Characteristics of Voluntary Sports Clubs Management: a Sociological Perspective

Abstract

The voluntary sports club constitutes an organization that differs considerably in its structural condition from economic enterprises. The aim of this paper is to discuss the general characteristics of voluntary sports club management. For this purpose, using a sociological management approach, the paper attempts to analyze the organizational structures of sports clubs. The analysis shows the following: the absence of explicit organizational objectives makes it very difficult to validate successful development. The incongruity of power and professional competence, and the ambiguous distribution of tasks hampers well-grounded decision making. Furthermore, recruiting managerial staff from within the club is a major factor that prevents organizational change. Consequently, specific management concepts for voluntary sports clubs need to be developed. In doing so, blindly transferring economic concepts must be avoided in order to ensure that public utility is not jeopardized in the long run.