Innovation in sports science: Team sports as a case study

This article provides an analysis of innovation processes in the field of sports science (STAPS) through the example of team sports. Drawing on contributions from the social sciences and the humanities, it examines the concept of innovation in its dialectical relationship with tradition, emphasizing its historical, social, and cultural embeddedness. The authors show that innovation cannot be reduced to novelty or technology, but rather refers to theoretical, practical, organizational, and methodological transformations, which may generate tensions and resistance. The article highlights the diversity of forms of innovation in team sports, both in federated sports contexts and in physical education (PE), through developments in training, coaching, rules, techniques, and digital tools, as well as through the growing consideration of experience and emotions. Finally, it introduces the contributions of this special issue, which offer complementary perspectives on contemporary dynamics of innovation in team sports.