Not Just for Kicks - A Qualitative Study on Volunteer Motivation in Swedish Football Clubs

Abstract: According to recent population studies, the Swedish sports movement is experiencing a decline in the voluntary engagement upon which it relies. This raises the need for further research on what motivates volunteers, and by extension how to attract and retain volunteers. Consequently, the aim of this study is to answer what motivates people to engage voluntarily as coaches in Swedish football clubs. Through qualitative in-depth interviews with 13 coaches from 8 different clubs, empirical patterns which could be categorized according to the Volunteer Functions Inventory (VFI) emerged. These were then analyzed through the lens of the Self-Determination Theory and theories on altruism, in order to provide a more theoretically grounded explanation to a previously objectivistically described phenomenon. The findings demonstrate that the motives driving people to engage voluntarily as coaches are primarily constituted by: altruistic concern as a result of both empathic and egoistic incentives; the opportunity for autonomy and self-direction; the ability to express competence; and the feeling of relatedness. However, these appear to be of a more dynamic nature than what has been assumed by many researchers to date. As a result of the shifting between different motives throughout the course of the engagement, the authors raise the idea that volunteers move on a continuum between what is defined as collective and reflexive volunteering respectively. The practical implication of this is that football clubs have to provide a flexible environment in which these different motives are constantly encouraged and supported, in order to keep the coaches motivated.