The Critical Analysis of Pressures on Volunteers in Sport in the United Kingdom - Essay Example

? of the Paper Contents Contents 2 3 Literature Review 3 Introduction 5 Philosophy 6 Methodology: 7 Findings: 8 Theory 9 Ethical Issues 11 Legal & Political Issues 11 Conclusion 12 References 14 Title This paper contains the critical analysis of Pressures on Volunteers in Sport in the United Kingdom (UK) by Geoff Nichols. The research builds up an understanding of the interconnected pressures on the voluntary sector in sport. This paper describes the pressures and contextualizes the issues faced by volunteers in sports organizations mainly in UK. Literature Review This literature review focuses on sports volunteering and covers predominantly United Kingdom (UK) context by critically examining existing research and related literature, this review aims to draw out key issues faced by the volunteers in sports. (Auld, pg 96, 1994) Volunteers have become a valuable set of human resources in sport sector which relies heavily upon volunteers because a large number of individuals are often essential for creating and delivering sports services. The significance of volunteerism as an advantage and benefit to organizations has been highlighted by many scholars (e.g., Chelladurai & Madella, 2006; Clary, 2004; Cravens, 2006; Cuskelly & Boag, 2001; Twynam, Farrell, & Johnston, 2002/2003). Cuskelly, McIntyre, and Boag (1998) signified that volunteers tend to more meticulously commit themselves to organizations in a strong, positive manner given that the services from volunteers are more value-based than those of paid employees. (Cutforth, pg 54, 2005) An additional benefit is that because volunteers are not indebted to the organization or its managers for their livelihood, they can offer open feedback and constructive criticism to managers. (Grattan, pg 196, 1996) In sport, a huge number of volunteers make a real contribution in creating and helping sport events. For example, the athletic departments of many universities capitalize on the services of volunteer ushers during game days (Chelladurai, pg 97, 1999). In their 2002 survey, Sport England stated that for individual club volunteers, ‘social benefits’ that people get from volunteering is the major benefit for which people volunteer in sports events followed by ‘enjoyment’ being the second most cited benefit. These top two benefits for individual volunteers are significant to acknowledge in the perspective of increasing pressures on volunteers in sports to ‘perform’ more professionally in their voluntary roles (MacDougall, pg 37, 2007). Enjoyment is strongly followed by a set of satisfactions that are more humane in nature, including satisfaction from ‘giving something back’, helping the club do well and keeping the club going (Taylor, pg 119, 1998). In relation to London 2012, the potential for the Games to inspire volunteering amongst young people is of significant importance, providing young people with opportunities to consider career openings and destinations in the future (Nichols G, pg 33-55, 2005). Economically, volunteering is also an important way to cultivate skills in people and reduce barriers to the labor market. Important discussion about the degree to which volunteering has a part to play in building social capital and social outcomes is a matter of ongoing debate (King, pg 123, 2003). A study carried out by Manchester Metropolitan University revealed that the motivation for volunteering resides on a cluster of factors like being part of a team and supporting Manchester. Given the massive contribution of volunteers in the sport events, a greater understanding of volunteer motivations is very important in order for event managers to develop efficient volunteer recruitment and retention strategies (Clary, pg 98-102, 2004). Moreover, research on pressures on volunteer is significant for two significant reasons. First, the dependence of sports sector on volunteers (Yeung, pg 67, 2004). Second, the research area of volunteer pressures reflects and explores the notion of future commitment and participation (Yeung, 2004). Introduction Volunteering in sport plays a significant role in UK as volunteers represent the majority of staff in both sport federations and clubs. Therefore, the tradition of volunteering in sport is very much associated to the emergence of the sector itself in the country. Organized sport was initially developed in the nineteenth century in the UK through voluntary sports clubs and the establishment of national governing bodies (Arai, pg 43-48, 1997). Over the years, mush attention is given to the role of the volunteer in sport. There are various reasons for this, with the most important relating to the place occupied by volunteers in the progress of sport in the UK. Here it is noted that historically, the provision of physical recreational activities was primarily left by the state to the responsibility of devoted, enthusiastic yet unpaid amateurs. A small number of professional clubs was provided by a disparate group of individuals who shared a common passion for sport. Philosophy Recently the role of volunteers and their involvement in sports and leisure activities has received much greater attention and scrutiny (Bright, pg 76, 2002). The worth of volunteers has been considered and various opportunities have been developed to present some form of training and support to volunteers within sport and leisure related fields. Much more recognition of the time, effort and contributions made by volunteers is given as compare to past (Brown, pg 65, 1999). This matches with the growth in opportunities to study sport at further level. However a lack of academic resources in the subject area is emphasized due to the popularity of volunteering and opportunities available (Gay, pg 45-47, 2000). This research report proves that volunteers are an immensely important resource for sport in England. It recognizes the width and depth of contributions made, estimating the value of sport volunteers to be over ?14 billion. The research identifies that pressures on volunteers are increasing and the contribution they make is taken for granted. Absence of support from central and local government agencies to voluntary sports clubs is also a critical issue (Goss, pg 378-415, 1999). Methodology: The Research objectives were to quantify the contribution made to English sport by volunteers, to identify the approach of volunteering in sport in England and the challenges faced by volunteers, to identify and evaluate the support provided to sports volunteers, to identify the benefits associated with sports volunteering and in particular, to address the issues faced by young volunteers. All these objectives were aimed to understand the pressures volunteers face in UK. In order to collect a meaningful data and 47 Sport Clubs and 1494 guiders were questioned in survey of Sports Club Committee Members. Findings: The research revealed that the main activities carried out by volunteers in the sport sector ranges from management, training, providing technical support to ensuring the distribution of food and drinks during events; and, accompanying young people to their club’s sport events. Other findings include that volunteers are a hugely important resource