Development and voluntarism in football clubs

Nagel, Siegfried (2015). Development and voluntarism in football clubs. In: Bangsbo, J.; Krustrup, P. (eds.) The 8th world congress on science and football. Denmark, 20-23 May, 2015. Program and abstracts (pp. 115-116). Kopenhagen: The WCSF2015 Scientific Committee

Volunteers are still the most important resource for amateur football clubs. However, stable
voluntary engagement can no longer be granted. This difficulty is confirmed by existing research
across various European countries. From a club management point of view, a detailed
understanding of how to attract volunteers and retain them is becoming a high priority. The purpose
of this study is (1) to analyse the influence of individual characteristics and corresponding
organisational conditions on volunteering and (2) to examine the decision-making processes in
relation to implement effective strategies for recruiting volunteers. To answer these questions, the
current state of research is summarised and then a multi-level-framework is developed which is
based on the structural-individualistic social theory. The individual and context factors for
volunteering are estimated in different multi-level models based on a sample of n=1,434 sport club
members from 36 sport clubs in Switzerland. Results indicate that volunteering is not just an
outcome of individual characteristics such as lower workloads, higher income, children belonging
to the sport club, longer club membership, or a strong commitment to the club. It is also influenced
by club-specific structural conditions. Concerning decision-making processes an in-depth analysis
of recruitment practices for volunteers was conducted in selected clubs (case study design). based on the garbage can model. The results show that systematically designed decision-making processes
with a clear regulation of responsibilities seem to solve personnel problems more purposefully and
more quickly. Based on the findings some recommendations for volunteer management in football
clubs are worked out.

Item Type:

Conference or Workshop Item (Abstract)

Division/Institute:

07 Faculty of Human Sciences > Institute of Sport Science (ISPW)
07 Faculty of Human Sciences > Institute of Sport Science (ISPW) > Sport Sociology and Management

UniBE Contributor:

Nagel, Siegfried

Subjects:

300 Social sciences, sociology & anthropology
700 Arts > 790 Sports, games & entertainment

Publisher:

The WCSF2015 Scientific Committee

Language:

English

Submitter:

Siegfried Nagel

Date Deposited:

10 Mar 2016 15:56

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 14:53

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/79053

Actions (login required)

Edit item Edit item
Provide Feedback