Event Management: Analyzing Fans, Leisure, and Identity

This report examines the concept of serious leisure and its application to football fans, using Stebbins' characteristics to analyze a YouTube clip featuring Chelsea fans. It explores how sports tourism reinforces serious leisure, as discussed by Green and Jones, and the concept of "selfish leisure" as d...Read More

Event Management
Events and Individual Identity
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Table of Contents
Do...............................................................................................................................................3
Consider.....................................................................................................................................6
References..................................................................................................................................8
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Do
1. Stebbins (2007) describes 6 distinguishing characteristics of serious leisure amateurs,
hobbyists and volunteers. Discuss how one of the fans in the YouTube clip above, either
fulfils, or does not fulfil, the characteristics of serious leisure in their support of their
football team.
Serious leisure is an addictive attribute that drives a person to extreme obsession and when it
comes to sports, things get even more serious, since matches are all about wins and losses. Serious
leisure may be defined as sincere and systematic pursuit of some kind of special interests,
particularly leisure activities to the extent of putting it first on the order of life priorities (Stebbins,
2010). Unlike casual or unserious leisure, this form of behavioural attribute may be personally and
socially rewarding or result in losses for the amount that varies with the amount of obsession
involved in it.
There are six characteristics that distinguish serious leisure from others and most of them are
well manifested in the video “Football's Obsessed Fans by Steve Lowrie”. In the referred video,
one of the football fans Josh Lines shows utter affinity towards Chelsea, a worldwide popular
professional Football Club of London. His love for football and specifically the Team also reflects
the perseverance or adhering by the choice even during times of adversity. The fan does not lose
his fandom in events of losses; in fact, he feels that the trying times are even more important
occasions for fans like him to lend their support to their favourite team (Lowrie, 2013).
The second characteristics or finding a career in the leisure is also shown by Josh as he
undertakes to travel miles at odd hours just to make sure that any match is not missed. This is
even done at the risk of not getting a match ticket on the spot. This is a sort of self- proclaimed
career that is marked by own contingencies, turning points, stages of achievement and
involvement. However, there were no symptoms of choosing a formal relevant career option in
sports and leisure management or alike (Scott, 2012).
Coming to the third characteristic, a person engaged in serious leisure must display personal
effort significantly, in terms of knowledge, training, skill or experience. Josh got himself
subscribed to magazines, forums and news channels and makes it a point to follow them
frequently to keep himself thoroughly updated with the upcoming matches and team matters
(Lowrie, 2010). Thus he proves his ability of an avid football fan.
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The broad outcomes or the durable benefits constitute the fourth attribute of serious leisure
and in case of Josh, in the referred YouTube clip, it bestows in form of self-enrichment, self-
expression that gives him an image of a great fan in the society. The fan collects a lot of physical
products related to his favourite team, which are best accomplishments for him, although those
items cost high.
Generation of a unique ethos out of serious leisure, is what the fifth characteristic deals with.
There is community feeling that is evoked around every instance or in other words, a different
world is create for people pursuing such interests and in that they nurture and share a common
culture, belief, attitudes and values that segregates them from outside world (Sachman, 2017). The
current state of unemployment does not bother Josh, as he finds his fulfilment in standing by
Chelsea. He happily spends 200 pounds on a single home game, without worrying or considering
it a futile move.
Josh, in the video-clip referred to, also meets the last criterion or possesses the sixth
characteristic which is about finding ultimate fulfilment through all the preceding five qualities.
For him his obligations towards family and his girlfriend rank lower than identifying himself as a
die-hard Chelsea supporter (Stebbins, 2017).
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2. Regarding the Green and Jones (2005) reading, discuss how travel to various events (i.e.
sports tourism) reinforces the “serious leisure” of the fans in the YouTube clip.
There are a number of hurdles when it comes to serious leisure pursuers as they are the ones,
who lead a different lifestyle, aloof from the norms and obligations of the society, deeply
indulged in their own world. In the YouTube clip titled “Football's Obsessed Fans by Steve
Lowrie”, Dr. Ian Jones, the Dean of Sports in Bournemouth University says that the travel to
various events gives a sense of excitement of higher level to such sports fan, since it is more
invigorating to watch things as they emerge unlike in mediated sports. He opines that such live
experiences invigorate unrealistic optimism that the next game would be better than the present
game and that is what keeps the fans going (Lowrie, 2013). This is the probable reason why
obsessed fans like Josh Lines and Charlie Rose are ever-prepared to travel hundreds of miles at
any cost and time just to be able to take a look at their favourite teams toiling hard to succeed.
