Introduction and context
The goal of this research was to create an agenda that will advance support and capacity for research partnerships in sport. Effective partnerships between academics (e.g., faculty, students, consultants) and sport sector members (e.g., organizations, coaches, athletes, government bodies) can bridge gaps between research and practice, leading to evidence-based sport policies and programs. These partnerships rely on shared decision-making, mutual respect, and active involvement from all parties. However, several challenges can hinder their success, including: (a) lack of partnership skills, (b) conflicting priorities, (c) power imbalances, (d) tokenistic involvement of sport sector members, and (e) insufficient support, time, and resources. Greater attention is needed to help partners overcome these barriers, improve collaboration, and foster meaningful engagement. Gathering insights from both academics and sport sector members about their experiences, values, and needs can guide activities that build capacity, strengthen support, and promote effective partnerships throughout the sport sector.
Methods
To carry out this work, we created the Sport Partnership Collective, bringing together academics and sport sector members to promote meaningful research partnerships. The team included Dr. Maji Shaikh, Dr. Karl Erickson, Dr. Heather Gainforth, and Kim Gurtler and Dr. Veronica Allan at the Sport Information Resources Centre (SIRC).
Our team conducted six community connection events and four surveys with academics and sport sector members (~200 people) to gather their feedback and co-generate insights on their experiences, values, and needs in research partnerships. We combined these insights with literature reviews to better understand the needs of the sport sector and develop activities to address these needs in our agenda.
Key findings and implications
The SPC’s agenda has resulted in five categories of needs, and corresponding activities to meet these needs:
- Research and inquiry: The research in this area is scattered and lacking. The sector needs more studies that gather, analyze, and create insights on how to better support research partnerships in sport. This includes sport-relevant strategies for making partnerships more meaningful, equitable, strategic, and sustainable partnerships. Possible actions can include: (a) reviewing and compiling existing research, conducting case studies on existing research partnerships, and directly asking people in partnerships about their needs, opportunities, and challenges in partnering.
- Connection activities: Academics and sport sector members often face do not fully understand each other’s worlds. The sector needs more opportunities for academics and sport sector members to connect, learn about one another’s worlds, and foster mutual understanding and potential collaboration. Possible actions can include: Communities of practice focused on knowledge exchange, and events focused on partnership match-making, providing education, and learning about sport sector members’ needs.
- Education and resource development: Many tools, resources, and educational opportunities on the topic of sport research partnerships are scattered or missing. The sector needs more opportunities and accessible materials to support their partnership engagement and partnership-related skill building. Possible actions can include: creating social learning spaces, developing partnership-related tools, building a network of networks, developing partnership certification systems, and advocating for sport practicums in graduate research programs.
- Advocacy and action: The current systems do not effectively support research partnerships meaningfully; the sport sector may (unintentionally) encourage competition over limited resources, rather than incentivizing collaboration and resource-sharing. There is a need for collective advocacy and action efforts to promote systems-change in how research partnerships are supported in sport. Potential activities might include generating consensus statements that can be used to advocate for funding and support from major sport-supporting organizations, governing bodies, and networks.
- Forming a group to support and carry out the agenda (the SPC): An active team needs to help develop, put into action, and sustain this agenda. This group would work together with partners to support the agenda activities. Potential activities might include creating a shared vision and strategic plan, planning ways for getting partners involved, and evaluating how well the agenda is being implemented and its impact.
Strengths and limitations
A key strength of this work is the intentional effort to engage and listen to a diverse range of voices from the sport sector, not just academics. However, there is room to further expand this by gathering insights from other key groups involved in sport research partnerships, such as members of national and provincial sport organizations, funding bodies, community and grassroots groups, athletes, youth, and families. Future work could include forming committees for each of these groups to ensure their voices are represented and meaningfully integrated into the development and implementation of the agenda.
Conclusions and next steps
This agenda was shaped through contributions from both academics and sport sector members, along with a review of relevant literature, to provide a practical framework for future research, policy, and programs. This collaborative effort aims to build stronger connections and knowledge sharing between academics and the sport sector. It is important to consider this agenda as ever-evolving and subject to change, as more efforts are made to continue to engage with diverse members across the sport sector. Particularly, this agenda can be further enhanced by developing an intentional strategy for reaching and connecting with people from equity-deserving groups who may otherwise face barriers to accessing and meaningfully engaging in research partnerships. Additionally, future efforts should include mapping the Canadian sport sector, which encompasses various levels such as national and provincial sport organizations, funding bodies, and community groups. By inviting feedback from these different groups, we can enhance the agenda’s relevancy, usefulness, and actionability.