That Was The Summer That Was,
June 23 – August 31, 2025

September 1, 2025

Dear all,

Summertime… yes, the living was easy. But now the harsh realities of the fall semester will take the easy out of living and instead fill it with a strong purpose, as expressed in our mission statement: to publish scientific and popular science texts on sport studies and sport science research, primarily within the social sciences and humanities, So, it’s the same procedure not just as last year but as every year since 2003.

As you all know, we find it less than purposeful to publish original texts outside the academic year, since the number of visitors to the site and thus page views nearly halves during that time. One exception this summer is Karin Book’s feature on Malmö as the world’s most skating-friendly city (see below) – recommended reading. We have, as usual, tried to keep up with the publication of new scholarly journal issues, and the same goes for calls for papers for various conferences and journal special issues as well as vacancies and sundry news from the world of sport studies.

We’re kickstarting the new semester with a host of new book reviews, one for every day for the first two weeks, If we can make it. We also have a peer review paper for Scandinavian Sport Studies Forum almost ready for publication, another that has cleared the last hurdle, and a few more non-refereed texts as well, so keep your eyes peeled.

And remember, if you’re not already hooked up to one of the social media outlets that we utilize, for now they are Facebook, Bluesky, LinkedIn and X, you’re missing quite a lot of information from idrottsforum.org that never appears on the website. So, if that is the case, check out, by clicking on the names, our Facebook, Bluesky, LinkedIn and X accounts.

Since Midsummer, the following items were published on idrottsforum.org (see below; publication dates, YYMMDD, in brackets). Click on the red headings to go to content. Utilize the Google Translate service to turn Scandinavian language pages into (some sort of) English.

Have a great week,
Kjell Eriksson
Editor

Feature Article

How Malmö became the world’s most skating-friendly city – what municipalities and associations can learn from a unique initiative

Stapelbäddsparken, Malmö. (Photo: Karin Book)

Skateboarding is on the one hand a rebellious subculture, on the other hand an Olympic sport. It is a global, commercialized industry, and at the same time a grassroots movement. Skateboarding can be revitalizing for public places, but is also perceived by some as disturbing. The City of Malmö has managed to navigate, and even capitalize, on this complexity making Malmö an internationally renowned paradise for skateboarding. But, as Karin Book wonders in this feature, what happens to the commitment and creativity of the grassroots when professionalism takes over? (Published in English 250629.)

New Blog Post

Sport ethics for beginners, by Erkki Vettenniemi

This weekend it is Sweden’s turn to host Finland for the rather extraordinary and, indeed, unique athletics dual match the history of which goes back one hundred years. In honor of the meet’s 100th anniversary, I carried out a minor research project on one of the event’s best-known and, on the face of it, most controversial races. Two athletes, one from each country, were disqualified in the men’s 5000m race in 1975, a race that drove the packed Stockholm Olympic Stadium wild (to put it mildly). There was pushing, serious elbowing, lots of zigzag running, and on the penultimate lap when the fastest of the lot finally took off, he waved goodbye to his Swedish opponent and flashed… (Published in English 250823.)

New Issues of Scholarly Journals

(We’re currently reviewing this service, since it’s a rather time-consuming undertaking. In the meanwhile we’re presenting some of the journals in line with the Forum’s core mission.)

Managing Sport and Leisure, Volume 30, 2025, Issue 3 (250624)
The Sport Psychologist, Volume 39, 2025, Issue 2 | Competing and Working in Performance Sport: A Special Issue on Mental Well-Being, Part 1 (250625)
Sport in Society, Volume 28, 2025, Issue 3 (250625)
Journal of Olympic Studies, Volume 6, 2025, Number 1 | The Future of the Olympics in the Face of Climate Change (250630)
Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, Volume 30, 2025, Issue 3 (250704)
Sport, Education and Society, Volume 30, 2025 Issue 4 (250705)
Sport, Education and Society, Volume 30, 2025 Issue 5 (250706)
Sport, Education and Society, Volume 30, 2025 Issue 6 (250707)
Sport in History, Volume 45, 2025, Issue 2 (250708)
Sport in Society, Volume 28, 2025, Issue 4 | Football vs. ice hockey in the European sport landscape (250721)
Sport in Society, Volume 28, 2025, Issue 5 (250721)
International Review for the Sociology of Sport, Vol. 60, 2025, No. 3 (250721)
International Review for the Sociology of Sport, Vol. 60, 2025, No. 4 (250722)
The International Journal of the History of Sport, Volume 42, 2025, Issue 4 (250722)
The International Journal of the History of Sport, Volume 42, 2025, Issue 5 (250722)
Journal of Sport Management, Volume 39, 2025, Issue 4 (250723)
European Sport Management Quarterly, Volume 25, 2025, Issue 3 (250723)
European Sport Management Quarterly, Volume 25, 2025, Issue 4 (250723)
Journal of Sport & Social Issues, Vol. 49, 2025, No. 2–3 (250728)
Journal of Sport & Social Issues, Vol. 49, 2025, No. 4 (250728)
European Journal for Sport and Society, Vol. 22, 2025, Issue 2 (250730)
International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics, Volume 17, 2025, Issue 1 (250818)
International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics, Volume 17, 2025, Issue 2 (250818)
Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, Volume 30, 2025, Issue 4 (250821)
Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, Volume 30, 2025, Issue 5 (250821)
Sociology of Sport Journal, Volume 42, 2025, Issue 2 (250822)
Journal of Sport Management, Volume 39, 2025, Issue 5 (250822)
Managing Sport and Leisure, Volume 30, 2025, Issue 4 (250825)

