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Background to
the Research
- The IIS seeks to foster international
friendship and goodwill through sport, culture and education. In 1996,
the IIS administered an inaugural programme of games and events for
young people at the Jordanstown campus of the University of Ulster.
The Ireland's Scholar Athlete Games were seen as a way of improving
community and cross-border relations in NI. The report evaluates the
extent to which this was achieved.
Research Approach
- Data were gathered by means
of two questionnaires administered to participants at the beginning
and end of the week long programme of events. In all, 234 of the first
questionnaires and 332 of the second questionnaires were completed.
- A questionnaire was also administered
to the 70 coaches at the end of the week and 36 were returned.
- In addition, several informal
interviews were held with participants and coaches. In total, 76 participants
and 14 coaches were interviewed throughout the week.
Main Findings
Profile of the
Sample
- Fifty-three per cent of respondents
were from NI, 38% from Southern Ireland and 9% from the USA.
- Eighty-three per cent of respondents
identified themselves as 'Catholic', 15% 'Protestant' and 2% 'other'.
- Sixty-eight per cent of respondents
identified themselves as 'Irish', 13% as 'British', 9% as 'Northern
Irish', 7% as 'American' and 3% as 'other'.
- Forty-four per cent of respondents
were male and 56% were female. The largest proportion of respondents
were aged between 15 and 17 years (some 86%).
The Coaches
- Of the fifty coaches, 84%
were from NI and 26% from Southern Ireland. Of the twenty cultural
coaches 50% were from the North and the other half from the South
of Ireland. Around 25% of the cultural staff and 46% of the sports
staff were Protestant, the remainder were Catholic.
Organisation
- The provision of a schedule
for each participant and a notice board would have been useful.
- The large majority of Catholic
participants made integration of various activities nearly impossible.
Participants from the North noticed this religious imbalance.
- The religious imbalance was
a factor in a few instances which occurred during the week that might
have been perceived as insensitive by Protestant participants.
- Coaches were enthusiastic
and contributed a great deal to the success of the games. The coaches
were expected to be on duty at all times during the week and the youthfulness
of some coaches was potentially problematic.
- Some coaches were involved
in or ignored instances which could be construed as insensitive from
a community relations perspective.
Participants
Evaluation (participants were asked to rate specific aspects on a scale
of 1 - terrible through to 10 - excellent)
- Eighty-two per cent of participants
rated the accommodation at 7 or higher, 42% rated the food at 7 or
higher. Many mentioned a lack of drinking water in the catering tents
and sports fields.
- Ninety per cent scored leadership
at 7 or above and many participants stated positive opinions on the
coaches professionalism and friendly manner.
- Ninety-five per cent rated
the atmosphere during the week at 7 or above. Some felt the games
lacked atmosphere due to the large number of participants.
- Eighty-five per cent rated
the organisation of the games at 7 or above. Several interviewees
stated concerns about a general lack of information.
- Eighty-seven per cent of respondents
rated their specialist activities at 7 or above and eighty-four per
cent rated their new sporting activity at 7 or higher.
- Sixty-seven per cent of participants
rated new cultural activities at 7 or above.
- In relation to Theme Day lectures,
the most highly rated speaker dealt with substance abuse, with the
lecture on sportsmanship and ethics next most highly rated. The lecture
on sport in a divided society was given a mean rating of 4.66.
Effects on Participants
- There was little evidence
of major change in the attitudes and expectations of participants
- which were generally positive to begin with.
- Some of the Northern Irish
participants in their normal daily lives had few opportunities to
mix with people from different religions, most were able to identify
the religion of other participants and were aware of stereotypes.
Many noticed that few Protestants were at the games and would have
liked an opportunity to discuss various issues with small, mixed groups.
- Participants felt empowered
by the experience of the games, some felt the coaches provided good
role models of leadership whilst other participants felt that there
was little opportunity for them to develop leadership.
- Most participants intended
to keep in touch with some of the new friends they had made during
the week. More felt it would be more difficult to form friendships
with people of another gender than felt that religion or nationality
was a barrier.
- For the most part, cross community
etiquette was observed, with sensitive topics being avoided in the
interests of harmony. However, when the Troubles were discussed some
Northern Irish participants perhaps gave a one-sided account of their
experiences which was not counter-balanced by alternative experiences.
The Staff
- The management style of the
staff was hands-on and co-operative. The structure and management
of the games was flexible and efficient.
- The abandonment of a deadline
for applications led to a lack of accurate record-keeping, late organisation,
poor balance of Catholic and Protestant participants and a wider range
of participants.
- The training programme for
staff was designed to allow coaches to acquaint themselves with and
learn new strategies for coping with the week, and in this respect
it was successful. However, the training programme had little in common
with the stated aims of the overall project and there was no community
relations content.
- In general, participants were
very happy with the standard of coaching and the contribution of the
coaches to the atmosphere of the week. Some participants had expected
an elite standard of coaching.
- There was little consistency
in the responses of the coaches to the aims of the games, although
the majority did state that social mixing was one of the aims of the
games. Most coaches felt the games had been successful, regardless
of their perceptions of the aims and objectives of the programme.
- The view that sport would
automatically bring people together was prevalent among the coaches
and the majority felt that politics should be 'kept out of sport'.
Almost half of the coaches who completed questionnaires expressed
the view that an evaluation of the event could be counter-productive,
as it might raise the issue of religion which should be kept out of
sport.
Recommendations
- The programme should be reviewed
with regard to what it can realistically deliver. The project's literature
should describe its aims, proposed content and the times involved
as accurately as possible.
- The first priority of the
recruitment process should be the tackling of the matter of the religious
balance of those recruited from NI. There should be an agreed policy
in relation to recruitment deadlines and this should be rigorously
adhered to.
- Coaches need to be recruited
well in advance and be fully informed of the aims and objectives of
the programme.
- The production and dissemination
of information needs to be reviewed. Information packs, which include
schedules and a clear map of the campus, should be sent to participants
prior to the event.
- The participants of the games
should be contacted in order to assess any ongoing impact of the experience
of the games. Future events should be subject to evaluation and any
evaluation should be made an integral part of preparation for the
event.
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