Latest news with #RoutledgeHandbook
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
'It becomes really hard to separate yourself from it'
When it comes to our love for a football club, the answer to why we do lies in "both psychological and societal" reasons. In the first part of her chat with BBC Sport, researcher and co-writer of the Routledge Handbook of Sport Fans and Fandom Danielle Sarver Coombs spoke about the part that identity and tradition play. And yet when we are caught up in the emotions of a tough defeat or nerves of an important match, we can often ask why we put ourselves through it. "There are psychological processes at work and physiological ones in terms of how we respond and engage," Sarver Coombs said. "An example that I always give is when I take the train to work, I go past Arsenal's stadium and I feel literally nothing other than: 'Oh, that's a big building'. Whereas on a train to Manchester, I went by Villa Park and my heart started pounding. I got all excited and was trying to take pictures out the window. "I had a visceral reaction to this place. We can't pretend we don't have that sort of physical reaction because we do. "When someone is talking about a controversial decision and I feel myself getting wound up, even though I intellectually know that I can't control it and that it's just a game, my body doesn't know that. "My gut doesn't know that and so I have this really emotional response and we can't control that." A 2023 book titled 'Football on the brain: why minds love sport' suggests it comes down to 'an understandable and logical consequence of the human mind's natural inclination to find meaning through beliefs... It's a religion as far as the brain is concerned'. But it not just about what is going on inside the mind but outside influences too. "There is a sociological element to it because the community part is such a huge driver and benefit for us," Sarver Coombs explains. "Sociologically, we are driven to be part of communities. We are driven to find our groups that we can be members of. Sport provides a way to do that - this sense that I was chosen to be part of this community and it's something bigger than I am." As the game expands, unrest among supporters seems to be increasing, but how does that impact this ingrained love for a club? "You always go through these cycles when the game is changing," Sarver Coombs said. "Despite all the changes, the traditions remain so strong and it's such a huge draw that it becomes really hard to actually separate yourself from it. Even if you do, it tends to be a short-term separation. You get sucked back in because something happens. "People don't want that change, but then we adapt to it and continue moving forward." Browse this page to see lots of fan stories for how you fell in love with your club. And check out those from other Premier League teams over here
BBC News
2 days ago
- Sport
- BBC News
'It becomes really hard to separate yourself from it'
When it comes to our love for a football club, the answer to why we do lies in "both psychological and societal" the first part of her chat with BBC Sport, researcher and co-writer of the Routledge Handbook of Sport Fans and Fandom Danielle Sarver Coombs spoke about the part that identity and tradition yet when we are caught up in the emotions of a tough defeat or nerves of an important match, we can often ask why we put ourselves through it."There are psychological processes at work and physiological ones in terms of how we respond and engage," Sarver Coombs said."An example that I always give is when I take the train to work, I go past Arsenal's stadium and I feel literally nothing other than: 'Oh, that's a big building'. Whereas on a train to Manchester, I went by Villa Park and my heart started pounding. I got all excited and was trying to take pictures out the window."I had a visceral reaction to this place. We can't pretend we don't have that sort of physical reaction because we do."When someone is talking about a controversial decision and I feel myself getting wound up, even though I intellectually know that I can't control it and that it's just a game, my body doesn't know that."My gut doesn't know that and so I have this really emotional response and we can't control that."A 2023 book titled 'Football on the brain: why minds love sport, external' suggests it comes down to 'an understandable and logical consequence of the human mind's natural inclination to find meaning through beliefs... It's a religion as far as the brain is concerned'.But it not just about what is going on inside the mind but outside influences too."There is a sociological element to it because the community part is such a huge driver and benefit for us," Sarver Coombs explains."Sociologically, we are driven to be part of communities. We are driven to find our groups that we can be members of. Sport provides a way to do that - this sense that I was chosen to be part of this community and it's something bigger than I am."As the game expands, unrest among supporters seems to be increasing, but how does that impact this ingrained love for a club?"You always go through these cycles when the game is changing," Sarver Coombs said."Despite all the changes, the traditions remain so strong and it's such a huge draw that it becomes really hard to actually separate yourself from it. Even if you do, it tends to be a short-term separation. You get sucked back in because something happens."People don't want that change, but then we adapt to it and continue moving forward."Browse this page to see lots of fan stories for how you fell in love with your check out those from other Premier League teams over here
