Sport labour migration: understanding leisure activities of American professional basketball players abroad

Abstract

This study used insights from leisure constraint theory as sensitising concepts to generate new insights on the experiences of international sport labour migrants, thus contributing to research on 'the leisure-globalisation nexus'. We examined empirical data from broader qualitative research on the sport labour migration of American basketball players, specifically their leisure activities outside of the basketball arena. We interviewed a total of 12 participants who had played in 21 countries, including 15 European. Major themes related to leisure experiences were technology, food consumption, travel and relationships. We discussed those themes in relation to intrapersonal, interpersonal and structural constraints. Examples illustrated the interplay between the three dimensions of the leisure constraint model. Findings supported a multidirectional or cyclical relationship between all three parts. We located the participants of this study within previously established typologies of sport labour migrants and provided suggestions for future research.

‘Friends as enemies’: A sociological analysis of the relationship among touring professional golfers

“…Despite the personal issues identified here, the views and experiences of professional sportspeople regarding the consequences of globalization is a largely neglected and under-explored area (Butler and Dzikus, 2015;Roderick, 2013;Webster et al, 2008). As Roderick (2013: 399) has suggested:…”

“I Just Go on Wi-Fi”: Imagining Worlds Through Professional Basketball Migrants’ Deployment of Information and Communication Technology

“…In these cases, differing from instances in which peers perceive technology as central to their professional identity and work, here ICT is a welcome distraction and extension of the professional experience. Similarly, Butler and Dzikus (2014) showed how the mundanity of an overseas career is mediated through entertainment practices (e.g., television, games consoles, etc.). Here, Steve’s reflection begins to provide insights into the day-to-day athletic experiences of the participants as they imagine worlds which expand their neighborhoods across ethnoscapes, while managing a performance-oriented athletic schedule.…”

“…This increasing ability to communicate across vast geographic spaces has come to be entrenched in the careers of spatially mobile athletes, with family, agents, and peers at the forefront of these communicative possibilities. A variety of scholars refer to ICT use as an essential facet of the sporting migratory experience (e.g., Agergaard & Ryba, 2014; Botelho & Agergaard, 2011; Butler & Dzikus, 2014; Elliott, 2013, 2016; Kanemasu & Molnar, 2013; Thorpe, 2012, 2014). These observations draw attention to ICT’s potential as insulator from issues such as homesickness and dislocation.…”

Effect of Learning Environment and Tobacco Consumption on the Formation of Students’ Motivation in Basketball Classes

“…Within this context, the sport education of future basketball players plays the most important role. All around the world, it has a scheme that is similar in general aspects and diff ers in details due to the diff erences of the educational systems (Chen, & Xiao, 2017;Wang, & Hu, 2017;Zhang, & Zhang, 2017;Jiang, & Jia, 2018;Erofeeva, et al, 2019) The future basketball players come to the academies of prestigious clubs only by virtue of educational grants or being selected after ordinary sport schools and colleges (Butler & Dzikus, 2015). In other words, all the future players have common sport base -basketball classes in educational schools and/or colleges as a general or elective subject (Abdelkrim et al, 2007).…”