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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Sports Act. Living
Sec. Sports Management, Marketing, and Economics
Volume 6 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fspor.2024.1405441
This article is part of the Research Topic Esports Winter - The Current Challenges of the Esports Ecosystem View all articles

An exploratory qualitative interview study on grassroots esports in sports clubs

Provisionally accepted
Andre C. Baumann Andre C. Baumann 1*Ståle Pallesen Ståle Pallesen 2Rune A. Mentzoni Rune A. Mentzoni 2Eirin Kolberg Eirin Kolberg 2Vegard Waagbø Vegard Waagbø 2Anders Sørensen Anders Sørensen 2Joakim H. Kristensen Joakim H. Kristensen 2
  • 1 Gamers Performance, Oslo, Norway
  • 2 University of Bergen, Bergen, Hordaland, Norway

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Aim: The current study aimed to explore grassroots esports in sports clubs in Norway from the perspective of volunteer esports leaders. Method and results: Fifteen volunteers were recruited from grassroots esports initiatives in various sports clubs and were interviewed via online video conferencing using a pre-developed semi-structured interview guide. Data was analyzed using inductive thematic analysis with a realist approach, which generated the following themes: 1) Local community impact at the center of motivation, 2) lack of support threatens the operations of the initiatives, and 3) competency development to overcome barriers. The participants perceived the grassroots esports initiatives as essential for children in the local community and as the core of their motivation as volunteers. Several challenges were mentioned for sustaining the initiatives, such as maintaining motivation, resource management, and recruiting new volunteers. Finally, competency and qualified esports trainers were mentioned as necessary for a high-quality offer. Conclusion: The grassroots esports initiatives in sports clubs are viewed by volunteer esports leaders to affect the local community positively. However, there are challenges tied to the operation of such initiatives, such as engaging volunteers and raising competence. Future research should investigate barriers to help develop strategies to support grassroots esports initiatives.

    Keywords: Volunteers, eSports, sports clubs, grassroots, Community, leaders, competency

    Received: 22 Mar 2024; Accepted: 22 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Baumann, Pallesen, Mentzoni, Kolberg, Waagbø, Sørensen and Kristensen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Andre C. Baumann, Gamers Performance, Oslo, Norway

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.