132 Ethnic sorting in football Contextual possibilities and limitations The degree in which this is possible is in part a function of a sport’s popularity. As discussed before, a high degree of participation from citizens with different backgrounds combined with a dense network of sports clubs makes ethnic sorting easier. Because of this, amateur football in the Netherlands can play a key role in the inclusion of citizens with migrant backgrounds into organized sports. Other, smaller and less ethnically diverse organized sports will on average struggle more to ethnically diversify and it is important that both policymakers and sports federations are aware of this. In this light, it is also important to consider that the trend towards fewer, but bigger clubs in amateur football can substantially constrain ethnic sorting and will on average lead to more ethnically diverse club compositions. This is likely to raise member turnover across the board and may weaken the membership of citizens with migrant backgrounds in particular. This does not mean that I wish to imply that heterogeneity is bad and that clubs should avoid to ethnically diversify. Even though it may bring its own sets of challenges, football clubs can play an important role in bringing people from different backgrounds together, and the data have shown that this is already happening all over the country. Moreover, many of the municipalities and neighbourhoods in which clubs are located have become substantially more diverse over the past decades. It is simply not feasible but also not desirable that the response to this would be an explosion of small migrant clubs. While homogeneous clubs may be able to retain members more effectively, clubs will still need to recruit enough members to offset natural turnover. Ethnic sorting in membership ties implies that the more a club’s composition deviates from its surroundings, the more it will struggle with incorporating new members. Consequently, under these circumstances, ethnic differentiation may be a vital strategy to broaden the club’s field of recruitment and ability to adapt to demographic change. This will ultimately ensure its long-term survival and its ability to function as a place to play sports and meet and bond with fellow citizens.
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