“Sport science creates value” The sport sciences and knowledge transfer: Limitations and possibilities

Abstract

Based on an overview of the sport sciences as systemized in research groups that share paradigmatic premises, I will discuss how the various groups meet expectations on knowledge transfer (KT). KT refers to a variety of activities with the aim of mutually beneficial collaboration between universities, the public and the voluntary sector, and businesses. The discussion reveals how sport research groups tend to reproduce the traditional KT strategies of their scientific traditions. For example, exercise science and sport medicine aim at enhancing evidence-based practice in performance development and/or health promotion. Typically, the social sciences and humanities offer critical analyses of (asymmetric) sporting power structures and system (dys)functions, and proposals for system change. As an alternative, examples are given from sport science interaction with public authorities and international sport organizations in which KT strategies are combined and work in complementary and mutually beneficial ways. Summing up, it is pointed to the significance for sport science institutions and research groups of developing and implementing best practice KT models.