Halmstad University and the major Swedish sports federations build unique research register together
Halmstad University and three major sports federations are deepening their collaboration to examine the effects of organised sport on children and young people. Through the project Sports for life, they are building a register that includes more than one million participants.
“By working together with those who operate in the field and can make a real difference, the work becomes both shared and meaningful.”
Andreas Ivarsson, professor and Project Manager of Sports for life
Organised sport has long been regarded as beneficial for children and young people. At the same time, research clearly demonstrating the actual effects of sport participation has been limited. Previous studies have often been based on smaller samples, typically involving only a few tens of thousands of participants.
Halmstad University, the Swedish Sports Confederation, the Swedish Football Association and the Swedish Ice Hockey Association are now taking a joint approach. By linking the Swedish Sports Confederation’s LOK support register – the state funding system through which clubs receive grants based on the number of active children and young people – with other national registers, they are creating a research resource on an entirely different scale.
“We are interested in examining whether participation in organised sport leads to positive outcomes. Just as important, however, is how we do this – developing knowledge together with the Swedish sports movement”, says Andreas Ivarsson, Professor of Psychology and Project Manager of Sports for life.
Bridging research and sports practice
The collaboration between the University and the sports federations is essential to the project. The federations contribute not only data but also practice-based knowledge and perspectives. They help formulate the research questions and discuss how the findings can be applied in practice.
“By working together with those who operate in the field and can make a real difference, the work becomes both shared and meaningful”, says Andreas Ivarsson.
For the sports federations, the collaboration provides an opportunity to strengthen their long-term development work.
“For us, the collaboration with Halmstad University is highly valuable and creates an important link between research and sports practice. We hope that the knowledge generated will be concrete and useful, both at a structural level and within our clubs”, says John Lind, Head of Education and Research at the Swedish Ice Hockey Association.
By linking the LOK support register to, for example, national patient registers, researchers can examine both health outcomes and societal costs. This creates new opportunities to understand the role of sport from a broader societal perspective.
Fifteen years of collaboration
The collaboration between Halmstad University and the Swedish sports movement has developed over the past 10–15 years, especially through the University’s role as a National Sports University.
“The Swedish sports movement is a natural partner for us. We have delivered educational programmes together with the Swedish Football Association, collaborated with the Swedish Ice Hockey Association in various projects and maintained a long-standing dialogue with the Swedish Sports Confederation”, says Andreas Ivarsson.
Sports for life is one of several research projects carried out in close collaboration between the University and the sports federations.
Text: Anna-Frida Agardson
Photo: iStock
About Sports for life
The register includes children and young people aged 7–18 who were registered as residents in Sweden between 2022 and 2024. The researchers will systematically examine how participation in youth sport affects health, education and opportunities to establish themselves in society. The project runs until 2030.
More information
Research programme M4HP – Movement for Health and Performance
