Erasmus+

Sport Chapter

Collaborative Partnership

DEVELOPING SPORT ADMINISTRATION COMPETENCES

ADMINS

Analysis on the educational needs of sports administrators

Table of Contents

I. Project Introduction

II. Report presentation

III. Cross-country desk research

1. Croatia

2. Italy

3. Spain

4. Sweden

IV. Analysis of the online survey results

• IV. 1. Competences

• IV.2. Curricula Content Areas

• IV. 3. Findings

V. Conclusions

I. Project Introduction

Having recognized the importance of sport regarding the physical and psychological well-being

of an individual, the European Union has started incorporating sport into EU policies and

initiatives. More specifically, sport-related issues were firstly addressed in a comprehensive

manner by the EU in the White Paper on Sport, adopted by the European Commission in 2007,

by setting out policy guidelines in the field of sport. However, it was not until the Lisbon Treaty

2009, Article 6 and 165, that its importance was legally acknowledged and became one of the

EU objectives. Taking cue from White Paper on Sport and Lisbon Treaty, The European

Commission’s Communication “Developing the European Dimension in Sport”, published in

January 2011, proposed concrete actions related to societal role of sport which covers issues

that directly affect the citizens, the economic dimension of sport, and the organisation of sport,

which covers the aspects dealing with the political and legal framework for the sport sector. As

it was mentioned in the Principles of good governance in sport, it is of great importance to

attract new generations of administrators, as well as technology and IT. Like many other

professions today, administrative employees of sport organisations are not only

“administrators”, because their job position requires a wide range of knowledge and

competences.

To ensure a real European dimension, project “Developing Sport Administration

Competences (ADMINS) has confirmed a strategic partnership with one sport confederation,

one sport association, two academic institutions and two NGO’s with rich experience in sport

projects.

The main objective of the project “DEVELOPING SPORT ADMINISTRATION COMPETENCES

(ADMINS)” addresses the need of fostering the job-related skills and competences of sports

administration employees, who in turn strengthen the capacities of sports organisations and

contribute to better governance in sports.

II. Report presentation.

This report serves to do the preliminary research on the educational needs of sport administrators,

and its results will enable experts to create curriculum specifically for that target group. The main

aspects included in the report are the following:

• A definition of the profile of sport administrators that will take part in this project

including a detailed description of their characteristics and needs to prevent the

potential research shortcomings;

• The Identification of the most suitable administrators who can be involved in this project

(exact number);

• A methodology of the research developed in accordance with the project proposal and

educational modules will be developed;

• Survey data collected on the educational needs of sport administrators using a

questionnaire in English;

• An analysis of the data and interpretation of the results to give ground to customizing

the curriculum for the educational modules intended for sport administrators.

III. Cross-country desk research

Each national report on Research on upskilling needs of Sport Administrator in this section contains

the national landscape, the sport administrator educational framework, policy documents analysis,

the conclusions, and the references of the country in study.

1. Croatia

Sport Administrator national landscape

Sport today is a massive social phenomenon and plays a major role in the economy. Sports accounts

for almost 3% of the global economic activity, in the European Union the figure is thought to be

around 1% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and in the UK sport is thought to generate around 2,5

% of GDP. Estimates for the US indicate that sport is worth 300$ billion per annum to the US

economy (Chadwick & Arthur, 2008).

Every sports organization seeks to achieve both sporting and business goals, in order to achieve

this, it is necessary that every sports organization is managed and administered by professionally

trained staff who have the competence to perform all the specific business processes associated

with sports organization.

However, in the current Croatian legislation, the definition of a sport administrator is not provided.

In other words, there is no specific qualification requirement that a sport administrator must meet

to successfully perform his/her job. This notion represents the main problem in Croatian sports

where we find administrators of different profiles and professions performing the job without

enough training and competences to do so. The main reason why administrators in Croatian sports

come from different backgrounds is the lack of an adequate schooling system for sports

administrators, until the very recent.

Although, the role of sport administrator is not specifically defined in the law, many sports

organizations are regularly announced job openings for the role of sport administrator (for example

Croatian football club HNK Hajduk https://hajduk.hr/pdf/natjecaj--sport ski-administrator/332).

The education of sport administrators is in the function of efficient performance of administrative

tasks in sports, all with the aim of increasing the quality of work and organization of office

operations in sports organizations. However, one of the key development problems in Croatian

sports is the insufficient number of educated professional staff in sports, and one of the basic

developmental, and thus educational needs is the increase in the number of educated professional

/ administrative staff.

According to the provisions of Article 21 of the Sports Act in the Republic of Croatia, legal sport

entities must have professional management and administrative roles, i.e. educated persons.

Namely, sports organizations are obliged to comply with the legal regulations of the European

Union, which includes professional staff in management and administrative functions (''Official

Gazette'' n. 71/2006).

