Study Shows High Social Significance of Club Sport

08/21/2023

Many people also go to sports clubs because they socialise with others there. This was stated by 86 per cent of respondents in a new study on amateur sport.

Many people who are active in sports clubs see securing voluntary work as a challenge. This is shown by the new amateur sports study, from whose cover the photo is taken. (Image: FanQ GmbH)

Sport is very important to people who put their heart and soul into a sports club. Surprisingly, however, there is something that sports club members value even more, explains sports scientist Professor Harald Lange from Julius-Maximilians-Universität (JMU) Würzburg in Bavaria, Germany: "And that is the social dimension."

This is the result of a new, representative "amateur sports study" conducted by the FanQ voting platform, in which Harald Lange was involved. 10,452 club athletes throughout Germany were included in the study.

"Amateur sport as an agent of the social"

If you want to play professional sport, you have to be able to keep up with the competition. Amateur athletes are not under this pressure. According to the study, the main reason why people enjoy going to sports clubs is because they can socialise with others and gain experience of exercise together. This was stated by more than 86 per cent of those surveyed.

"That's a huge figure," says Harald Lange, who heads the Chair of Sports Science at JMU. The study therefore has a surprisingly clear message: "Namely, that amateur sport is an agent of social responsibility in our society."

Willingness to volunteer as a challenge

The study also reveals a problem: when commitment is needed in a club, it is not so easy to find people who will help without hesitation. The respondents believe that securing volunteer work is currently the biggest challenge. More than 72 per cent stated that they currently need volunteer support.

"A gap is becoming apparent here," says Harald Lange, who designed the study together with Axel Faix from Dortmund University of Applied Sciences and Arts. It is possible that the slump in volunteering is due to less favourable conditions for association boards and other active members - for example, when it comes to fulfilling official requirements in the association. In addition, club members have high expectations of the voluntary board as a service provider.

"Voluntary work in sports clubs has two basic pillars," explains Harald Lange. On the one hand, volunteers enjoy doing something for others. On the other hand, the commitment naturally takes time and energy, which can sometimes be very exhausting.

At best, both pillars balance each other out. However, according to the JMU professor, this is not always the case. You often hear club board members complain that their voluntary work constantly requires far too much time and far too much energy. According to the sports scientist, this creates an imbalance.

One impulse from the study is to ask whether all the bureaucracy that clubs are burdened with is really necessary. For Harald Lange, a less good approach would be the further commercialisation of voluntary work. For example, the fact that some coaches receive regular salaries and others go away empty-handed financially would lead to a difficult debate on the issue of justice. "However, we should think more about the issue of 'recognition' in connection with volunteering."

Corona Crisis as a Suspected Cause

The fact that the amateur sport study is surprising with regard to the social dimension of sports clubs is possibly due to the coronavirus crisis. "The fact that people were no longer able to meet up and play sport together meant that they really learnt to appreciate the value of social interaction," surmises Harald Lange. However, the study itself did not reveal any correlation between the coronavirus crisis and the current high social significance of amateur sport.

However, the study does show the current state of the "complex social reality of sports clubs". According to the study, sports clubs are not primarily about strengthening muscles, but about social relationships: "Satisfaction and happiness can be largely attributed to this." The study could encourage sports clubs to focus even more than before on the social aspect.

Further Studies are Planned

The recently published study is to be followed by further studies on other topics. Harald Lange is thinking of aspects such as inclusion or integration. The professor would like to see amateur sport providers and sports associations formulate their own current questions and send them to the study team.

Even if not all aspects have been analysed, the current study sheds light on the situation of club sport in a significant way. It clearly shows that, contrary to what is often claimed, club sport is not in crisis. For Harald Lange, the results of the study are important, not least with regard to the mood in the country: "We have enormous problems in society right now, many issues are polarising." This makes it all the more important to have social instances such as amateur sport: "The next generation in particular can practise social behaviour here."

Publication

„Amateursport in der Krise? Eine Studie aus Perspektive der Amateursportler:innen in Deutschland“. Dr. Joachim Lammert, Prof. Dr. Axel Faix, Prof. Dr. Harald Lange, Wilke de Boer, 2023 (in German) Freely available on the Fan.Q website as a pdf file.