Task and social frustration of grassroots sport volunteers

Thormann, TF, Scharfenkamp, K, Wicker, P and Davies, LE ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0591-7507 (2024) Task and social frustration of grassroots sport volunteers. Leisure Studies. ISSN 0261-4367

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Abstract

Volunteers are critical for the delivery of grassroots sport including grassroots football. However, sport volunteering might not only yield positive outcomes, but also task and social frustration. Based on previous qualitative findings, the purpose of this study is to identify and quantify which voluntary roles yield task and social frustration. The research context is European grassroots football where problems regarding the retention of volunteers in clubs are particularly severe. Data were collected using an online questionnaire that targeted adult football volunteers in seven European countries (n = 17,729). These were England, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Poland, and Switzerland. The results of confirmatory factor analysis reveal reliable and valid scales for task and social frustration consisting of four and six items, respectively. The regression results show that administrative and operational roles yield task frustration, while sport-related roles score low on task frustration. Only operational roles significantly increase social frustration. The findings on social and task frustration will help policy makers and club managers in designing measures and initiatives to promote and retain volunteers in grassroots football clubs.