ABSTRACT
Sport is a dominant, intrinsic feature of American society. However, despite its esteemed position as an iconic feature of American life, U.S. sport has no coherent national system. This is largely a consequence of the dominance of free-market ideology and the need to preserve individual liberties by keeping government away from such public goods. Instead, sport is best characterized by four distinct sub-sectors that have grown around common ideals (e.g. community sport, professional sport) or within distinct systems (e.g., College sport, Olympic and Paralympic sport). This chapter uses Leftwich’s (1994) conceptualization of governance to highlight the systemic governance of U.S sport across these four sub-sectors. In so doing, the chapter explores the key stakeholders, the way in which their key responsibilities overlay the key stages of the American Development Model, and thus demonstrates how athletes learn, train, develop, compete, and stay involved in sport for life. While the U.S. remains without a nationally cohesive system, there are positive indications that the government recognizes the need for a sustained strategic oversight of the U.S. sport system. However, time may reveal a lack of political appetite, a lack of funding, and an overriding desire to keep sport free from federal government.
