NIRSA Championship Series Volunteerism: The Perceived Impact on Professional Development

Abstract

The National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association (NIRSA) Championship Series (Series) has developed into the primary organization for governing extramural/sport club collegiate recreational tournaments. As NIRSA professionals describe it, the Series has also evolved into a platform for professional development. To date, however, no study has attempted to link professional growth and advancement to volunteerism at Series events. As such, the purpose of this study was to examine skills and competencies that could be correlated with volunteering at Series events. Using Astin's Input-Environment-Outcome (I-E-O) model the research team explored the environmental impact of the volunteer experience by collecting data in two phases (prevolunteer experience and 3–4 months after the volunteer experience). Results indicated that campus recreation professionals do perceive themselves to be using effective leadership and communication behaviors and that there are no significant differences in professional development based on the NIRSA region of the tournament. Some gendered differences were uncovered, but it appears that a significant number of volunteers returned to work with higher levels of job-related competencies and important networking connections. Possible implications are discussed, including a Series training program based on NIRSA's core competencies, and areas for future research.