Voluntary Sport Research Articles

Same same, but different? Exploring the organizational identities of Swedish voluntary sports: Possible implications of sports clubs’ self-identification for their role as implementers of policy objectives

The aim of this study is to contribute to the ongoing discussion of sports clubs’ propensity to act as policy implementers. Theoretically, we conceptualize this propensity as contingent on an alignment between a sports club’s organizational identity and the cultural material, that is, ends and means of a given policy. Building on data from short, qualitative interviews with representatives of 218 randomly selected sports clubs, we construct 10 organizational identity categories. Between these categories, there is a variety of clubs’ core purposes, practices and logics of action. The implications of this heterogeneity, in terms of sports clubs’ propensity to act as policy implementers, is discussed with reference to what clubs in each category might ‘imagine doing’. Also discussed are three avenues by which institutional conditions might affect the formation and change of sports clubs’ organizational identity, in turn having implications for their role as implementers.

Modernisation and governance in UK national governing bodies of sport: how modernisation influences the way board members perceive and enact their roles

ABSTRACTModernisation has been a key objective of many national governments for at least the last two decades. A significant element of the modernisation agenda has been the focus on improving the governance of public sector and, more recently, voluntary sector organisations. In the UK voluntary sport sector, this has involved policy statements, governance monitoring systems linked to public funding and a number of ‘good governance’ guides, aimed primarily at the boards of national governing bodies of sport (NGBs). Previous research has critically analysed modernisation and explored its effects, most often at a macro level. Very little research, to date, however, has looked at the influence of modernisation on the boards of NGBs. This article seeks to do just that, drawing on the first national survey of board-level governance in the UK and an in-depth, longitudinal case study of one UK-based NGB. It empirically examines which board roles NGBs consider most important and statistically compares large and small NGBs. It then draws on direct observation of board and committee meetings, in-depth interviews and analysis of key organisational documents to examine how modernisation influences the way board members perceive and enact their roles. In doing so, this article draws together the political science research on modernisation and the sport governance research on board roles and seeks to promote closer integration between these complementary streams of research.

체육전공 대학생의 스포츠자원봉사 문화정착을 위한 방안 연구

체육전공 대학생의 스포츠자원봉사 문화정착을 위한 방안 연구

Individual and contextual determinants of stable volunteering in sport clubs

This article addresses factors that influence voluntary sport club (VSC) members’ loyalty to voluntary engagement. The question asked is an issue of VSC volunteers’ commitment; whether they decide to quit or continue their engagement. A multilevel approach was used that considered both individual characteristics of volunteers and corresponding contextual features of VSCs to analyse members’ voluntary commitment. Different multilevel models were estimated in a sample of 477 volunteers in 26 Swiss and German VSCs. Results indicated that members’ stable voluntary activity is not just an outcome of individual characteristics such as having children belonging to the club, strong identification with their club, positively perceived (collective) solidarity and job satisfaction. In addition to these factors, the findings confirm the significance of the contextual level. Stable volunteering appears to be more probable in rural VSCs and clubs that value conviviality. Surprisingly, the results reveal that specific measures to promote volunteering have no significant effect on voluntary commitment in VSCs.

How sport governance impacted on Olympic legacy: a study of unintended consequences and the ‘Sport Makers’ volunteering programme

This paper focuses on Sport England’s Sport Makers programme – which aimed to generate new sports volunteers as part of a 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games legacy – as an illustration of the unintended consequences of a ‘top-down’, managerialist governance system. Interviews with county sport partnerships (CSPs), programme partners and workshop facilitators show that performance indicators imposed by Sport England distorted the programme: CSPs were obliged to meet targets – the process forcing a focus on ‘soft’ targets and incentivising double counting with existing programmes – instead of using their autonomy to promote volunteering most effectively. The paper contributes to the critique of new managerialism of public services by showing how this style of management proved counterproductive to achieving the programme aims, and failed to deliver sport policy nearer to the end-user and with relative autonomy from the state, which appears, paradoxically, to be more in command than in the era of ‘top-down’ government.

