Q & A ACTIONABLE IDEAS FROM PEERS
How Do You Recruit And Retain Volunteers To Work At Sporting Events?
Athletic directors and coaches provide helpful ideas for increasing involvement in sports programs
Coach And Athletic Director re- cently asked readers to share their best ideas and practices for re- cruiting and retaining volunteers to help staff various sporting events. More than 80 coaches and athletic directors responded, and the fol- lowing represents the themes and topics most prevalent, as well as some interesting anecdotes. To read more comments from coaches and athletic directors on recruiting volunteers, visit
coachad.com/volunteers.
Some of our workers get paid, so
that’s a great incentive. We encour- age our non-paid volunteers in the following ways: • Sweat equity into our programs (you get out what you put in). • Parent volunteers can work in lieu of paying player dues, es- pecially for those who may not be able to afford them.
• We attempt to facilitate a fam- ily environment and a sense of belonging. The “We Are Mil- ton!” attitude.
—Gary Sylvestri, Milton High School, Milton, Ga.
We often must entice our volun- teers with the promises of a good meal after the event. Either that or we exchange monies owed to the program for time volunteered per- forming necessary tasks. —Jarrett Laws, Charles Drew High School, Riverdale, Ga.
20 May/June 2013
We try to make sure that we do not overuse the same volunteers for every event. I think it is important that you show appreciation for the time and effort they have sacri- ficed for the school. I try to send an e-mail or comment in person to make sure they understand how much we value them being there.
It is also important that you con- tact people directly. It is harder to turn someone down in person than in a letter.
—Chris McMinn At one public school where I
worked, we gave league passes. This allowed the volunteers and one guest to get into all home and away league events for free. We gave them to those who signed up for a season of activities (line judging, scorebook, scoreboard, etc.). Even then, it was hard to get volunteers to be professional and punctual. At another public school—which happened to have a higher socioeco- nomic demographic—there was no pass or anything tangible. Volunteers received their names in the program, and there was a volunteer banquet at the end of the year. As a coach, I wrote thank you letters at the end of the season and sent e-mails or hand- ed out candy bars throughout the season. I was fortunate that I had one parent who was a line judge for four years. I also had a photographer who continued for a year after his daugh- ter had graduated.
At the private school where I
worked, parents were required to volunteer for one duty (concession stand, tickets, etc.). However, most parents volunteer for quite a bit more. The only issue I have is that
some sports (excluding football or boys basketball) often expect vol- unteers instead of paying people. The problem is that a line judge in volleyball or a scorebook keeper is an official of sorts. That’s a tough thing to expect from an untrained person with little experience. The biggest thing I have done to keep good volunteers is to con- stantly let them know that they are appreciated. I have volunteered for my son’s basketball teams over his five years of playing. I like the dai- ly/weekly “thank you” more than the $25 restaurant gift card from the team at the awards banquet. —Gregg Sadler,
Cardinal Middle School, Middlefield, Ohio
Most of our volunteers receive product—shirts, hats—and we al- low them to get things from the concession stand while we pick up the cost. We invite them to the coaches outing in July where we have a meeting to kickoff the year, and after the meeting we sit down to a picnic-style meal with adult beverages. Again, the athletic de- partment picks up the cost. This has an interesting effect on the coaches, who begin to take
coachad.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58