EXAMINING THE WORLD’S
LEADING SPORT SYSTEMS

How Governance is Structured

For the past decade, the Aspen Institute’s Project Play initiative has facilitated a national conversation on how to build healthy children and communities through sports. We have created and activated frameworks to unlock innovation, investment and collaboration opportunities for the eight sectors that touch the lives of youth.

But governance matters, too. How we balance competing interests within the world’s largest youth sport market. How we structure our sport ecosystem in a manner that promotes inclusive and effective decision-making. How we create the conditions for community organizations, schools, public institutions, families and the private sector to better serve the 51% of youth who play sports – and provide more opportunities for the 49% who do not.

To inform that conversation, the Aspen Institute conducted a review of the sport governance structures in the United States and 11 peer countries. Nations selected were based on geographic, cultural and economic factors, as well as upstream performance in the Olympics and other international events. Our focus was on both process and results, with grades given for Youth Sport Participation based on the percentage who play and for Government Support based on expert assessments.

Dr. Ashleigh Huffman, former chief of sport diplomacy at the U.S. Department of State, led our global research efforts. In collaboration with Tom Farrey, executive director of the Aspen Institute’s Sports & Society Program, the two co-authored a blog producing five key insights regarding global sports governance structures worldwide.

Click on any of the above countries to find two-page PDF summaries of each governance structure. The summaries were informed by original and existing research available in the field, a review of official websites, and interviews and in-person meetings with experts in each country evaluated.

The digital version of this report was designed by Marty Fox. The PDF version was designed by Nat Bauer. Special thanks to the experts who supported the development of this report, including Dr. Vincent Minjares, Inge Andersen, Dr. David Ridpath, Dr. Verity Postlethwaite, Dr. Marcus López-Flores, Dr. Stuart Murray, Dr. Lars Dzikus, Dr. Songning Zhang, Stephanie Garant-Jones and the editors of the 2013 book, Comparative Sport Development: Systems, Participation and Public Policy, which provided a foundation for the flow charts of sport governance in most of the countries, updated and supplemented as needed by the Aspen Institute.

The catalyst for this research was the Commission on the State of United States Olympics and Paralympics, which in early 2024 will produce an independent report for Congress with findings and recommendations on how to improve governance of Olympic and grassroots sports. The Aspen Institute hopes these summaries are helpful as policymakers, academics, journalists, and sport leaders consider ways to improve the design our sport system – not just at the federal but the state, city/county, National Governing Body (NGB), and community program levels.

Lead body: The primary government or government-designated entity responsible for regulating, overseeing or guiding the development of sport activities in a country. Except for the U.S., all countries in our study have such a body, which go by different names (sports ministry is a common one). The closest approximation in the United States is the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee, which is directed by the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act to "establish national goals for amateur athletic activities" and "effectively oversee the national governing bodies" in charge of coordinating and developing sport down to the youth level.

National Governing Body (NGB): The organization charged with the development of a given sport, along with the selection of athletes to represent a nation in the Olympic, Paralympic, and other international sports events. Some countries call such entities a National Sport Organization (NSO), National Sport Federation (NSF), Special Sport Organization (SSO), or a National Sport Association (NSA).

Sports Confederation: An umbrella body, hosted or chartered by federal and/or regional government, to coordinate activity across the landscape of sport providers and stakeholders. Members of a confederation may include representatives of the Olympic committee, NGBs/NSOs/NSFs, community sport organizations, coaching groups, states/counties, and PE teachers, among other groups.

National Olympic Committee (NOC): The entity that represents each of the 206 countries within the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Sports Federations. NOCs, according to the IOC, “ensure the representation of their respective countries at the Olympic Games by sending competitors and officials as well as to promote the fundamental principles and values of Olympism in their countries, in particular in the fields of sport and education.” They may also nominate cities as candidates to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Sport club: A non-school community organization that provides sport participation opportunities.

Sport development: Any activities that do not relate to elite athlete support, including but not limited to coaching education and recruitment, participation growth initiatives, program standards, DEI initiatives, school partnerships, and grants and other support for community programs.