Volunteering in sport is more prevalent in small (but not tiny) communities: Insights from 19 countries

Although emerging research suggests members of smaller communities are more likely to play sport, including professional sport, there is little understanding of what sociocultural factors may be associated with sporting contexts in smaller communities. The purpose of this study was to assess if members of smaller communities are also more likely to volunteer in sport. Data were acquired from wave four of the World Value Survey. The analysis involved 22,461 participants from 19 countries. Hierarchal non-linear Bernoulli modelling was used to examine the association between community size and active volunteering with a sport organisation. After controlling for country-level clustering and demographic variables – including sport participation – participants from communities with between 2001 and 20,000 residents were more likely to report volunteering in sport, relative to participants from larger communities (> 500,000). In particular, participants from communities with between 2001 and 5000 residents were the most overrepresented, being 2.17 (95% OR: 1.94–2.43) times more likely to report volunteering than large communities (> 500,000). Moreover, the effect of community size occurred for all other measured forms of volunteering, thus contradicting the idea that limited volunteering opportunities in smaller communities is driving this effect. These findings provide novel evidence that participants from smaller communities are more likely to volunteer, even when controlling for sport participation. Future research should aim to reveal the specific determinants and consequences of sport volunteering in smaller communities.

A consumerist turn in Dutch voluntary sport associations?

This article focuses on the changing organizational arrangements within voluntary sport associations. It has often been suggested that members of sport associations are increasingly adopting consumerist attitudes towards these organizations, in which they might become less emotionally committed to the association and consequently might be less inclined to volunteer. Although it is still contested whether there is actually an increasing consumerist attitude among members, national sport organisations pressure associations to become more flexible and service-oriented. However, it is yet unknown whether these associations are indeed changing their membership arrangements into more customer oriented arrangements in response to this pressure. Using a two-wave dataset from the Survey of Dutch Voluntary Sport Associations (N = 337), we researched whether voluntary sport associations are adapting practices to a supposed consumerist attitude among members and what the possible consequences of such a shift are for the involvement and commitment of members in these organisations. Our findings suggest that there is no evidence of an increasing number of voluntary sport associations becoming more flexible and service-oriented in their membership arrangements. Moreover, we did not find support for a negative effect of consumerist forms of membership on formal involvement and emotional commitment in the associations that have adapted their membership arrangements. We therefore conclude that there is yet no evidence for an actual consumerist turn in voluntary sport associations.

The Organizational Embeddedness of Social Capital: A Comparative Case Study of Two Voluntary Organizations

Social capital is a popular, but contested concept. It draws attention to the way in which social relations and constructed forms of social organization can produce outcomes on individual and collective levels. However, it is often founded on individualistic, rational-choice models of human behavior that neglect its embeddedness. I explore the embeddedness of social capital through a comparative case study of two voluntary sport organizations in the UK. Through close analysis of in-depth interviews and longitudinal observation, I look at the processes of social capital development and the way socio-organizational context and identity shape these processes.

Which wider social roles? An analysis of social roles ascribed to voluntary sports clubs

It has long been established that voluntary sports clubs (VSCs) are ascribed a prominent social role by governments. Several scholars highlight the ascribed social values in sport policy to voluntary sports clubs and their possible implications for these voluntary organizations. Most of these studies focus on national sport policies. However, several studies signal a dominant role for local government in the public funding of sport. This discrepancy between local funding responsibility and scholarly attention to national sport policy legitimizes the following question: Which social roles do local governments ascribe to voluntary sports clubs? Further, the particularities of the social values of voluntary sports clubs have received only sparse attention. Using institutional theory as a theoretical lens, this paper addresses these lacunae through a systematic document analysis of the municipal sport policies of the twenty largest Dutch municipalities. These municipalities address four different social roles for voluntary sports clubs: (1) sports clubs as social infrastructure operators, (2) sports clubs as educational institutes, (3) sports clubs as service providers, and (4) sports clubs as project implementers. The article further elaborates on these four social roles and argues that these form a normative institutional framework for VSCs.

