Minutes for Division of Sport, Leisure, and the Body - 2024 SSSP Annual Meeting

1. Approved Budget
a. The 2025 budget is $600.00 and $150 dollars will be designated to each of the following: stipend to division social media coordinator, stipend to division newsletter editor, cash award for graduate student paper award contest winner, and co-sponsorship of division reception.
b. This year I am serving as a division newsletter editor. I will not be accepting the $200.00 that was previously approved for the 2024 stipend for our division newsletter editor. This money will be moved to the 2024 co-sponsorship of division reception (which will increase the amount distributed to the co-sponsorship of division reception from $150.00 to $350.00).

2. Discussed Sessions for Next Year's Program
a. Potentially having something with artificial intelligence (Ai)
b. A session on The Body in the Built Environment 
c. A roundtable or full session about Sport and Sports Law

3. Discussed ways to recruit new members
a. Jinsun shared that she thinks the roundtable activities have the potential to help new members become acquainted with the organization and could possibly help retain them. 
b. I think that it would be worthwhile to look at the peripherals and identify people who study similar topics (possibly even the same topics) but do not have (or will not have) a graduate degree in Sociology.

4. Items that were shared and we committed to have future conversation about throughout the year are as follows:    
a. Special activities throughout the year for the division
b. Publishing projects that our division might lead
i. One of the things that I recommended was that we propose a special issue for the division in Social Problems. 
c. Identify members of the division who would like to serve in leadership capacities for The Society for the Study of Social Problems and the Division of Sport, Leisure, and the Body. One leadership position that I shared with attendees (and now in the minutes) is to consider running for Division Chair (such as the upcoming opening of the Chair for the Division of Sport, Leisure, and The Body). I would be honored to fill the chairman position again. I, however, think that it has been an extremely rewarding position for me and would encourage others to run.