Sports Tourism, in other words, acts very much like Aphrodite for the lovers of football, as
well as, other sports fanatics around the world. Sports tourism helps in developing social
identities which offer sports addicted fans, a greater sense of belongingness to a wide sports
loving community. This is turn, may also lead to an opportunity to use membership of major
groups (Aicher, Brenner & Eddosary, 2015). Such experiences are also a way to celebrate the
individualities of the aficionados of sports and a way to accelerate their “leisure careers”.
.
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Consider
3. Lamont, Kennelly and Wilson (2011, n.p. ) have stated that sporting serious leisure is an
example of “selfish leisure”. Define what is meant by the term selfish leisure. Then
describe using examples at least One positive aspect, which can be derived from an
Event Travel Career (ETC) and One negative aspect that can be a result of an ETC.
Sporting serious leisure often results in development of a permanent desire to travel to
various destinations, to catch the live sporting events, only to establish the credibility of being
an unfathomable sports addict often satisfy their own conscience. In course of fulfilling
themselves, obsessed fans often end up compromising with their competing priorities. Since
serious leisure such as that induces the addicts to think mainly about their own welfare and
satisfaction in most instances, it may be termed as “selfish leisure”. The term implies to the
pursuit of leisure activities undertaken by self-seeker demonstrating a concern about their
own benefits and at the cost of disregard for the needs of the related people, here the victims
(Elkington & Stebbins, 2014). Generally, an imputation is aroused as a consequence of such
selfishness and that eventually establishes serious leisure seekers are selfish.
In the video clip referred earlier, Charlie Rose, a passionate Plymouth
Argyle supporter considers attending funerals of relatives secondary in importance than being
a spectator in the matches of Plymouth. That level of obsession is definitely alarming for the
conventional societies, since people are expected to put relations first and leisure comes last
in the rank of sane priorities. Another fan Josh Lines made his parents and girlfriend accept
his lifestyle and extravagant sports purchases with the rigidity of his behaviour. However, the
people around him still hope that this obsession would die down with time (Lowrie, 2013).
This is the reason why fans like Rose and Lines face many obstacles in their day-to-day lives
while enjoying their serious leisure, especially as they are unemployed and non-serious about
their career.
Apart from relationships, there are many other domains that compete with serious
leisure priorities and constrain the seekers (Lamont, Kennelly & Wilson, 2011). Some of the
most important ones are health and overall wellbeing, financial crunches, work and
education. The former domain comprises of the insufficient sleep, intense travel related
problems and sometimes the guilt that takes a toll on serious leisure seekers’ health. Work,
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education and financial issues are inter-related problems that often arise particularly for the
students and novice job hunters.
An Event Travel Career (ETC) refers to the eternal pattern of travels to various events
connected to the leisure activities of individuals. One of the positive aspects of such career is
that they are highly satiating as far as leisure participation is concerned since it gives a chance
to watch the drama of leisure unfold as and when they happen. Moreover, this experience is
further enriched by life-lessons that one learns while travelling and watching the results that
are both favourable and unfavourable. A major negative aspect of ETC is the disagreement
that non-leisure seekers have with the system (Buning & Gibson, 2015). The traditional
social norms do not align with the career and that always pose hurdles in the way of serious
leisure seekers. Such people do not usually get moral support and co-operation from their
loved ones to follow their dream career. This lends them an image of a rebel in the society
apart from being touted as impractical, unwise, insane and unrealistic.
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References
Aicher, T. J., Brenner, J., & Eddosary, M. (2015). Individuals’ motivation to participate in
sport tourism: A self-determination theory perspective. International Journal of Sport
Management, Recreation and Tourism, 18, 56-81.
Buning, R. J., & Gibson, H. (2015). The evolution of active-sport-event travel
careers. Journal of Sport Management.
Elkington, S., & Stebbins, R. A. (2014). The serious leisure perspective: An introduction.
Routledge.
Lamont, M., Kennelly, M., & Wilson, E. (2011). Selfish Leisure?: Competing Priorities and
Constraints in Triathlon Event Travel Careers. In CAUTHE 2011: National Conference:
Tourism: Creating a Brilliant Blend (p. 452). University of South Australia. School of
Management.
Lowrie, S. (2013). Football's Obsessed Fans by Steve Lowrie. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMH0H45401o
Sachsman, D. B. (2017). Serious leisure: A perspective for our time. Routledge.
Scott, D. (2012). Serious leisure and recreation specialization: An uneasy marriage. Leisure
Sciences, 34(4), 366-371.
Stebbins, R. A. (2010). Flow in serious leisure: Nature and prevalence. Leisure Studies
Association Newsletter, 87.
Stebbins, R. A. (2017). The idea of leisure: First principles. Routledge.
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