Too good to be a sport? Why dog agility struggles in gaining recognition as a sport

Bibliographic Data

ID2378439
AuthorsSamu Pehkonen (0000-0003-2182-3041, University of Oulu, Finland; University of Tampere, Finland, corresponding author), Hanna-Mari Ikonen (0000-0002-4370-5778, University of Tampere)
Year2018
Volume53
Issue6
Pages745-761
Publication date2018-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Review for the Sociology of Sport (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1012-6902 • E-ISSN: 1461-7218
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/1012690216679834
OpenAlexW2560146884
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited33

Over the last two decades, the Finnish community of dog agility practitioners has worked diligently towards gaining recognition for agility as a sport. The process reached an important milestone in 2016 when the National Sports Council listed the Finnish Agility Association as eligible for financial support from the state. As one of the pioneer countries in this regard, Finland is of great interest, as the agility sport continues to become more popular and professionalised worldwide. Using the findings from a qualitative study of media coverage and expert interviews about attempts to gain recognition for agility as a sport, this article explores the strategies that practitioners and the Finnish Agility Association have utilised in their work. This article shows that recognition comes with the need to find a balance between elite sports, on the one hand, and sport for all on the other. Although agility may risk losing some of its particular character as a human-animal teamwork dynamic, it has the potential to contribute to the culture of sports more widely

Elite · Milestone · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Sport management · Teamwork · Adventure Sports and Sensation Seeking · Engineering · Sport and Mega-Event Impacts · Winter Sports Injuries and Performance

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