All in all, given the current state of sports administration in Croatia, it is necessary to strengthen

and improve education to get the demanding profiles of people who have the role of sport

administrators in Croatia. Croatia lacks enough competent staff to manage Croatian sports, and

there is also a lack of systematically designed training programs and sports educations around sport

management and administration.

Sport management educational framework

The development and continuous training of staff in administrative functions are the key

determinants of future success of sports organizations in Croatia. It is important to note that in

recent years, there have been some positive changes happening in the curriculum of the

professional study of Sports Administrators at universities and other higher education institutions

in Croatia.

ASPIRA College of Sports Management (Zagreb), as the first higher education institution in Croatia

that trains professional staff for managerial and administrative functions in sports organizations,

has recently launched an education program for administrator in sports organizations (sports

administrator).

The program contains the following courses: Introduction to the economics of sport, Sports

marketing, Entrepreneurship in sports, Financial business in sports, Legal affairs in sports, Office

operations in sports organizations, Business communication, Safety, and security at work.

PAR University College (Rijeka) also offers a training program for administrators in sports

organizations that is based on practical examples and workshops, intended for all those who want

to acquire new and improve existing knowledge. The program enables the acquisition of basic

knowledge in the field of sports administration necessary for quality work and development of

sports organizations.

Upon completion of the program, each student who successfully completes all the elements of

knowledge and skills testing receives a Certificate of training for the job of administrator in sports

organizations.

Employees in Croatian sports organizations are "mostly managers and hires who come from politics,

economic activities, media public etc., who are most often not qualified to conduct sports"

(Bartoluci & Škorić, 2009: 127). Studies show that only 18% of respondents (employees in sports

organizations) had professional education, mostly those who had obtained bachelor or master’s

degree at the universities.

According to relevant research conducted among the chief secretaries of sports organizations in

Croatia (Papić, 2010), it has been found that a typical secretary performing the specific business

processes that appear in the management of a sports organization has completed a high school

after which he/she has not been further educated.

National policy documents regarding Sport Administration

As previously mentioned, in Croatia there is no state regulation that regulates the profession of the

sports administrator, nor the job of sport m administrator. In other words, there is no specific

qualification requirement that a sport administrator must meet to successfully perform his/her job.

The Sports Act in the Republic of Croatia (''Official Gazette'' n. 71/2006), determines the system of

sports and sports activities, professional activities in sports, sports competitions, financing of

sports, supervision, and other important issues. According to the provisions of Article 21 of the

Sports Act in the Republic of Croatia, legal sport entities must have professional management and

administrative roles, i.e. educated persons. Namely, sports organizations are obliged to comply

with the legal regulations of the European Union, which includes professional staff in management

and administrative functions (''Official Gazette'' n. 71/2006).

The National Sports Program (''Official Gazette'' n. 98/19) is a document which determines the goals

and tasks of the development of sport, the activities necessary for the implementation of these

goals and determines the holders of development and measures to control its implementation. The

new Program applies to the period 2019 to 2026.

Conclusions

Croatian legislation should follow the modern trends and define the minimum conditions and

description of the work activities of the sport administrators.

Strategic planning should include the most important stakeholders in Croatian sports and of course,

consider the needs of sport as a whole and the individual needs of sports administrators at different

levels. Namely, the Croatian sports system is structured so that not all sport administrators need

the same competences (for example, a sports administrator in a club or a national alliance). They

also must consider their work experience in sports and the work they do. Although every sports

administrator should invest in his knowledge, resistance is inevitable, and his overcoming should

systematically promote the idea of continuous training from sports management. Alternatively,

compulsory upgrading and training programs for administrators in sport organizations may be

introduced. However, it is unclear how this would have a real impact on those who are being taught

under compulsion. Voluntary reporting and participation in such programs would certainly be more

effective, and it is recommended to work on raising awareness rather than imposing on-going

education as an obligation.

On the good side, answering the evident needs of sports organizations, the number of

systematically designed training and education programs for sport administrators in Croatia are

rising. However, it should be noted that human resources development is a long-lasting process

whose results cannot be detected in a short time and cannot be easily measured. Like any other

strategic goal, an integral part of the strategy should be indicators of the success of such

educational programs that would provide indicators for possible subsequent changes and

upgrading of educational programs.

The existing project could have a positive impact on the change in the field of sports administration

in Croatia, especially about whom this profession is intended. Although Croatia does not face the

problem of refugees at a global level, such as some other EU countries, Croatia has a multitude of

national minorities who can also benefit from this approach by facilitating social integration

through the activities of the current project, and of course be prepared to work with socially

vulnerable minorities is crucial because we are never certain about the transitional waves of

migrants in the near future and this is certainly one good example of how to provide them with

necessary care and inclusion into society via sport.