The Power Output-Drop Height Relationship to Determine the Optimal Dropping Intensity and to Monitor the Training Intervention.

The literature currently lacks in methodological approaches to quantify the drop jump intensity and to control the training intervention. This study aimed to determine the average power output-drop height relationship and to quantify the reliability of this relationship across 2 different training interventions (each 8 weeks in length). The relationships were determined for 52 volunteer sports science students who took part in this study (25 male/27 female participants). The drop jumps from 20 to 60 cm were performed on a resistive platform. The reliability of the power output-drop height relationships was quantified for 29 subjects who were selected from the sample and were assigned to a drop jump, vibration, or control groups. The average power output during the drop jump statistically depends on the gender (F(1,250) = 18.844; p = 0.0001) and drop height (F(4,250) = 7.195; p = 0.0001), whereas the interaction between gender and height did not affect the power output (F(4,250) = 0.458; p = 0.767). Both the drop jump and the vibration groups showed a significant main effect over time (F(3,200) = 40.059, p = 0.0001; and F(3,160) = 11.422, p = 0.0001, respectively). The intrasession and interday reliability ranged from "high" (intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC] > 0.80) to "excellent" (ICC > 0.90) among the various drop heights. This study suggests that an individual drop height that maximizes the power output during a drop jump exists and that the test to select this optimal drop height is repeatable over time. Consequently, the test can monitor the improvement in the power output following different training regimens.

Event and club volunteer potential: the case of women’s rugby in England

Sports could not survive without volunteers as they are vital to the ‘playing of sport’. Volunteering in sports is typically associated with sports-club systems or sport events. The purpose of this study is to explore the potential of harnessing volunteer activity in different contexts, as a result of previous sports club volunteering experience and to establish what determines the decision to volunteer and to continue volunteering. This is important for government policy, given the current objectives to promote a ‘Big Society’ and reduce public expenditure. A total of 168 volunteers involved in women’s rugby in England completed a web-based survey. Factor analysis was employed to summarise volunteers’ satisfaction with their experience. The analysis yielded six reliable factors of volunteers’ satisfaction. Regression analysis was then applied to identify which aspects of satisfaction, which motivations, how much previous sports engagement and which socio-demographic characteristics had an impact on actual volunteering for the women’s rugby world cup, and future plans for volunteering in a rugby club at a rugby event, or at other sport events. Regression results provide statistical support for the transfer of volunteer efforts across activities. Thus, the UK government may meet its objectives to stimulate a Big Society and widen community engagement through sport volunteering, by acknowledging that social mobility varies between and within sports and is determined by the experiences, interests, motives and characteristics of both the individual volunteers and voluntary sport organisations.

A modeling approach to sport volunteer satisfaction

Purpose – In a currently western-dominated body of literature, the purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the relationship between motivation, experience, and satisfaction through a structural equation model. This empirical examination was performed in the context of a mega-sporting event (i.e. Asian Games), while considering sample characteristics and the cultural setting of a Middle Eastern host country (i.e. Qatar). Design/methodology/approach – A survey was disseminated to 12 competition and non-competition venues of the 15th Asian Games in Doha, Qatar. There was a convenience sample of 392 volunteers. Findings – Three-factor identification for volunteer motivation (external, purposive, and event related) with 48.76 percent variance explained. One-factor identification for volunteer experience with 66.08 percent of the variance explained. Two-factor identification for volunteer satisfaction (recruitment and training, communication and support) with 68.93 percent of variance explained. The sport volunteer satisfaction model fit data well (root mean square error of approximation=0.04, non-normed fit index=0.98, comparative fit index=0.99, standardized root mean squared residual=0.03). Motivation was positively and significantly related to experience. In turn, experience was positively and significantly related to satisfaction. Research limitations/implications – Limitations included the utilization of a convenience and homogeneous sample (approximately 78 percent were Asian males), and the fact the retention construct was not included in the model. Results indicated the need to further the utilization of modeling approaches in examining psychometric properties of sport event volunteers, as well as expand the knowledge of how eastern cultures perceive the concept of volunteerism. Practical implications – Volunteers at the Asian Games were satisfied due to the fact that their event-related motives were actually fulfilled. Participants’ overall satisfaction levels were high since their experience with the event was also positive. Initially, satisfied volunteers could encourage additional volunteer involvement. An extended community-based volunteer pool could be utilized for a plethora of events in Qatar, thus supporting the country’s aspiration for becoming a hub for international sport events. Originality/value – The authors tested empirically the interrelationship between volunteer motivation, experience, and satisfaction through a structural equation model in a Middle Eastern mega-sporting event.

