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HISTORICAL AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE EUROPEAN SPORTS CLUB

The local sports club is at the core of European sports development. Sports clubs and sports development in Europe are an exercise in social development, longevity, importance, and persistence. Previous research into the historical beginnings of sports clubs in Europe has described them primarily as social clubs organized for “casual exertion and sociability,” along with the development of social networks (Holt and Mason 2000). In many communities in Europe, the local sports club provides a venue for community activities, politics, and events, in addition to being the hub of most local sports activity. Regarding this social context, MacLean (2013) notes that, as with today’s local sports clubs, there were, historically, many clubs that were similarly central to organizing everyday life in villages. This included sponsoring sports like football (soccer), but also offering programs in gardening, sheepdog training, or sewing, or serving as the location of the annual village carnival. These clubs and their development highlighted the social aspect of sports and the blending of various other activities, similar to what you may see in many American recreational and community centers today, although arguably not structured and task organized as their European counterparts. Sports clubs in Europe are essential to sociability, providing an important addition to the bonds based in friendship, family, and common background and language.