References

Bartoluci, M., & Škorić, S. (2009). Karakteristike menadžera u upravljanju sportskim

organizacijama. Metodički organizacijski oblici rada u područjima edukacije, sporta, sportfiske

rekracije i kineziterapije/Neljak, Boris (ur.).-Zagreb: Hrvatski kineziološki savez, 358-363.

Chadwick, S., & Arthur, D. (Eds.). (2008). International cases in the business of sport. Routledge.

HNK Hajduk, https://hajduk.hr/pdf/natjecaj--sportski-administrator/332

Official Gazette n. 71/2006, https://www.zakon.hr/z/300/Zakon-o-sportu

Papić, A. (2010). Upravljanje šprtskim organizacijama. Hrvatski znanstveno stručni skup o

menadžmentu u turizmu i sportu, 1(1), 145-151.

2. Italy

Sport Administrator national landscape

In Italy, the Sport Administrator is more commonly called as Sport Manager. The two titles are often

used to refer to the same program. Nowadays the development of the sports sector is connected

to the technological and industrial innovations, coming from other environments, which use the

sports industry as a platform to do business or to interact with fan communities.

Sport has progressively acquired a high economic and social impact by contributing to the EU's

gross value added and employing millions of people. In Italy, it is one of the few sectors in constant

growth and is affected by the economic crisis to a lesser extent than the rest. The sports market is,

to all intents and purposes, able to offer companies that face it with the right strategies, a business

with guarantees of return on investment.

The growing complexity of the Sport Industry requires new professionals able to combine passion

with technical and managerial knowledge for business development. The profession of sports

manager, consolidated in Anglo-Saxon countries, is now also a reality in Italy not only of large

organizations, but also of an increasing number of companies, clubs, federations, event organizers,

associations and sports facilities.

A Sports Administrator works with sports organizations to define their vision and a mission with the

target to create programs that are profitable, beneficial to athletes and successful both on and off

the field.

Sports Administrators can collaborate directly with the sports trainers giving advices and directions

also regarding the sports contents on the field. Anyway, usually Sport Administrators are more

specialize in areas like law and contract negotiations, marketing, public relations, or finance. Here

below a specific list of possible occupations:

• Athletic Director;

• Sports Executive;

• Media Relations Director;

• Guest Services Manager;

• General Manager;

• Advertising Sales Director;

• Facilities Director;

• Accounting or Finance Manager.

The profile of the Sport Administrator could be related to macro-level management, as an

organizational manager, or like micro-level tasks such as finance, budgeting, marketing, or law.

As far as employment forecasts are concerned, there was a 7.2% change from 79,799 in 2014 to

85,537 in 2018.

There is an increasing demand for Sports Administrators interested in working in organizations that

have expertise in sports marketing, production, marketing and distribution of sports products, in

communication agencies that organize events and promotional campaigns, but also in sports teams

and institutions.

The required skills for a Sport Administrator are often extremely focused on the technical

knowledge, also deriving from other professional experiences, always up to date.

Considering the turnover generated by sport, it is easy to understand the reasons why companies

and companies directly or indirectly operating in the sports industry need professional

management, based on a highly entrepreneurial matrix.

Sport management educational framework

According to statistics, the sports sector generates sales that have a high impact on the GDP of our

country. The same data confirm a growth in the sector, which is less affected by the crisis than other

market sectors.

This means that sport, in addition to its 'physical' dimension, is currently considered for its

'economic' potential, thus becoming a real industry. To fully understand the opportunities related

to the world of sport, it is necessary to analyse a few numbers relating to the year 2018:

• 4.5 million athletes registered with the federations recognised by CONI (Italian Olympic

Committee);

• 70,000 members;

• over 1 million sports operators (technical managers, competition officials and collaborators

in various capacities) who provide support and support for corporate and federal

organisations.

Among the most important schools for sports management training in Italy there are Business

School based in Milan and Rome, which offers Full Time and Part Time Masters. These courses are

organized by a famous Italian finance editor or well-known universities that provides an innovative

path addressed to both managers and professionals in the sports sector that uses a training mix

based on distance learning integrated with classroom lessons, group work, case studies,

simulations, testimonials and a personalized virtual classroom where you can consult the virtual

library and discuss with teachers. Another important option is provided by the University of

Bologna, the oldest, and one of the most prestigious in Europe. The Master's degree course is on

the management sports activities and it lasts 2 years.

There are also a couple of online Bachelor in Sports and Motor Activities Management organized

by an Italian telematics university. Even in this case the duration is 24 months.