Volunteer motivations at the 2012 Super Bowl

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine mega-event volunteers’ motivations and their impact on volunteer satisfaction. Additionally, this study investigated motivational differences between volunteers based upon four demographic variables: age, gender, educational level, and income. Design/methodology/approach – A modified version of the Volunteer Motivations Scale for International Sporting Events (Bang and Chelladurai, 2009) was administered to 8,000 Super Bowl volunteers via Survey Monkey with the permission of the Indiana Sports Corporation. In all, 24 percent (n=1,928) of the volunteers completed the survey. Exploratory factor analysis was used to reduce the survey questions into a smaller number factors. Multivariate analysis of variance was utilized to compare differences in the four demographic variables on the factors. Multiple regression was used to predict satisfaction on the basis of the four factors. Findings – Volunteers were motivated by four factors: Community Support, Love of Sports, Personal Growth, and Career Development. These four factors all significantly predicted satisfaction with the volunteer experience. The overall MANOVA was significant and revealed that ten of 16 group comparisons possessed significant differences. Females rated Community higher than males, while males rated Love of Sports higher than females. Older volunteers and those with higher household incomes were motivated more by Community Support, while younger volunteers and those with lower incomes were motivated by Career Development. Likewise, less educated volunteers placed a higher value on Career motivations than more educated volunteers who placed a high value on Personal Growth. Research limitations/implications – Dissatisfied volunteers may have chosen to not participate in the study. Follow-up interviews with dissatisfied volunteers might provide insight for event organizers that would shed light on factors that influence retention and recidivism. Practical implications – The findings of this study suggest that mega sport volunteer managers should recognize that motivational differences among volunteers do exist and utilize this information for creating recruitment materials targeted to specific groups. Then volunteers can be assigned to tasks that tap into their desire, thus enhancing potential volunteer satisfaction and their return as a volunteer at future events. Originality/value – This study was conducted in the context of America’s largest mega event in a city that hosted the event for the first time. In addition to collecting one of the largest number of responses for volunteers at mega-sporting events, the development of the Community Support factor was unique within the context of this study. The Community Support factor was rated as the most important by volunteers and tied to other questions such as wanting to help make the event a success, helping others, and creating a better society. This indicates that volunteers had pride in their community and wanted to help the event be successful by helping the city’s visitors.

The Frustration Factor: Volunteer Perspectives of Frustration in a Sport Setting

Volunteers are an integral part of the labor pool in the sports industry and organizations benefit from the extensive contributions that volunteer workers make to the daily operations of organizations and the overall management of events. Sport organizations have tended to utilize mainstream human resource management practices that focus on paid workers ignoring the differences in motivation and satisfaction factors that differentiate the sports volunteer worker along with the sports industry. This study explores the lived experience of long-term sport volunteers with regard to training and work preparedness, recognition and status, well-being, and belonging. The study employs an ethnographic research strategy in an authentic environment that would allow the researchers to untangle and understand the multiple realities that construct the volunteer experience. A holistic view of the dynamic interdependencies of all components of the volunteer community emerges yielding a new typology, the Frustration Factor.

