Volunteer motivation and expectations prior to the XV commonwealth games in manchester, UK

Abstract

The recruitment and management of volunteers to support the development of major sporting events has become a key factor in sports and has sports tourism implications in terms of the effects upon volunteering in the region by drawing upon volunteers from outside the immediate area. However, in order to mobilize and utilize such volunteers effectively it is necessary to understand the expectations of volunteers prior to an event. The authors analyse the findings of a quantitative survey of volunteers at the XVII Commonwealth Games in Manchester, 2002, undertaken prior the event. As well as confirming the sports tourism potential of mega-events as expressed through volunteering, management implications are derived with respect to fine-tuning the benefits which should be offered to volunteers.

Keywords:

• Expectations
• mega-events
• motivations
• volunteers

Acknowledgement

The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of UK Sport and the Manchester 2002 Volunteer Programme.

Notes

1 On a related manner, in extracting the factors, a principal components analysis was employed. This effectively inserts ‘ones’ along the principal diagonal of the correlation matrix unlike in common factor analysis. This means that all, rather than the common or shared, variance is used in constructing the factors. This implies that the interdependence of factors is played down.