Most of the proposals are in northern Italy or in the capital, Rome. In the south of the country, a

degree course in sports management is planned at the university of Naples, but there do not seem

to be many other options in the neighbouring regions. In all cases a person who wants to obtain

certification in this area as a prerequisite must have a high school diploma. In the case of master's

degrees, even a bachelor's degree. For former athletes it is not enough to have a successful track

record in their own sport, they also need a certain school curriculum depending on the course they

want to attend.

In many cases the person in charge of the Sport Administrator tasks are ex former professional or

semi-professional athletes. Although from the point of view of technical skills, they must possess

multidisciplinary know-how, including economic, legal, and marketing knowledge.

A Sport Administrator needs to know how the institutional aspects of companies work; he or she

must have up-to-date and in-depth knowledge of marketing and promotion in order to manage the

media aspect of sport; he or she must have a solid foundation in matters relating to accounting and

human resource management.

Since it is a profile that interfaces with various types of subjects, he must have strong

communicative and relational skills. What insiders call social media management has become

fundamental for teams, federations, and athletes.

National policy documents regarding Sport Administration

The profession of sports manager does not provide for specific regulations. To reprise the role,

there are no qualifications, qualifications, and even fewer professional registrations. In addition,

the basis of the Italian sports organisation is mainly made up of sports associations and clubs.

Since it is a managerial professionalism operating in a sector, regulated by peculiar dynamics, in

addition to a university background it is important to acquire a specific preparation through

specialization courses. Unfortunately, in some cases, it causes the tasks of the sports manager to

be covered by people who do not have the necessary training and skills to deal with them.

A Sport Administrator can work as a freelancer, self-employed or employee.

Conclusions

The complexity of the Italian sports phenomenon includes professional companies that require

increasingly professional and entrepreneurial management, but, above all, a galaxy of small

associations related to amateur sports that have few organizational and self-management skills.

Since sport is capable of emotionally involving fans and enthusiasts, it is an exceptional advertising

vehicle for a company, especially for those that produce consumer goods, as they need to present

themselves to the public. For large multinationals, putting their name alongside a champion or a

sporting event becomes an instrument through which to create a feeling of sympathy and a transfer

of positive values towards the public. This awareness and complexity of the world of sport has led

to the creation of numerous master’s courses in Italian universities, specifically oriented towards

the development of professional figures capable of operating in the multifaceted world of sport.

The training courses that characterize the courses organized for Sports Administrators seem to

reinforce once again the figure of the Manager destined to a world of profit and gain. In reality, in

an environment full of emotions such as sport, economic values, although significant and essential,

must be able to coexist and highlight the primary values of sport, a social phenomenon and

integration between peoples of all races and religions.

In the Italian university panorama there was a need to train managers able to provide a corporate

reading of this phenomenon, starting from an overall view of sport, in order to be able to know and

reflect on the tastes and orientations of "customers" in constant transformation, on the

increasingly onerous costs, on the necessary financing, on the organization of events and clubs, but

also on the competitive and moral importance of the figure of the athlete. This applies not only to

the large professional society with high business intensity, but also to the small amateur society.

Managing all these activities is not easy and specialized managers, better if young and prepared,

are increasingly sought after.

The Sports Manager must possess organizational, regulatory, management and cultural knowledge

and skills that allow him to move in a rapidly changing and expanding environment. On the other

hand, the economic dimension of many amateur or small-to-medium companies does not allow to

fully invest in a figure like that of the Sport Administrator.

The recent crisis in the sports sector, caused by the health emergency of Covid-19 and its protocols,

which in many cases limit the practice of sport, will certainly affect in the near future and in the

medium term in relation to the employment capacity of sports administrators.

However, the resulting decrease in sponsorship revenues will ensure that profits are sought

through other resources. In this case, more than ever before, the figure of the sports manager can

make the difference in knowing how to reorganize a sports club, a sports centre, a federation, a

body or any reality that orbits in the sporting sphere.

What is probably missing for the Sports Administrators is a recognition that allows them to have a

defined status in the sports market. It is often difficult to understand the importance of an all-round

professional in all facets of a sports organisation.

Italian legislation should establish a register as is already the case for many professionals. In this

way, the sports manager could put himself in a different position on the market and make the

importance of his role understood, especially at a time like today (2020).