Socially Vulnerable Youth and Volunteering in Sports: Analyzing a Brussels Training Program for Young Soccer Coaches

A considerable number of young Europeans live or risk ending up in socially vulnerable situations. Different social channels (e.g., education, on the job training, leisure) exist through which youths can enhance their chances to improve their social position. There is a growing belief that sports in particular can help personal and social development of socially vulnerable youths. Nevertheless, there is little understanding of the mechanisms through which sports can foster development. In addition to participating in sports, volunteering in sports is also regarded as providing developmental opportunities for socially vulnerable youths. Today, however, there is an underrepresentation of socially vulnerable youths in volunteering and volunteer training programs. A case study in Brussels was set up within a volunteer soccer training program focused on socially vulnerable youths. A qualitative research design was used to analyze developmental experiences of participants (n = 11) and program organizers (n = 3). The study also aimed to gain more insight into the mechanisms underlying the program. Participating youths indicated development in both technical and key competences. It is concluded that a systematic approach of the volunteer training program can play an important role in the development of competences of socially vulnerable youths both as a volunteer and an individual.

Managing Sport for Public Health: Approaching Contemporary Problems with Traditional Solutions

In the area of public health, civil society involvement in attaining government objectives on physical activity participation is often carried out by voluntary sport organizations (Agergaard & Michelsen la Cour, 2012; Österlind & Wright, 2014; Skille, 2009; Theeboom, Haudenhuyse, & De Knop, 2010). In Sweden, this responsibility has been given to the Swedish Sport Confederation (SSC), a voluntary and membership-based non-profit organization, granted government authority to govern Swedish sport towards government objectives (Bergsgard & Norberg, 2010; Bolling, 2005). Research has pointed to difficulties for sport organizations to shoulder such responsibilities due to the deeply rooted logic of competition in sport and organizational structures adapted for competitive sport (Skille, 2011; Stenling & Fahlén, 2009). This article focuses on how public health is being constructed, implemented and given meaning within the SSC. Drawing on a critical discourse approach (Fairclough & Fairclough, 2012) this study explores the SSC’s role and position in public health promotion by interviewing SSC representatives and National Sport Organizations’ (NSO) general managers. Results indicate how discourses on democracy, equality and physical activity are used to legitimize the SSC’s role in public health. Also, how these discourses are compromised in practice, posing challenges for organized sport in meeting objectives of public health.

Experiences and Perceptions of Young Adults with Physical Disabilities on Sports

People with disabilities seldom get a chance to voice their opinions on their sport experiences. A deeper understanding of the context-related experiences of sport is a prerequisite for teachers and leaders to be able to provide adequate, inclusive and meaningful activities. The aim of this qualitative case study was to examine how young people with disabilities made sense of sport, within both the compulsory school system and the voluntary sports movement. The study involved 10 young adults (aged 16 to 29 years) with disabilities, five males and five females. All the participants had rich experiences of sport. An inductive approach to qualitative content analysis of semi-structured interviews was used to enable individuals to explain and give meaning to their experiences of sport including those pertaining to gender and inclusion. The findings illustrated that dominating gender and ability norms influenced the interviewees’ understanding of themselves in relation to sport; as a consequence, some of the female interviewees had a more diverse, sometimes contradictory experience of sport than the male interviewees. The basic premise of this study is that researchers can develop more insightful understandings of inclusion by studying the subjective meanings that are constructed by people with disabilities in their sport experiences.

