and feminine-appropriate perceptions and body imagery. Press debate
around Serena Williams’ body image*‘sexy or scary?’ (Daily Mirror, 18/7/03, pp.
18
19)*portrays how media rhetoric can highlight contradictions of sexuality,
‘musculinity’ and femininity for sports women and construct potentially conflicting
messages for the female audience.
Despite the obvious appeal of watching sport, the associations that can be made
with active sports participation are more complex. The immediate motivation to take
part themselves during the events was evident, yet the young people themselves
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suggested this was short-lived, despite their own good intentions to maintain
enthusiasm. The media focus on elite performance and success signified a level of
unattainability for some of the viewers, and others who sought to emulate admired
skills were quickly deterred, when they were not so readily successful.

Conclusions: implications for physical education pedagogy

How then can this analysis inform and be used by PE practitioners to aid pupils in
their ‘project of self’; in supporting young people’s new motivations and challenges
arising from their engagement in media sport; and in developing the critical
responses of young people to media images and messages?
There is no doubt that the media, especially television, are an indispensable daily
feature of adolescent lives, and that global media sports events can even attract non-
sports fans to the television audience. Physical education teachers cannot ignore the
impact that this can and does have, and should consider ways of working in
partnership with both the products of media sport as well as the media professionals
to promote their subject discipline (Lines, 1999). However, in an already increasing
curriculum agenda it is acknowledged that this should not be seen as another area of
work but rather integrated within already existing curricular programmes of study
and core strands of learning. Additionally, these ideas have the potential to draw on
cross-curricular links and promote sport and physical education through other
subject areas.
Three key recommendations direct this concluding section in an attempt to link
research findings to practices in PE. The first of these recommends the timing of PE
programmes of study to correspond with key sport media events. For the results
showed that little, if any, television viewing of the two events scheduled during term
time took place in school. Teachers may feel unable to justify watching instead of
doing sport, or perceive television in this context to be non-educational. Yet the
significance of the events reveal that planned television viewing may have acted as an
incentive providing new opportunities and motivations to participate and improve
performance.
 362 G. Lines

Super-mediated events did create a temporary wave of interest and momentum

that was not sustained. The timing of physical education activity programmes or
specific attempts to forge school
club links, to match or follow key events in the
sporting calendar, may enhance participation rates. The media events can trigger a
desire to participate in the school activity, and the timing may maintain the
momentum post-event. The European soccer event provided a clear example where
the girls, more unusually, were motivated to kick a ball around*the introduction of a
new soccer programme for girls during significant national or global soccer
competitions may prove an incentive to learn the game. To enhance literacy work
across the curriculum, KS4 pupils (aged 14 to 16) could also be encouraged to read
press coverage, sporting biographies or books around these key performers and
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events. As the High Quality PE and Sport for Young People document (DfES, 2004,
p. 13) suggests, one indicator of enjoyment as an outcome for young people is that
they ‘often watch or read about PE and sport’.
A second recommendation is for sport media texts to be fully utilized within
existing units of work to enhance the practical skills, knowledge and understanding of
young people. For the analysis here shows that young people do imitate some aspects
of skill they see, and are initially motivated to participate in activities they watch,
confirming that the media does have some influence. However, this is often short
lived and frustrating for those who cannot readily achieve the level of excellence of
televised sport.
To enhance physical skill development, by using media sporting moments to
inform and fashion performance, teachers could identify moments of particular skill
which pupils admire (for example, during this research young people were enthused
by Paul Gascoigne’s goal during Euro ’96 and Tim Henman’s backhand at
Wimbledon) and design practices for pupils to work on such set skills. Additionally,
top-level media sport provides ideal material to develop the observation, analysis and
evaluation component of the Physical Education National Curriculum attainment
target and specification requirements of 14
19 examination work in the United
Kingdom.
The final recommendation is most significant, especially in the UK context, for
whilst Australia and New Zealand have adopted a socio-cultural perspective to
aspects of syllabi (Wright, 2004), the National Curriculum PE in England provides
fewer explicit requirements for teachers to develop pupils’ critical appraisal of sport
and physical education. For although young people’s interpretations reveal they are
not always passive recipients of media messages, it is clear that their audience role is a
significant part of their ‘project of self’. Therefore it is recommended that schools
ensure that the critical sport media literacy skills of young people are seen to be an
integral area of personal pupil development both within PE and through learning
across the curriculum.
Physical education teachers can facilitate pupil discussions around the social and
moral tensions inherent in the sporting spectacle. Oliver (2001, p. 159) and Nilges
and Spencer (2002, p. 147) strongly support the development of critical media
literacy in PE pedagogical innovations to foster awareness of sociological discourses
 Impact of media sport events on young people 363

influencing participation, body perceptions and performance in PE. Wright (2004)

offers a range of ideas for work which seeks to engage secondary pupils in critical
textual analysis of sport media images and discourses and provides illustrative
examples of themes such as gender, race and nation which were all issues that the
young people in this analysis drew upon and talked about in relation to their media
sport experiences.
For example, the marginality of female sport and the lack of popular female sports
stars have implications regarding role models for girls and the extent to which
adolescent girls perceive it unimportant for females to be sporty. Physical education
teachers must ensure that media coverage they themselves use does not simply
reproduce male-dominated media discourse and under-represent women. They
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should identify positive media imagery of females and incorporate this in lesson time,
to overcome the discrimination apparent in ‘everyday’ viewing. This is equally
important for both boys and girls, as it was the boys particularly that made a number
of negative comments about sporting females.
As media sports talk provided an important feature of peer-group interaction
during the events, PE teachers could develop further discussion around these topics
within their practical lessons. The ability of young people (Lines, 2002) to articulate
opinions around social and moral dilemmas of sport stars, such as alcoholism, wife
abuse and sexuality, suggests that these could be used as case studies for learning
outcomes related to personal, social, moral and spiritual components of PE. For the
introduction of citizenship as a statutory requirement of the National Curriculum PE
(DfEE & QCA, 1999, p. 4) suggests that its role is in ‘helping pupils to deal with
difficult moral and social questions that arise in their lives and society’. Starter or
concluding activities for pupils could provide opportunities for the discussion of key
topical sport media issues related to a particular sport or activity area they are
currently participating in. In the hermeneutic process such situations can provide
young people with opportunities for ‘rethinking and retelling’ media messages they
have appropriated.
A media sport section on the PE noticeboards and websites displaying schedules,
match reports and relevant articles can inform pupils and provide a focal point for
teacher-led discussion and peer group media sports talk. Teacher’s identification of a
weekly schedule of recommended sports viewing can raise awareness and foster more
inclusive practices for some girls, who appear less likely to be as media sport literate
as boys. Additionally, this would provide a useful resource for the media component
of the GCSE and A level physical education specification. Kinchin and O’Sullivan’s
(1999) Cultural Studies Unit example shows how media products can be a stimulus
for discussion by young people and their teachers.
The diary research technique used in this study showed how some young people
purposefully incorporated sport media material alongside their own responses.
Media sports events can provide project ideas across a range of subject disciplines.
Kinchin (1998) shows how through journal writing pupils can articulate their
opinions on social issues in sport and give teachers greater insights into the values
their pupils are formulating.
 364 G. Lines

Finally, physical education teachers are daily witnesses to peer-group media talk,
and to responses to media events on the playing field and in the sports hall. This
provides a rich and diverse environment for further work on the ways in which young
people’s media sport experiences influence their everyday response to active sports
participation. For further empirical data will facilitate understanding of the impact of
sport media relationships with young people’s engagement in sport and PE beyond
commonsense assumptions and unsubstantiated rhetoric.

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