to sport in UK. There are 5,821,400 sports volunteers with nearly 15% of the adult population. They contribute 1.2 billion hours every year to sport. These volunteers help to sustain over 106,400 affiliated clubs in England, serving over 8 million members, the single biggest contribution to total volunteering in England is made by sporting sector with 26% of all volunteers citing “sport” as their main area of interest. A chunk of 14.8% of adults aged over 16 in England volunteered for sport, each contributing an average of approximately 4.9 hours each week. The three main challenges identified were shortages of volunteers; a problem in recruiting new volunteers; and consequently the loading of the required voluntary tasks on to fewer people. Work as a volunteer increasingly requires specialist skills besides this there is little time left after paid work and a conflict with family commitments does not allow the volunteers to actively participate. Based on the research other challenges faced by volunteers include competition for time and people, institutional pressure to ‘perform’ better, and the risk and legislation. Sports organizations are more and more required to compete for time, expenditure and interest in an increasingly competitive market. The necessity for volunteers to offer a ‘service’ that is more ‘professional’ is becoming increasingly evident. The research also calls attention to young people feeling time pressures. These time pressures in particular feed directly into the main challenge for many voluntary sports organizations in terms of shortages of volunteers and recruitment difficulties. Research findings also show that football dominates in both the number of volunteers and the hours of volunteering, with over 400,000 volunteers and approximately 100 million volunteer hours contributed each year. Cricket is second on both measures; however it only generates 28 million hours. However, some sports that are not among the largest in participation are large in other dimensions like their volunteer support base, with prominent examples being competitive swimming and motor racing. The research also highlighted the key challenges associated with Government and key agency policy objectives and their impact on volunteering in sport. Voluntary clubs and organizations are turning all the time more accountable for d-elivering Government objectives that, in turn, increase volunteers’ workloads. More critical issue facing sport voluntary organizations has been that of the professionalism of volunteers Theory Intrinsic motivation is most commonly identified motivations for current volunteering amongst adults. Desire for social benefits and wanting to put something back into the club act as instigators all of these volunteers. However, a shortage of volunteers is witnessed due to little time left after paid work, and a conflict with family commitments. Besides this, a problem in recruiting and managing new volunteers is faced because there are no proper systems or management to conduct a need analysis and maintain optimum influx of volunteers. Other major sets of pressures on volunteers include competition for time and people, increased complexity of voluntary skills and institutional pressure to ‘perform’ better compounded with technical and legal changes (Stebbins, pg 54, 1996). The volunteers have to compete for time, expenditure and enthusiasm in an increasingly competitive leisure market. The need to compete for participants means that volunteers have to provide a ‘service’ that is more ‘professional’. It needs to compare with that offered by the competitors and alternative providers. Shifting expectations by members and parents also transform into a need for a greater professionalism that unavoidably leads to a greater workload (Rochester, pg 87, 1999). A time clutch affects both participants and volunteers. Increased in hours at work and increasing time spent on childcare has affected the group most associated with volunteering in sport. Thus the core volunteers experience the greatest time clutch. However, young people also feel time constraints (Selbee, pg 571-592, 2000). These time pressures in particular feed directly into the main challenge for many voluntary sports organizations, shortages of volunteers and recruitment difficulties. These voluntary clubs and organizations are increasingly accountable for delivering government objectives that increases volunteers’ workloads. Society is becoming more reluctant to certain types of high profile risks, in particular sporting injuries or other dangers to young competitors. Ethical Issues Any specific legal framework for individual volunteers in sport is absent. Volunteers in sport are simply defined as the unpaid sports workforce to differentiate them from those paid workers. One of the realities for sport volunteering in England is that many sport volunteers define their volunteering through the role they undertake i.e. they are a coach, a fixture secretary etc and do not view themselves as volunteers. Legal & Political Issues No piece of legislation referring explicitly to volunteers in the UK exists. There is no precise legal framework for volunteering in sport. Only general areas of law that deal to all UK citizens as individuals cover volunteers. Employment Law guarantying employees a certain set of rights like equal opportunities, holiday, sickness and procedures for grievance and discipline applies to employees only. Similarly no specific legal framework for sport organizations exists, furthermore, there is no obligation for sport organizations to associate themselves to a particular legal status, and thus they are defined with various statuses like unincorporated, charitable, trust or associate. Conclusion Volunteers endow priceless inputs to every part of our society.  Volunteering in sport is one of the most assorted, accessible and rewarding prospects around. Volunteers play a vital part in encouraging and supporting participants from grassroots and club level right through to performance sport. Thus recruitment, development and retention of the volunteering workforce continue to be a key priority for sports in UK. A framework for the development and growth of volunteering in UK should be designed. Some of the steps that should be taken to enhance and improve the future of sports in UK include provision of education and training opportunities for volunteers and opportunities to recognize the skills volunteers gain as a result of volunteering in sport should be enhanced. Structures and opportunities for volunteer management should be improved with much focus on recruitment and retention of volunteers, supporting them and improving communication. A new legislation which does not inadvertently impact on volunteering in sport or on clubs and organizations should be established. Significance of volunteering in sport should be promoted and celebrated to make the volunteers feel that they are important to the growth and future prospects of the sector. References Auld, C. (1994) Changes in professional and volunteer administrator relationships: Implications for managers in the leisure industry. Leisure Options - The Australian Journal of Leisure and Recreation 4(2), 14-22. 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