This report details the findings from the Sports Volunteers’ Experiences Survey conducted on behalf of Sports and Recreation New Zealand (SPARC) in 2007. In the survey, sports volunteers report many positive experiences but also identify some challenges and barriers to successful volunteering. Findings from the survey cover demographics, level of participation, level of commitment, hours of volunteering, other volunteering commitments, motivations, experiences and attitudes, and satisfaction with volunteering. This report includes recommendations on ways to improve the sports volunteer experience.
Key Results
• When compared with the general population in New Zealand, sports volunteers are more likely to be men than women and are more likely to be of European ethnicity.
• The age distribution of sports volunteers is centred around the child-upbringing years (36 percent are aged 40 to 49 years), with many people volunteering because a family member has started to play a sport. Over half the volunteers in this survey live in a family household with a child under 18 years.
• Volunteers undertake a wide variety of roles for their sports organisations. While about half of sports volunteers are working in more highly visible sporting roles, there are almost as many volunteers working ‘behind the scenes’.
• Volunteering can represent a substantial contribution of time for many people. Up to 15 percent of those surveyed volunteer for over ten hours a week. However, for others, the amount of time donated is less (24 percent volunteer for two hours or less a week and another 26 percent for between two and four hours a week).
• New Zealanders report that they become sports volunteers for many different reasons, with the main ones including giving something back to the sport or club, a family member starting to play in the sport, and love of the sport.
• Reflecting a high degree of satisfaction with sports volunteering, 95 percent of all respondents reported they recommend being a sports volunteer to other people.
• Despite high levels of satisfaction with volunteering, over one third of all sports volunteers considered quitting their main role in the 12 months leading up the survey. Most frequently, their reasons include time and work commitments, personality clashes, club ‘politics’, and a feeling that it is time to move on. Of those with a family member participating in the same club or team, one third said that they would not continue volunteering if that family member left.
• Despite high satisfaction levels, three quarters of sports volunteers still had some suggestions for changes, including having more volunteers, financial support for the club or team, sharing responsibilities with others, and having parents more involved.
• While 51 percent of volunteers say that there are no things that make it personally difficult for them to continue in their main volunteer role, the other 49 percent mentioned time constraints, family commitments, work commitments, personality clashes, club ‘politics’, and personal health issues.
• Two in three volunteers received support from their club or team to fulfi l their role as a volunteer at the time they started the job and 90 percent of those volunteers felt it was sufficient. Those few volunteers (60 respondents, or six percent) who said that the support they received from their club or team was not sufficient said this was due to no comprehensive instructions, a lack of organised introduction, a lack of written guidelines on the role, and no clear communications.
• While 40 percent of volunteers say they currently do not need additional help and resources from the club to carry out their roles better, 56 percent say there are several things that could be of assistance to them. These include providing coaching seminars or training, feedback and information, and having written guidelines for the role.