WORKSHOP H
Volunteering in sport
On the one hand, the importance of volunteer work is praised very much and there are great expectations for the voluntary sector’s role in the future welfare society (see the celebration of volunteering in European Year of Volunteering in 2011).
On the other hand, it’s a general impression that the voluntarism in sport – and in society as a whole – is in decline: that a growing number of people exercise in commercial fitness gyms where professional instructors advise them on the right way to exercise; that it has become more difficult to recruit volunteers; and that still more work in the sports clubs is paid for.
This workshop invites researchers to present and discuss new research on volunteering in sport.
Theme:
We invite researchers to present the results of all kinds of studies of volunteering in sport, but are particularly interested in the following themes:
1. The extent, characteristics and development of volunteering in different countries and different sports, for example:
- Comparative analyses between countries and between sports.
- What can explain differences?
2. Management of volunteers, for example:
- Human resource development in voluntary sports organisations.
- How can management in sports clubs facilitate volunteer recruitment.
3. Challenges and threats of volunteering, for example:
- a. Changed relation to the public sector.
- b. Increased commercialisation in sport.
- c. New kinds of sport and participatory behaviour.
Format of the workshop:
Each participant will present their research with Power Point or in a short paper and time will be made available for questions and discussion. The Power Point presentation or short paper should be sent to the session conveners at least two weeks before the conference.
Abstracts are to be submitted for the EASM conference according to the procedure outlined by the scientific committee. Please indicate that the paper is for consideration for inclusion in the Volunteering in sport workshop.
Between 9-12 papers will be accepted and form the basis for a one day (three or four session) workshop. Each paper will be presented, commented and discussed within a time frame of 30 minutes at the workshop.
Convener:
Bjarne Ibsen, Professor and Head of Research at the Institute of Sports Science and Clinical Biomechanics, University of Southern Denmark. Responsible for several large studies of voluntary sports clubs and volunteering in sports clubs in Denmark. He is also involved in European studies of volunteering in sports organisations. He does more general research in civil society and the non-profit sector including, among other things, the Danish part of the international comparative non-profit sector project,
bibsen@health.sdu.dk