References

Sport Administration vs Sport Management – Which Degree is Right for You?

https://online.uc.edu/sport-administration-vs-sport-management-which-degree-is-right-for-you/

Il Manager Sportivo https://www.ilsole24ore.com/art/il-manager-sportivo-AE2qrb2D

Le professioni: Manager dello sport

https://www.wecanjob.it/archivio2_manager-dello-sport_0_193.html

Diventare manager dello sport: formazione e master

https://www.unicusano.it/blog/didattica/master/come-diventare-sport-manager/

Diventare manager sportivo

https://www.coni.it/it/scuola-dello-sport/notizie-ed-eventi/6369-Diventa-Manager-Sportivo,-il-

19-gennaio-2012-la-presentazione-del-corso.html

3. Spain

Sport

Sport Administrator national landscape

Although there is no consensus concerning the definition of Sport Administrator, as it depends of

each of the professional regulations enacted by some of the Autonomous Communities in Spain,

according to the Law 3/2018, of March 26, ordering the practice of sports professions in the Region

of Murcia, the sports director is defined as any professional sports person who directs, organizes

and manages physical and sports activities and sports-related human resources in a center,

service, facility or sports entity, both public and private ownership, and always applying the

knowledge and techniques of the physical activity and sports sciences, as well as instrumental

knowledge.

It corresponds to these professionals to carry out the following functions:

a) The direction, coordination, planning, programming, control, monitoring and

evaluation of physical and sports activities.

b) The direction, coordination, monitoring and evaluation of the activity carried out

and the provision of services by other sports professionals regulated by this law

without detriment to their autonomy, competence, and responsibility in their

professional practice.

Concerning the different professions related to sports direction-management, we can

identify three different levels (Gambau, 2017) (Figure 1):

Figure 1. Levels of professions related to sports direction in Spain (Gambau, 2017).

The report of the European project NASME, shows that in Spain the professionalization of the

sports management took place at an extremely late stage, and there is no pattern or consensus

on the training and skills needed by these professionals. The conclusions suggest that sport

management in Spain has developed differently from other European countries since there is no

culture of sport management outside the branch of sport sciences. In other countries the sport

manager is a figure more linked to the classic business environment, whereas in Spain is seen as a

sports professional, more focused on the development and analysis of services or products (García-

Unanue, 2016).

Nowadays, they consider that effective managers are necessary for success, the ability to adapt as

a significant competitive improvement and a greater importance to innovation versus cost

reduction for long-term success (Gallardo & García-Unanue, 2020). Likewise, there are still

differences between private and public sports managers regarding innovation, as the latter have

greater difficulty or flexibility in incorporating it effectively (García-Unanue, 2016).

Concerning the most developed competencies of sports managers, they are related to

communication and planning skills, as well as knowledge about the sports environment. However,

those related to data management, innovation and technological problems are ranked below

average, although when analyzing the most important in the future, the results show an increasing

importance of those related to big data, analysis, and digitalization (Gallardo & García-Unanue,

2020).

Sport management educational framework

Nowadays, many courses are offered in Spain to train future Sports Administrators, ranging from

the most basic or specialization ones, to those offered in Higher Education.

At university level, although the degree in Physical Activity and Sport Sciences was offered in 51

Spanish universities during 2018/2019 and includes subjects related to sport management (usually

between 12 and 36 ECTS), only 2 universities offer a Sport Management Bachelor degree, both

private.

Although the curriculum of the bachelor’s degree in Physical Activity and Sports Sciences clearly

includes subjects concerning sports management, the number of ECTS is low. The Master’s

Degrees in Sport Management have become the only possible option for the initial training of

these specialists (Gambau, 2017).

These Master’s degrees (about 46) are mainly offered at private institutions. We can differentiate

between the so-called Official Master's Degree and the master’s degree not offered under this

condition. Both are postgraduate masters and require a university degree to be taken. The main

difference is that, the official ones, allow the students to enroll in a PhD program, are adapted to

European Higher Education Area and recognized by public bodies, whereas the others are private

degrees, professionally oriented and do not provide access to PhD programs.

Finally, concerning the PhD degrees in Sport Management, they do not exist in Spain, as they are

general PhD in Sport Sciences (around 30 different programs in Spain), being able to choose from

several topics to study.

According to the results of the Spanish report of the European project NASME, there are currently

people working in the area with educational studies other than sport management, mainly those

related to business management, economy, and marketing.

In this respect, Spain does not have a national regulation of sport professions, being some

Autonomous Communities those who have begun to regulate it in their territory, such as the

Region of Murcia, by Law 3/2018, of March 26.

With respect to the qualification required for being a Sports Director, it establishes:

1. To practice the profession of Sports Director, a professional qualification is required

that can be accredited by means of a degree in Physical Activity and Sports Sciences.

2. When the professional activity is carried out within the framework of a single sport

modality, those who accredit the professional qualification by means of a Sports

Technician diploma of the corresponding sport modality and speciality may also practice

the profession.

3. In the event that the professional activity is carried out within children's and/or young

people's free time activities, those persons who have the official accreditation

corresponding to the diploma concerning to free time activities management or direction,

may practice the profession of Sports Director as long as the physical and sports activity

does not exceed 10% of the total general programming of the activity, and its main

objective is the promotion of educational and recreational leisure, not a purely sporting

purpose.

