Developing A Resource Manual For Sport Volunteer Organizations

Students will be required to complete an individual project, after consultation with the lecturer. The below is a list of example project titles and tips. Please remember that is only an example list and that students are encouraged to use their creativity when designing a project as the projects should reflect students’ unique interests, knowledge and abilities. This assignment will be discussed in great detail in workshop 2.

With the practical application, you also need to provide a short (350 words) statement outlining why and how this project will be used for volunteers with references and resources used to organise the application project. This is not included in the word count.

Individual Assignment Points of Reference:

• This assignment is a very creative piece of assessment. I would suggest you look online at how current organisations have developed “how to guides” for volunteers in the specific area you are developing your assignment around i.e. recruitment, rewards and recognition.
• There are genetic and or standard templates for the planning, developing
  and implementing of volunteer programs, please look at these to assist you in developing your resource.

In the first page you will provide a short (approximately 350 words) statement outlining why and how this project will be used for volunteers. Also, explain the area that this will apply to i.e. sport volunteers, welfare volunteers. Be sure to include any references used. Ensure you also explain the theory and concepts that has lead you to develop the practical aspect of the assessment.

People who work at various organisations or groups in the community selflessly without any expectancy of monetary reward are known as volunteers. They perform an array of activities that greatly benefits the community. Tasks such as fundraising, administrating, counselling, teaching, coaching, assisting other people with serving food or transportation require volunteers from all parts of the social background (Chelladurai and Kerwin 2017). All these tasks help build up a healthy community. Sport is one of the major reasons behind development of a community. It plays a significant role in developing the physical activity of the participants and thereby promoting the health of a community. Sports organisations rely on volunteers quite heavily. The volunteers who work at a sport organisation are responsible for providing services to the members during various events. Therefore, the sustainability and success of the sport organisations are dependent on the performance of its volunteers.

A resource manual helps to describe the ethics and activities of the organisation to its volunteers. This is considered an invaluable tool not only for the training of volunteers but also for the supervisors and management authorities as well (Hoye, Nicholson and Brown 2015).

To develop a resource manual several volunteers are required for various functions. According to the General Social Survey (GSS) in 2010, 6.1 million adults which accounts for 36% of the total adult population, have performed voluntary activities (Rosso and McGrath 2013). The greatest numbers of volunteers were seen to work at sport and recreational organisations, accounting for 14% of the total adult population, while welfare organisations saw involvement of only 1.3 million or 8% of adult population (Rosso and McGrath 2013). It has been found that sport organisations have more frequent participation from men rather than female volunteers. 55% of Male participants are seen to join sport and physical recreation organisations (Emrich et al. 2014). While in case of women participants only 8% join sport organisations and 5% join organisations related to physical recreational activities (Rosso and McGrath 2013). Although when tallied at an overall perspective, the number of female volunteers (38%) exceed the number of male volunteers (34%) by 4%. The major source of the volunteers was the families where none of the children were aged under 15 (Emrich et al. 2014). Such families constituted 2.7 million volunteers which accounts for 44% of the total number. This was followed by families where children were aged under 15, which contributed to 1.9 million or 32% of the total number of existing workforce of volunteers (Emrich et al. 2014).

Target Audience

The first step in developing a resource manual involves the ability of the volunteers to encourage people of the community and increase their interest in sports. A major part of the volunteers would be needed to convince the people to participate in the sport organisation. Not only the children but also the adults, and people of any age are intended to be the target audience (Holt and Ruta 2015). The volunteers must perform door-to-door visits as well as hold meetings and promote the events. Some may contact with the teachers of the local schools, put up posters in the neighbourhood and promote the events in the parks where people of all ages gather in the afternoon. Some of the volunteers can also make announcements in the Churches. While going through these promotional activities, the volunteers must identify people with genuine interest to join the organisation or club. There may be people who have previous experience in sports, coaching or administration. The volunteers are required to identify and convey special interest in such people as well. The capability of social communication of the volunteers is very important (Peachey et al. 2015). They must convince the parents to send their kids after school to the club, and make their intentions clear to the parents, so that the children are freed from their home duties and are allowed to join the club for training sessions.

The key roles of the volunteers in the sport organisation must be assessed through the resource manual. The volunteers are viewed as a crucial and quite essential part for running the organisation. The employers must engage the volunteers in different activities. The act of volunteering is considered to be a definite and strong indicator of community involvement. Volunteers contribute their time in recreational activities and use the cultural resources of community such as performing arts, galleries or even libraries as a way of their participation. Volunteers who work for sports and physical recreational organisations also participate in the activities themselves. 90% of volunteers actively participate in physical recreational activities while 74% participate in sport activities (Frandsen 2016). These volunteers are most likely (90%) to attend such sporting events compared to volunteers from other organisations (60%) (Frandsen 2016).

While recruiting the volunteers, their educational qualification should not be a barrier. The only thing that should matter is their passion for the sport and fondness towards the community. All of the volunteers must understand their roles, responsibilities and lines of authority with relation to the other staffs of the organisation (Henry and Ko 2013). Often physically challenged people are not recruited as a part of the volunteer team in sport organisations, but this should not be practiced at all. Regardless of their capacity and education, all the volunteers should be encouraged, especially the ones who are physically disabled. Their participation must be encouraged at all times.

