Commitment, resistance and indifference toward diversity amongst community cricket volunteers

Abstract

Individual commitment to diversity and its link to organizational commitment and change amongst community sport volunteers, is a key debate in the scholarship of sport (Cunningham 2008; Spaaij 2011; Spaaij et al. 2013; Spaaij, Magee, and Jeanes 2014; Melton and Cunningham 2014; Jeanes et al. 2018). Yet details about driving factors and processes which influence volunteer commitment to diversity are relatively unknown (Storr et al. 2020). This article critically examines the attitudinal commitment of volunteers engaging with participants who have intellectual disabilities. Extending the work of Herscovitch and Meyer (2002), the author analyses the attitudinal commitment of 21 volunteers in a community cricket club in Victoria, Australia. Approximately half of the sample showed a mind-set committed to diversity, with the remainder holding indifferent or resistant attitudes. The author concludes that by identifying resistant or indifferent attitudes, clubs can improve inclusion practices amongst volunteers. By changing organizational structures, the link between individual volunteer and whole of organization commitment to diversity can be strengthened, guaranteeing better participation outcomes for people with intellectual disabilities.