National policy documents regarding Sport Administration

Article 148 of the Spanish Constitution of 1978 establishes that the Autonomous Communities

may assume competences in the promotion of sport and the appropriate use of leisure. Therefore,

the competencies in sports matters, which had been centralized until that moment, were

transferred to the Autonomous Communities as they requested them.

This means that, although there is legislation at national level, it is necessary to take into account

the regulations of each of the Autonomous Communities, often not finding a consensus or general

line that allows a common path to be followed in the development of national sport.

Although there is a wide legislative framework, and will depend on the functions to be carried out

by the sports administrator, the following policies are some examples of some of the regulations

worth considering:

NATIONAL POLICIES

- Law 10/1990, of October 15, of Sport.

- Royal Decree 1835/1991, of December 20, about Spanish Sport Federations.

- Royal Decree 1251/1999, of July 16, about Sports Anonymous Societies.

- Organic Law 3/2013, of June 20, of protection of the athlete's health and the fight

against doping in sport.

- Royal Decree 203/2010, of February 26, approving the Regulations for the

prevention of violence, racism, xenophobia, and intolerance in sport.

- Royal Decree 1363/2007, of October 24, establishing the General Regulation of

the Sports Education of Special Regime.

- Royal Decree 971/2007, of July 13, about high level athletes and performance.

- Royal Decree 1591/1992, of December 23, on Sports Discipline.

- Organic Law 3/2018, of December 5, of Personal Data Protection and guarantee

of digital rights.

- Royal Decree 1006/1985, of June 26, regulating the special employment

relationship of professional athletes.

- Law 31/1995, of November 8, of Occupational Risks Prevention.

- Law 7/85, of April 2, Regulating the Bases of the Local Regime.

- Royal Legislative Decree 2/2015, of October 23, approving the consolidated text

of the Workers' Statute Law.

- Law 45/2015, of October 14, of Volunteering.

- Law 27/2014, of November 27, of Corporate Income Tax.

- Royal Legislative Decree 1/2007, of November 16, approving the revised text of

the General Law for the Defence of Consumers and Users and other

complementary laws.

REGION OF MURCIA POLICIES (as an example, different for each Autonomous Community)

- Law 8/2015, of March 24, of Physical Activity and Sport in the Region of Murcia.

- Law 3/2018, of March 26, which orders the practice of sport professions in the

Autonomous Community of the Region of Murcia.

It should be noted that the new Spanish Sports Law is expected to be enacted in the coming

months as is currently in the preliminary draft stage. This will allow to update the existing one,

which dates from 1990, adapting it to the new sport reality of the country, something that the

stakeholders of the sector were demanding for years.

Conclusions

Sport Administrators must adapt to the great changes that sports management has undergone in

Spain, that goes from focusing on the public administration, to the rise of the private sector

(Gallardo, 2017). Despite this, García-Unanue (2016) suggests that the level of professionalization

and knowledge among sports managers in the public and private sectors is remarkably similar,

although the public ones have much less room for innovation and development.

Therefore, it is necessary to change the mentality about the competences that must be developed

by Sport Administrators, supporting a multidisciplinary approach, and reducing the importance of

the classic management competences, to promote analysis and technological development skills

for sports planning and management.

The report of the European Project NASME shows that there is a need to standardize higher

education in Sport Management, as there is too much variety and too little clarity in sports

management curricula. Although the profile of sports managers should theoretically have clear

competences, at present there are many ways to reach these positions, and each one includes

completely different skills and competences. In addition, these differences are emphasized even

more when compared with the rest of European countries. Therefore, it is necessary to determine

a profile of learning outcomes and competences that should be covered in the training of all Sport

Administrators, which in Spain is being directed towards an analyst specialized in sports markets

and a designer and evaluator of products, delegating more classical functions of management,

such as human resources or accounting.

Therefore, in addition to the knowledge and techniques established by Gambau (2017), such as

analysis and diagnosis, strategic and tactical planning, project planning, and its implementation,

monitoring and evaluation, analytical and technological skills should be further developed. The

latter show the greatest shortages and difficulties, but at the same time are included in the

topmost important competences for the future, including analytics, data interpretation, market

research and digital marketing.

Therefore, training should not only be carried out through higher education, but also be

compatible with a model of continuous training through e-learning projects to guarantee the

updating of knowledge and to adapt to the changing environment of sport management, even

differentiating between itineraries such as federative sport, spectator sport, private sport

management and public administration.

For this purpose, investment in R+D+i in sports management should be made so that companies

can adapt and strengthen themselves in the face of change, as well as broaden the scope of study.

In this respect, Spain is in 7th position worldwide in terms of publications related to sports

management, although most are led by economists (Calabuig, 2017), so research in other

branches of knowledge is necessary.

Finally, the NASME report determines that in Spain only 22.34% of women hold Sport

Administration positions. Therefore, environments that facilitate gender equality this position

must developed.

