The European stage for nexta??generation stars and fans: the Undera??17 Championship 2009 in Germany

摘要

UEFAa??s EURO is one of the biggest sporta??s megaa??events in terms of media interest, numbers of spectators and economical impact. Since European championships for womena??s football, futsal or youth teams are standing in the shadow of EURO, they tend to be neglected when speaking about the influence of UEFAa??s competitions in shaping European identities and the future of sporta??s megaa??events. Yet these tournaments can be surprisingly large and influential. Based on participant observation as a member of the Local Organizing Committee I describe how the UEFA U17 tried to instill a sense of a??Europeanessa?? in a region riddled by unemployment and a bad reputation for lingering xenophobia. UEFAa??s educational measures targeted the public as well as the youth players. But the playersa?? hopes of starting a professional football career and the interference of clubs and scouts who want to built future human capital often lead to competing views of what education in this context could mean and achieve. Stage and backstage seem to contradict each other to a certain level. Both were in a sense reconciled by the attempts of German FA to use the tournament not only to attract new young football fans but to balance the budget. Economical logic overruled tensions between lofty ideals and downa??toa??earth efforts to create talent for the future.View full textDownload full textRelated var addthis_config = { ui_cobrand: "Taylor & Francis Online", services_compact: "citeulike,netvibes,twitter,technorati,delicious,linkedin,facebook,stumbleupon,digg,google,more", pubid: "ra-4dff56cd6bb1830b" }; Add to shortlist Link Permalink http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14660970.2010.510749