Andrew Heyes discusses how research in clean sport can be a catalyst for positive change

As an academic researcher in Clean Sport, a competing athlete, and a commission member at UK Anti-Doping and UK Athletics I’m always conscious that I don’t want the work I’m involved in to sit behind a paywall or be limited to merely an academic exercise. I want to influence policy and applied practice to make a positive difference, however big or small that may be. In recent years I’ve had the opportunity to work on some brilliant multinational projects that have sought to not just raise the athlete voice but involve athletes in a community driven approach to ensure that they are an active part of the research process.  

A few weeks ago, I was invited by the International University Sports Federation (FISU) as part of their Student Ambassador webinar series to share a platform with a fantastic colleague from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Education Team, Kelsey Martin. The Student Ambassadors serve as an important link between FISU and national university sport federations, helping to raise awareness of the University Sport Movement among students and taking part in regular education sessions to ensure they have the capability to do so. Kelsey provided an overview of the WADA governance structure and education team before we discussed and examined what clean sport means to athletes, explored how a FISU ambassador can contribute to the mission of clean sport, and I presented some of the findings of the research projects I’ve been fortunate to be involved in. 

This is second time I’ve been invited to run this webinar, previously sharing my time was with LBU colleagues who ran a brilliant session on whistleblowing in sport. Both times I’ve been so impressed by the quality of conversations that have taken place between the Student Ambassadors. The group were engaged and interested in discussing and considering questions on what clean sport means, where it sits in relation to wider integrity issues, and how their views on the meaning of integrity in sport might influence their roles as FISU ambassadors. Clean Sport can be a challenging space to work in, often surrounded by news stories of rule sanctions or individuals acting in ways that certainly don’t fill one with confidence. But seeing Student Ambassadors from across the world discuss different cultural and sporting contexts, from the complexities involved in parasport to the role of athlete support personnel in the importance of integrity, fills me with renewed optimism that, at their core, most people enter sport to compete clean and play fair.  

My hope is that by helping to facilitate the webinar, I have (at least) prompted some reflection on what integrity in sport means and how, through individual and collective behaviours we can work to uphold and protect the integrity of sport. Given that many of the FISU Ambassadors are sport science or sport management students with future careers in sport, such reflection would be the catalyst for positive change that I wish to have. 

If you’re interested in reading more about the Clean Sport research I’ve been involved in, here are a few examples: 

Petroczi, A., Heyes, A., Thrower, S. N., Martinelli, L. A., Backhouse, S. H., Boardley, I. D., & Respect Consortium. (2021). Understanding and building clean (er) sport together: community-based participatory research with elite athletes and anti-doping organisations from five European countries. Psychology of sport and exercise, 55, 101932. 

Martinelli, L. A., N Thrower, S., Heyes, A., Boardley, I. D., Backhouse, S. H., & Petróczi, A. (2023). The good, the bad, and the ugly: A qualitative secondary analysis into the impact of doping and anti-doping on clean elite athletes in five European countries. International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics, 1-20. 

Or see the Clean Sport Alliance website and YouTube: 

https://www.cleansportalliance.org/ 

https://www.youtube.com/@cleansportalliance9556/featured 

And finally, if you want to keep up to date with my projects, please considering following me on twitter: @andrewrheyes