References

Calabuig, F. (2017). Current issues and trends in sport management research. In M. García-Tascón

& M. Pradas (Eds.), El gestor deportivo en la organización del deporte en la sociedad actual (pp.

708- 722). Sevilla: Wanceulen.

Gallardo, L. (2017). From the transformation in sport management research to a new model of

knowledge. In M. García-Tascón & M. Pradas (Eds.), El gestor deportivo en la organización del

deporte en la sociedad actual (pp. 684-707). Sevilla: Wanceulen.

Gallardo, L. & García-Unanue, J. (2020). Los datos, las analíticas y la digitalización como claves del

futuro en la Gestión Deportiva pública y privada. Comunicación y Hombre, 16, (133-149).

Gambau, V. (2017). Professional identification in the field of sports management. In M. García-

Tascón &

M. Pradas (Eds.), El gestor deportivo en la organización del deporte en la sociedad actual (pp. 106-

157). Sevilla: Wanceulen.

García-Unanue, J. (2016). Situación de la gestión deportiva desde el punto de vista de los gestores.

Diferencias entre el sector público y privado antes y después de la crisis. FAGDE. Retrieved from

https://www.fagde.org/panel/subido/Trabajos%20Becas%20JMCagigal/Memoria%20Final%20Jo

rge%20Garcia%20Unanue.pdf

4. Sweden

Sport Administrator national landscape

Sport Administrator as a professional role and/or occupation is rarely used in Sweden. Instead, the

term ‘idrottsledare’ [sport leader] has become an umbrella term for all individuals involved in

leading, managing, administering Swedish voluntary organized, non-profit, and membership-based

club sport, both professionally and as volunteers. The term includes all positions with involved with

the delivery of sport activities such as leader, coach, board member, official, judge/umpire/referee

and similar. According to the Swedish Sports Confederation (2019a), the current number of

individuals taking on such roles are 882,000. Given this all-encompassing term, it has been

notoriously difficult to assess the number of individuals working or effectively functioning as a sport

administrator. Some attempts have been made though, such as the one by Fahlén (2015) in which

he calculated that some 5,500 individuals were employed in sport clubs and about half of them

performed administrative duties, resulting in some 2,250 individuals. Another way of approaching

it, albeit providing an even more rough estimate, could be to use the total number of sport clubs in

Sweden (some 20,000) and assume that each and every one of them has administrative duties that

requires attention. It should be noted though, that provided the comparatively low level of

professionalization in Swedish sport, most of these services would probably be provided by

volunteers, not viewing themselves as sport administrators.

Considering the difficulties surrounding the task to define the Swedish sport administrator, it is

equally difficult to describe the development of its role and possible proliferation. However, it is

fair to assume that the professional sport administrator is a modern phenomenon since

professional sport was prohibited in Sweden until 1967 (Fahlén, 2006). As noted above though, this

does not mean that administrative duties were not performed before that. It means, however, that

since creating profit from sport was illegal, it was also exceedingly difficult for sport organizations

(especially sport clubs) to raise the means necessary to have administrators on the payroll. But with

the abolition of the amateur rules it became more viable to hire professional staff. Admittedly, this

was possible also before 1967, but provided the comparatively small revenues available (e.g. due

to restrictions on advertising and the absence of broadcasting rights), this was a possibility

conferred to only a small number of very large clubs and national sport organizations. As for more

specific developments of the sport administrator’s role and numerical expansion, we are limited to

anecdotal evidence. Svensson (2019) for example has shown how staff functions in a Swedish

football club evolved from a small number of generalist roles in the 1960’s to many specialist roles

during the 2010’s. Even though no official statistics exist, extrapolating this example would involve

an exponential increase also in the number of sport administrators.

Sport management educational framework

Given the elusive character of the Swedish sport administrator described in the above, it is also

difficult to define the total supply of courses provided to cater for its needs. It can, however, be

described in general terms by consulting the three main actors offering education associated with

the delivery of sport activities: 1. Higher education institutions; 2. Folk high schools; and 3. Adult

education associations. 1. Study programmes for sport managers at bachelor’s and master’s levels

are provided by a handful of the Swedish universities. The aim of these programmes is to develop

competencies fit to solve the tasks commonly associated with the work of a sport administrator.

Students graduating from these programmes are often found in national and regional sport

organisations, in municipal sport and leisure authorities and in managing positions in private

companies such as gyms and fitness clubs. 2. A few of the Swedish folk high schools have a specific

profile focusing on programmes and courses preparing for employments in sport-related

organizations. Spanning from shorter courses to longer programmes, some of these offers are also

aiming at developing the competencies required to work professionally with sport administration.

