Exploring Formal and Informal Dimensions of Sports Volunteering in England

This paper provides a critical account of the manner in which sports volunteers are categorised as either formal or informal, suggesting that it is the subjective perception of volunteers themselves rather than objective criteria that may better explain how an individual approaches a particular volunteering episode. The context for the paper is drawn from the apparent privileging of voluntary activity and voluntary associations, which is a key part of the British government's Third Way policy approach. It is within this context that agency and structure are employed as sensitising concepts in order to (a) analyse the context of the sport volunteer and (b) propose an alternative model for the categorisation of sports volunteers. The empirical section of the paper uses a series of interviews conducted from December 2004 to June 2007 with a range of stakeholders both within and outside of voluntary sports clubs. The major themes discussed in the interviews were modernisation, type and effectiveness of support available, the value of voluntary sports clubs (VSCs), the nature and structure of partnerships and the extent of networks and connections. It is argued that existing frameworks for rationalising and conceptualising sports volunteers are limited in scope and, subsequently, do not provide the best means to establish appropriate support for sport volunteers. Furthermore, the paper argues that subjective interpretations of support, which are discursively linked to subjective interpretations of both agency and structure, are crucial to fully conceptualise the whole range of volunteering activity that occurs in sport.