Examination the Dimension of Organizational Commitment and Motivation in Student Sport Volunteers Structure in Iran

Abstract. This study was conducted to determine the dimensions of organizational commitment and motivation of student sport volunteer’s structure in Iran. Methodology: This study is cross correlation. Population includes all officials in education and training of sporting discipline which was equal to 806 people in the country that they were working on a voluntary basis by sports associations. The number of samples was determined 260 using Morgan table. Data collection was carried out by a researcher-made commitment and motivation of volunteers questionnaires, adapted from Meyer and Allen organizational commitment questionnaire (1997), and the motivation questionnaire by Esmond & Dunlop questionnaire (2004). The construct validity in the questionnaire was confirmed using confirmatory factor analysis, and reliability was calculated equal to 0.727 and 0.822 respectively, which were approved. Results: The results showed that the highest and lowest ranking for variable motives are respectively, the community and business development, for organizational commitment variables, they are normative commitment and continuance commitment. There was no significant relationship between motivation and commitment of volunteers. Comparison commitment two groups male and female volunteer showed a significant difference between normative commitment and overall variable in organizational commitment (P <0.05). The comparison in two groups male and female volunteer motivation, showed no significant difference (P <0.05). Conclusion: The application of scientific management volunteers in the field of student sport can have a considerable role in the human resource management in student sport of Iran.

Media image of sport volunteering during the UEFA Euro 2012™ and the motives for social work and its style of volunteers working in Poznan and in Poland

Background:Volunteering in sport is the most popular and media form of pro-social work in Europe. In Poland, to such activity the conditions are still creating by the largest growth of numbers of institutions active in the public sector in the field of sport, recreation, tourism and hobbies. Interest in volunteering at sport events is increasing, especially among young people. The media image of sport volunteering is adopted by the organizer with chosen promotional strategy. The associated expectations of the participants, their motivation and style of behaving during participation in volunteer project as a consequence are also factors determining the media image of sport volunteering. Aim:The aim of the study is to compare the style of engaging in social work of their participants and motives of taking that kind of work by volunteers working in Poznan.Material and Method:The analysis included data available on the Internet regarding to organization of volunteer work during the UEFA Euro 2012™ in Poland and Ukraine as well as literature review regarding to the motivation to unpaid work in Poland. The motives of engaging in to volunteering as well as style of that work was compared between groups of participants of volunteering at UEFA Euro 2012™ in Poznan and Poland. Results:Volunteering at UEFA Euro 2012™ was separated on two areas, sports and urban and was coordinated by different organizers. The convergence between the motivational climate created by organizers of two independent volunteer projects at UEFA Euro 2012™ and motives for social work of its participants is visible. Encouraging volunteers to unpaid work in sport area of tournament by presenting it as a possibility to feel the sports atmosphere was similar to motives and significant more often reported by its volunteers than volunteers working in urban zone. Altruistic motives underlying in social activities significantly more often were reported by volunteers working in urban area of tournament where motivational climate was introduced as a possibility to feel the social dimension of tournament. Material profits of volunteering in both areas of tournament were significantly more often higher rated by volunteers working in the urban zone of tournament.Analysis of style of engaging in pro – social activity showed that volunteers working in sport zone of tournament significantly higher were involved in this type of work and significantly higher presents a regularity in this type of work. However experience in sport volunteering was the domain of volunteers working in urban zone. Conclusions:The implementation of the adopted strategy for creating the media image of the Official Volunteer Program at UEFA Euro 2012™ is related with motives for undertaking voluntary work of its participants. Motives for undertaking voluntary during UEFA Euro 2012™ as well as style of engaging in such work are different between volunteer working in different zones of tournament.

Effects of different policy approaches on sport facility utilisation strategies

The consequences of subsidising sport facilities have so far not been a focus of sport facilities research. In this article, we propose a conceptual framework for assessing the effects that different public subsidies have on the utilisation of private non-profit sport facilities. Based on theories drawn from the public administration literature three different subsidy schemes are introduced: New Public Management, Governance and Budget. How they will influence the utilisation of a sport facility is assessed using insights from institutional and motivational theory from political science along with the role the voluntary sport organisations play in sport facilities. The resulting conceptual framework consists of twelve different strategies. It is argued that it is likely that a sport facility will choose one or more of these, and which strategies it chooses will impact the level of utilisation. The aim of the article is to show plausible conjectures for future empirical research into how to increase sport facility utilisation via different policies and thus inform future research into the complex interplay between the public sector, sport facilities and voluntary sport organisations.