Set up and manage a group of amateur sports clubs with a view to organizational change

Abstract

This article follows, under the prism of organizational change, a questioning around the rise of a new phenomenon in France, the grouping of amateur sports clubs, based on the pooling of resources and territorial cooperation. The qualitative inductive study of athletics, rugby and basketball clubs in and around Lyon is based on four types of data: formal and informal interviews, participant and nonparticipant observations, press clippings and internal documents to sports associations. It offers answers to two central questions: how to set up a group of amateur sports clubs and how to manage the new club grouped through a systemic approach?