Barriers
What holds individuals back from volunteering in sport.
- Time, work, family, other commitments. 6, 11, 15, 16, 18, 24, 31, 32, 33, 34, 62, 63
- Fear of commitment (that volunteering will take up too much time). 6, 7, 31, 62
- Community size (small-medium communities tend to have higher participation rates). 35
- Gender (men are more likely to volunteer, or volunteer in certain roles). 20, 60, 63
- Children no longer involved (e.g., aging out, or changing sport activities). 6
- Having a disability, special health care needs. 20, 25, 31, 34, 36, 63
- Not having a direct involvement/interest/passion for sport (either their own or a child/family member). 6, 31, 62
- Language and cultural barriers. 16, 20, 31, 34, 37, 63
- Being unemployed, having a lower income, or other financial constraints. 20, 24, 31, 33, 34, 63
- Costs (out-of-pocket expenses, travel, meals, training, specialist software/equipment). 4, 18, 61, 63
- Not knowing how to volunteer/help, never have been asked, don’t know what opportunities exist/match skills. 7, 11, 37, 38, 62
- Perceived experience/skill requirements (e.g., thinking they don't have the experience to be a committee member, fear of the unknown). 12, 32
- Negative experiences [especially officials or other volunteers who have been abused by other participants]. 12, 27
- Not having clear systems and processes to include new volunteers, teach them their roles, maintain engagement, and recognition. 7, 12, 60, 63
- Rigid and time-consuming roles, not fitting goals or interests of volunteers (e.g., having a young person who wants to develop administration skills directing parking traffic). 7, 62
- Bureaucratic procedures, perceived over-regulation/red tape, risk responsibility. 4, 9, 18, 24, 32
- Burnout, overwork, feeling the club is badly organised, and/or that it is someone else’s turn to step in. 7, 11, 24, 26, 32, 38
- Perceptions of an exclusive ‘inner circle’ of existing volunteers. 7, 12
- Organisation not being overtly welcoming to new volunteers. 7, 12, 62
- Poor advertising or communication of roles and in volunteer requests, e.g., not being inclusive or showing how ‘people like me’ can contribute, roles positioned as being onerous and difficult. 7, 11, 12