BBC News
4 days ago
- Sport
- BBC News
Football provides 'connections' in 'increasingly lonely' world
'Why did you fall in love with your club?'This week, we have asked hundreds of football fans across the world that very question and got hundreds of different the themes might be similar - born near a ground; family supported the team; watched a certain player - but the individual story will be unique to each relationship between a fan and their club should not be underestimated, with people ploughing uncountable amounts of money, time and emotional energy into their support for their what is that makes us love our clubs the way we do?"A lot of it comes down to our identity," researcher and co-writer of the Routledge Handbook of Sport Fans and Fandom Danielle Sarver Coombs told BBC Sport."We become part of this group that means so much to us. It becomes a way to find a community that you're a part of and to find a group of people that, no matter where you are, you could find a pub with other fans of your team. You have that kinship."In a world that's increasingly quite lonely, this provides one of the ways that we can have connections so we can have the feeling that we're part of something bigger."Connection and identity plays a big role in someone's love for their club - particularly when it is a family fans talk of being born into who they support - that the connection is so strong there was no other team they could, or would, have chosen."The great thing with football is that there's such a strong heritage component to it," Sarver Coombs said. "Often, your grandfather, father, mother or whomever was a fan of the team, so it's part of your family's tradition. "It's handed down from generation to generation."The uniqueness of football fandom is something researchers are increasingly article, external published earlier this year in psychology journal Frontiers discusses how football fans often follow follow teams with 'significant attachment and commitment, sometimes to the bewilderment of those outside of the game'."With football clubs, you have decades of tradition that you can tap into and it's going to keep coming," Sarver Coombs added."Players come and go, managers come and go, shirts change, badges change, but the club itself - the heart and soul of it remains constant. You always have that piece that you're tied to, so the longevity of clubs is a really important part."But also, that constant in-person opportunity to be present in a community space really sets football apart from other passions that may be transient or do not have that constant engagement."Share your story in our My Club My Passion campaign
Fast Company
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Fast Company
How to plan for the ‘creative wellness' of a city
Cultural planning has shape-shifted throughout its history, encompassing beautification initiatives, placemaking (and placekeeping) projects, and preservation work. But in the past decade, the field has accelerated significantly, according to Rana Amirtahmasebi and Jason Schupbach, the editors of The Routledge Handbook of Urban Cultural Planning, a new manual that compiles the most innovative programs, policies, and approaches to the discipline that have recently emerged. A throughline? That creative wellness is essential to cities, and that everything from the climate crisis to displacement, tourism, public space, and infrastructure can benefit by centering culture and the people responsible for it. It's a provocative angle, considering how efficiency and technocracy—the opposite of the difficult to quantify nature of culture—still dominate urban planning. As Amirtahmasebi and Schupbach write in the book's introduction, cultural planning 'should be seen as a critical tool in the toolbox of building equitable communities' and no longer as a siloed topic on the fringes of city policy. The new manual, which clocks in at over 500 pages, features case studies from around the world on how arts and culture are entering urban planning in new ways. While the usual suspects of public art, museums, and cultural districts appear in the book, they're joined by less expected approaches. For example, an essay describes how the Los Angeles Department of Transportation's first resident artist helped pedestrian safety come across more urgently by centering real people and their stories instead of statistics in Vision Zero presentations. Meanwhile, a chapter on land trusts explores how new ownership models are combatting real estate speculation in Oakland, California. advertisement The final deadline for Fast Company's Brands That Matter Awards is Friday, May 30, at 11:59 p.m. PT. Apply today.
