Municipal Grants for Sports and the Merits of a Voucher System in the Czech Republic

Abstract

In Europe in 2008 governments spent 36 billion Euro on sports subsidies. One of the main goals for spending public money on sports is to increase the participation of people in sports. Th e Czech Republic even spent more than average on sports. However, the participation in sports in this country lags behind the European average. Th is article investigates whether the way such grants are given can explain this. One of the outcomes of this paper is that transparency in the decision-making process in sports-grants allocation is lacking, resulting in many cases of fraud. Th is paper also investigates the merits of an alternative way of allocating money, which is, using sports vouchers as a tool for allocating public resources. Th e experience with that instrument is, although rare, quite positive, especially in reducing fraud. Although there is a lot of hesitance against using vouchers, the experience shows that this is primarily based on prejudice and unfamiliarity with this instrument.

Reducing financial barriers through the implementation of voucher incentives to promote children’s participation in community sport in Australia

“…This analysis enhances existing evidence on family expenditure for sport [12] Existing evidence infers the positive effect of financial incentives to increase physical activity amongst adults [16,26]. Whilst frequently adopted in Australia, global comparisons are challenging, as their use is sparse with only selected countries including the United Kingdom, Luxembourg and Czech Republic, utilising this approach [15,27,28].Whilst the assessment of voucher program efficacy was not the purpose of this paper this was the first robust analysis to assess the proportion of individual sport-related expenditure supported by a voucher and its potential association with child participation rates, using the national population surveillance tool AusPlay, collectively analysed by age, sex and socioeconomic status.…”

Financial Incentives for Physical Activity and Sports Participation in Young People

“…Direct discount on sports or physical activity membership or attendance fees is common in population-based financial incentives (21-27) and was the incentive trialed in an RCT (randomized controlled trial) with disadvantaged teenagers in Wales (ACTIVE) (19,34). These programs have been introduced by governments in Australia (21-27), Luxembourg (35), Germany (36), and the Czech Republic (37). Most have requirements in terms of the type of activity (e.g., recognized sport, learn to swim programs), duration of the activity (e.g., minimum number of weeks), and other governance requirements of the activity providers (e.g., child safely requirements, specific coach training).…”

I Have to do it, but I like it: The Sense of Enjoyment and Obligation in Adolescents’ Organized Leisure-Time Activities

“…A typical Czech adolescent has a wide range of OLTA to choose from. Organized sport activities in Czechia are usually carried out in the out-of-school context within sports associations, which are ultimately supported by the Ministry of Education, as well as by municipalities, regional government bodies, or private donations (Pavlik & de Vries, 2013). In terms of education in music and the literary and visual arts, the Czech education system boasts a rather unique network of "Elementary art schools."…”