The Role of Volunteers

One of the most significant underlying concepts of social capital involves all the people of the community, both volunteers and participants. The community framework entails three major elements such as social and civic participation and community support. The values of activities including social enjoyment and formal ethics are part of the social participation. Civic participation involves engagement with administration, governance and democratic rights. Examples include serving for club committees and associations. When services or opportunities for individuals or groups in the community aim at their assistance, it falls under the category of community support. Many volunteers work in clubs and sport organisations to provide support to the wider community (Winand et al. 2013). Therefore, any kind of social community that involves different forms of social exchange may be considered as a contributory part of the social capital.

Along with the difficulties faced at the work-field, volunteers often encounter several other problems as well. This may occur sometime when the frequency of the work is too low so the volunteers are compelled to sit at home. Although when the work pressure remains too high, they may struggle with the expenses such as transportation costs and phone call charges. 58% of the volunteers have incurred some type of expense as a part of their volunteer work (Studer 2016). The sport volunteers mostly have to deal with the travel costs which accounts for 47% of the total amount of expenses (Studer 2016). Most of the time, these expenses are reimbursed. But there are times when the organisation fails to provide the reimbursement charges, which is a major setback for the volunteers. 39% of the volunteers work on a weekly basis (Studer 2016). Since sport activities require regular volunteering, the percentage of active volunteers is higher in organisations dealing with sporting and physical recreational activities. Volunteers, who work at other organisations, work far less frequently.

A usual resource manual includes all the necessary details regarding proper workplace behaviour, legit dress code, holidays, employment termination clause, preventive measures against sexual harassment and health and safety policies for the volunteers. The safety and security at the organisation must be strictly regulated. The club leaders must protect its every student and volunteers from any kind of physical or verbal abuse and must ensure strict steps against the ones responsible behind such actions (Hayton 2016).

Conclusion 

The resource manuals are used for the detailed evaluation of the volunteer development program. It is a collection of detailed documents where the rules and regulations of the organization are described. Resource manuals are prerequisites for the staff and management and help them to develop the business of the organisation. It helps in identifying gaps in recruitment procedures, training and organisational policies. It helps to keep the volunteers informed and engaged with all the activities and missions. When the volunteers actively participate in the activities, the organisation moves on without experiencing any difficulties. Their contribution is the main reason behind the ceaseless growth of sports and physical recreational organisations. With proper usage, the resource manual can help to develop brand identity, incorporate more volunteers, bring in more financial investments and thus increase the sustainability of the organisation in the community.

References

Chelladurai, P. and Kerwin, S., 2017. Human resource management in sport and recreation. Human Kinetics.

Chelladurai, P., 2014. Managing organizations for sport and physical activity: A systems perspective. Taylor & Francis.

Emrich, E., Pitsch, W., Flatau, J. and Pierdzioch, C., 2014. Voluntary engagement in sports clubs: A behavioral model and some empirical evidence. International review for the sociology of sport, 49(2), pp.227-240.

Frandsen, K., 2016. Sports organizations in a new wave of mediatization. Communication & Sport, 4(4), pp.385-400.

Geidne, S., Quennerstedt, M. and Eriksson, C., 2013. The youth sports club as a health-promoting setting: An integrative review of research. Scandinavian journal of public health, 41(3), pp.269-283.

Hayton, J., 2016. Sports Volunteering on University-Led Outreach Projects: A Space for Developing Social Capital?. Journal of Sport and Social Issues, 40(1), pp.38-61.

Henry, I. and Ko, L.M. eds., 2013. Routledge handbook of sport policy. Routledge.

Holt, R. and Ruta, D. eds., 2015. Routledge handbook of sport and legacy: Meeting the challenge of major sports events. Routledge.

Hoye, R., Nicholson, M. and Brown, K., 2015. Involvement in sport and social connectedness. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 50(1), pp.3-21.

Peachey, J.W., Zhou, Y., Damon, Z.J. and Burton, L.J., 2015. Forty years of leadership research in sport management: A review, synthesis, and conceptual framework. Journal of Sport Management, 29(5), pp.570-587.

Rosso, E.G. and McGrath, R., 2013. Beyond recreation: Personal social networks and social capital in the transition of young players from recreational football to formal football clubs. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 48(4), pp.453-470.

Studer, S., 2016. Volunteer management: Responding to the uniqueness of volunteers. Nonprofit and voluntary sector quarterly, 45(4), pp.688-714.

Wicker, P. and Breuer, C., 2015. How the economic and financial situation of the community affects sport clubs’ resources: Evidence from multi-level models. International Journal of Financial Studies, 3(1), pp.31-48.

Winand, M., Rihoux, B., Robinson, L. and Zintz, T., 2013. Pathways to high performance: A qualitative comparative analysis of sport governing bodies. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 42(4), pp.739-762.