Community Sports Clubs: Are They Only About Playing Sport, Or Do They Have Broader Health Promotion and Social Responsibilities?

Community sport organisations face increasing pressure from stakeholders to devote resources to activities that help them appear as being socially responsible actors in society. This study extends the concept of social responsibility from the corporate sport domain to investigate the relative importance of social responsibilities for community sport clubs. Items were developed from the Global Reporting Initiative and International Standards Organisation guidance on socially responsible organisations. A three-wave Delphi study was conducted internationally with 33 sport management academics and 23 national sport organisation managers. This study found that community sport clubs are primarily responsible for enhancing sport participation, creating a safe and inclusive environment, and ensuring the club is economically and legally sound. It is concluded that for sport clubs to be socially responsible organisations, their focus should be on fulfilling obligations that meaningfully impact their community, before devoting scarce resources to activities beyond their immediate capacity.

Format

Journal article

Geographic Coverage

Australia-wide

Journal citation

Annals of Leisure Research, 22:2, pages 215-232

Notes

There is a cost of US$43 to obtain a copy of the article.
Abstract included in PLA’s Research Connections article in Parks and Leisure Australia Vol 22.3 Spring 2019

Copyright

Due to copyright restrictions, only the abstract is available

Authors

Robertson, Jonathan (Author); Eime , Rochelle (Author)

Source

Taylor and Francis online: 2019