Comment Volunteers A dying breed?
Pitchcare’s Alice Northrop looks at the hoops, hurdles and barriers that a club volunteer must navigate before he or she can actually ‘volunteer’
V
olunteers make sport happen. Those of us who have been part of a sports club or team, or even those of us who form a motley crew to kick/throw/bat a ball
around the local pitch on a Sunday, we all benefit from the help and hard work of volunteers. It’s always been the same and, without these people, our sports sessions would not be able to run. We would not have our maintained pitches, means of transport, coaching, or even the lunches and teas that some saint puts on for thirty or so hungry bellies after two hours’ running around.
So why, when we have always had more than enough volunteers to help out, has the
12 I AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2015
number dropped in recent years? Club cricketer Nick Campion suggests that it is the fault of “the increasingly onerous responsibilities put on clubs.” He is talking, of course, about the numerous checks, forms, courses and admin that volunteers and clubs have to go through nowadays: The coaching courses, the DBS forms, the accreditation, they all cost money, and they all require time. A lot of time. The parents that have helped coach the local rugby team, or the life-long cricket club member who has helped out every Saturday for thirty years, they are suddenly required to have a coaching qualification, which involves time and money that put many off.
I am not suggesting that the welfare of the
children and adults that require the help of the volunteers should be compromised in any way, and the DBS checks are very important. Also, a positive approach to club growth and advancement is extremely beneficial. But, surely there could be a slightly more efficient way of doing things, without stacking up the obstacles for the clubs and their volunteers.
In cricket, for example, clubs are encouraged to work towards ECB Clubmark, “a growing group of cricket clubs across England and Wales that are prioritising junior development, creating a benchmark for high quality cricket.” It sounds fantastic doesn’t it? But take a look at the steps involved in the process, and it looks a lot less appealing.
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