ABSTRACT
The survival of many sport organizations and events is highly dependent upon volunteers (Costa, Chalip, Green, & Simes, 2006; Doherty & Carron, 2003; Green & Chalip, 2004). Specifically, volunteers serve in a variety of capacities and provide the necessary labour that enables sport managers to stage efficient and successful events. This includes not only mega-events such as the National Football League’s Super Bowl or the Fédération International de Football Association’s World Cup, but also local sport events such as an athletics club meet or a basketball tournament. Sport volunteerism is a phenomenon seen across the globe. For example, in Australia where 36% of the population volunteers (Australian Bureau of Statistics [ABS], 2010), the most common type of voluntary organization is related to sport and recreation. In the UK volunteering increased 8.5% from 2001 to 2006 with a large majority of activity focused on sport (Brookes & Chason, 2011). Finally, in Canada, over 13.3 million people volunteered in a variety of capacities in 2010 and the most volunteer hours were given to sport and recreation (Vézina & Crompton, 2012).
