Sports Volunteering – Book Reviewed

Sports Volunteering – Book Reviewed

Sports Volunteering by Russell Hoyer, Chris Auld, Pam Kappelides, Graham Cuskelly, and Katie Misener, London and New York, Routledge, 2020, $99.00 (HBK), $28.70 (Pbk) and $18.00 (ebook), ISBN 978-0-429-29232-3 (ebk), 978-0-367-26277-8 (hbk) and 978-0-367-26279-2 (pbk).

The book aims at exploring the aspects that affect a sports volunteering program. It endeavors to explain the psychology of what it means to volunteer, the challenges experienced, and the various concerns associated with the management of volunteers. The text also aims to accurately define the diverse problems that non-profit organizations and other types of companies have when it comes to managing sports volunteers.

It provides several analyses of established research and practices intending to find out whether there has been researching done to contribute credible information to the art of volunteer management. The core concepts of the book are derived from other works by a few of the authors of this book, which serves as a way of complementing the earlier texts. It also includes advancements and new ideas in the sports volunteering space. The beginning of the book aims to deeply explain the different features of sports volunteering as a whole.

It also analyses the effect that sports volunteering has on the surrounding community as well as the government policies that regulate this industry. It goes on to delve into the psychological factors that plaque sports volunteering. At the same time, it tries to explain the benefits of creating a support system for volunteers from diverse backgrounds. It expounds on the advantages that sports get from this volunteering while reviewing established practices in the field of sports volunteer management. The framework of sports volunteering includes administration, officiating, coaching, and sports event volunteering, which are all analyzed quite well in this book. It ends in a reflective chapter on the shape of the sports volunteering research as it tries to reach viable options aimed at improving research in this field.

An attempt by the authors to explain the importance of sports volunteering in the field of sports is quite notable. It goes on to show the reader just how much sports volunteering helps not only the organisations but also influences the surrounding community (Hoyer et al., 2020). The standard values of sports volunteering and how they are employed depending on the type of volunteer program is explained in detail by the text. Moreover, volunteering also contributes towards the development of sports, and the connection between these two is illustrated well in this book. It shows how changes in sports development will eventually affect the various roles that sports volunteers take up and what they are expected to accomplish in these roles. In relation to this, the text also describes how volunteers must first evaluate the type of activities they will be required to do and the current ideologies surrounding sports development in order to determine whether they will take up technical or supportive roles.

Psychological factors affecting sports volunteering are a critical factor when attempting to analyze the different aspects surrounding this field (Hoyer et al., 2020). This text provides information on how motivation, satisfaction, and commitment by volunteers can be enhanced with the aim of delivering a better and more productive sports volunteering experience. Other equally important aspects are psychological contract and continuity theory, which is analyzed in an effort to accurately illustrate how sports volunteers and the establishments they work for relate. This provides the sports fraternity with adequate information on the current ideas behind the psychology of sports volunteers as well as suggesting the research that needs to be conducted in order for the advance of volunteer management practices to take place.

Sports organizations can use the information obtained from this text to enhance further the methods they use in the management of volunteers. Sports volunteers contribute a lot, and their recruitment and retention are an essential factor for organizations to learn how to do effectively so that they can ensure that services to spectators, players, and members are handled professionally (Hoyer et al., 2020). The text contains an evaluation of the conventional practices set by the human resource administration replica of sports volunteer management, which shows organizations what they can implement and what is no longer viable in the current setting. By bringing to light the current issues surrounding the interaction and support of volunteers by their organizations, the text attempts to realize flaws in these practices that organizations can rectify as well as the efficient ways that this management can be enhanced to provide a better experience for the volunteers. On top of this, the text also goes deep into the various roles that volunteers occupy during sports events. It provides valuable information to the field of sports in that it allows for organizations with models for the different volunteering roles that they can create within their firms and what is expected of each and every position. Consequently, this helps firms to properly conduct the management of sports volunteers in an effective way in order for each volunteer to accomplish the objectives set for their role.

This text reflects on the sports volunteering field in depth as it goes into all the aspects that surround this particular area. It provides an analytical viewpoint of sports volunteering management while at the same time giving direction to the various players in this field on how volunteering should be conducted. Its comprehensive coverage of all aspects of sports volunteering management is what makes it a good source for information on this field. However, the analytical and reflective methods used to dig into this field provide the reader with a different perspective on how the management of sports volunteers has been conducted in the past and the current trends being introduced to this field. The accuracy with which the authors expound on the volunteers’ roles, psychology and expectations provide organizations with the direction which they should take towards ensuring that their sports volunteering programs achieve the objectives they set.

This book is precious to leaders in the sports fraternity, sports organizations, non-profit firms organizing sports events, and the volunteers themselves because of the in depth information it contains. Sports organizations should use this book as a high quality guide in the field of sports volunteering management, which will allow them to develop an effective program according to the guidelines brought forward by the authors of this book. Its contribution to the research done on sports volunteering management is notable, and it compares well against other works in this field even though it is only less than two hundred pages.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

Hoye, R., Cuskelly, G., Auld, C., Kappelides, P. & Misener, K. (2020). ‘Sports Volunteering’ Routledge.