News items (calls for papers, vacancies, etc.)

Call for Papers | “Who are ordinary football supporters? A comparative analysis”, Special Issue of Soccer & Society | Call ends September 15, 2025 (250624)
Call for Papers | ‘The Lifeblood of the Game and Communities: Research into Grassroots and Community Football’, Special Issue of Soccer & Society | Call ends August 29, 2025 (250624)
Call for Contributions | Surviving the Messy Reality of Fieldwork: Narratives across the Social Sciences and Humanities, edited by Neil Carr, published by Routledge | Call ends August 1, 2025 (250629)
Lediga platser | Högskolelektor i idrottsvetenskap till Gymnastik- och idrottshögskolan, Stockholm | Ansök senast den 10 augusti 2025 (250630)
Call for Participation | Sport, Innovation and Social Change, PhD Course, Nord University, Bodø, November 17–21, 2025. Registration opens August 2025 (250702)
Call for Proposals | Critical Research in Race and Sport, A New Book Series from Routledge (250707)
Call for Papers | Sport, “islands”, people, and politics, a Special Issue of Sport in History | Call ends August 8, 2025 (250708)
Call for Papers | “Post-Qualitative Inquiry in Sport & Movement Studies”, Special Issue of Journal of Sport & Social Issues | Call ends August 29, 202 (250711)
Call for Papers | “Sport and Discrimination in Times of Change“, Special Collection for Cogent Social Sciences: Sport and Discrimination Journal | Call ends September 12, 2025 (250716)
Call for Papers | Coaching, Kindness, and Culture: Psychology, Sports, the Arts, Leadership…& Ted Lasso. A Transdisciplinary conference | Richmond, London & Online, November 15–16, 2025. Call ends September 15, 2025 (250718)
Call for Papers | ICOS’ 17th International Symposium for Olympic and Paralympic Research | Naples, Italy, February 18–20, 2026 | Call ends October 31, 2025 (250721)
Call for Papers | Transatlantic Sporting Encounters: Sport and Physical Culture as German-American Meeting Ground in the Long Twentieth Century – Conference | University of Leipzig, Institute for American Studies, September 24–25, 2026. Call ends September 30, 2025 (250730)
Call for Papers | Workshop on Sex and Gender in Sport: Regulation and eligibility for trans athletes and athletes with DSDs | Palacký University Olomouc, October 10, 2025. Call ends September 1, 2025 (250814)
The Lord Aberdare Literary Prize 2025: The Shortlist (250818)
Public defense of doctoral thesis | Uncovering the Field of Sports Coaches’ Talent Mindsets in Norway: Current States, Professional Developmental Potential, and Implications for Coaching Behavior by Dag André Nilsen, Norwegian School of Sport Sciences, August 21, 2025 (250819)
Public defense of doctoral thesis | Understanding Ironic Performance Breakdown Under Pressure. Unwanted thoughts, cognitive task load, and shooting performance: Implications for elite athletes by Khalifa Bartura, Norwegian School of Sport Sciences, August 22, 2025 (250819)
Call for Papers | Women in Football: Participation, Representation, and Futures, a One-Day Symposium | TU Dublin, Tallaght campus, December 16, 2025. Call ends September 19, 2025 (250820)
Ledig stilling | Instituttleder ved Institutt for fysisk prestasjonsevne, Norges idrettshøgskole | Søknadsfrist 14. september 2025 (250820)
Call for Papers | Sociology of Sport and Emotions, Working Group 21 of the online Third Congress of the International Network for the Sociology of Sensibilities (RedISS) | October 27–31, 2025. Call ends September 15, 2025 (250822)
The Offside Rule turns 100: Hear The Guardian’s Jonathan Wilson tell the story (250827)
Call for Papers | SVEBI idrottskonferens 2025 | Örebro universitet, 26–27 november 2025. Abstracts ska inlämnas senast den 15 september 2025 (250828)
Mapping Rights and Duties at the Intersection of Sport, Human Rights and the Climate Crisis (250829)
Call for Papers | “Historical Perspectives on Sport in Polish Literature and Culture”, Special Issue of The International Journal of the History of Sport | Call ends October 15, 2025 (250829)