3. One of the approximately ten adult education associations in Sweden is tied to the Swedish

Sports Confederation, the umbrella organization federating 72 national sport federations, 19

regional sports federations, some 20,000 sport clubs and 3,1 million members. In this capacity it

offers shorter courses useful for sport administrators.

The institutional landscape of Swedish sport alluded to in the above has established and maintained

sport as being an activity pursued, organized, led and administered in the domains of the voluntary,

third or civic sector (Fahlén & Stenling, 2016). This means that the 3.1 members of the voluntary

organized, non-profit, and membership-based club sport are to large extent managed and

administered by themselves. Testament to this are the numbers showing how 18 % of the

population is working as volunteers in a sport organization, and the fact that 882,000 have roles as

leaders, coaches, board members, officials, etc. (Riksidrottsförbundet, 2019a). Compared to the

rough numbers accounted for initially, this suggests that many of the administrative duties in

Swedish sport are performed by non-professionals. With no specific statistics available, it is difficult

to assess the proportions of professional staff versus non-professionals. It is, however, reasonable

to assume that professional sport administrators are mainly found in large sport clubs, regional and

national sport federations. In smaller sport clubs and even in the smallest national sport

federations, administrative duties are instead performed by voluntary board members, other

members such as the sport participants themselves or their parents. The fact that 38 % of the

Swedish sport clubs are considered as small clubs (<50 members) and 36 % as medium-sized clubs

indicates that a vast majority would not have the funds necessary to cover the costs associated with

having a sport administrator employed.

National policy documents regarding Sport Administration

Swedish sport is governed only implicitly via the government funds allocated to the Swedish Sports

Confederation (Fahlén & Stenling, 2016). This tax funded financial support constitutes a third of

sport clubs’ revenues and is granted in exchange for the realisation of social policies on public

health and the fostering of democratic citizens. The implicit character of the governance

mechanisms in play stipulate that the government decides on the extent and the purpose of the

funding, and the recipient determines the details of the distribution and administration. Thus, the

contract does not detail any conditions pertaining to sport administration specifically. However,

being a recipient of government funds it is expected that sport has to comply with the same

standards regarding accountability, ethics and transparency that are applied to other public

domains, even though voluntary organised and membership-based club sport is not a public

domain per se (Fahlén & Stenling, 2016).

Internally, Swedish sport is governed by a policy programme decided on by the biennial national

meeting for elected representatives that constitute the SSC general assembly in a representative

democracy. The programme (Riksidrottsförbundet, 2019b) contains little in terms of policies for

sport administration specifically. They are, however, a few claims that have bearing on

administrative matters. One is that all sport activities should adhere to international conventions

on human rights, children’s rights, and sustainable development. Another is that all sport activities

arranged within the framework of the Swedish Sports Confederation should be voluntary

organized, non-profit, and membership based. This means that any individual sport club member

can, by the club’s annual meeting, be elected to represent the club at the annual meeting of the

regional sports federation. If elected to the board of the regional sports federation, the individual

can in turn be elected representative in the national sport federation for the given sport. If elected

to one of these two boards, the individual can be elected to the board of the Swedish Sports

Confederation and to represent the sport in question in international federations. This

representative democracy is often referred to as one cornerstone of Swedish voluntary and

membership-based club sport. Another cornerstone is that all leadership duties should as far as

possible be based on commissions of trust and not on employments. This means that most tasks

associated with running a club are solved by club members without payment. That is, being a coach,

a treasurer or a groundskeeper is a non-paid commission club member take on to keep the club

running.

For sport administration, these aspects carry with them a specific set of conditions a sport

administrator must consider. One is that it is not given that taking on administrative duties renders

an employment or even remuneration. Another is that being a sport administrator, paid or

volunteer, means that you must adhere to public administration standards regarding

accountability, ethics, and transparency, and to international conventions governing individual

integrity.

Conclusions

Based on the national specifics detailed in the above, advices for improving the current situation

could be framed in two ways. The first emphasizes the non-profit and voluntary character of

Swedish sport and focuses on making current educational offers within the frameworks of adult

education associations more appealing, accessible and tailormade for individuals already

volunteering as or aspiring to volunteer as a sport administrator. The upside of such a route is that

it would be a comparatively cheap alternative for the sport organization benefitting from an

increased competence and for the individual developing it. The comparatively low-cost stems from

the possibilities to construct awfully specific needs-based content that thereby could be kept

limited in scope and thus also in time. In addition, activities offered within the adult education

association framework are eligible for government subsidies that alone would make any content

cheaper. One downside of such an alternative is that the incentives in place for the individual

potentially engaging in such learning activities might not be enough to entice acting or aspiring

sport administrators. We know that one main driver for individuals to offer their services to a sport

club is that their own children participate in the club’s activities (Fahlén & Ferry, 2018) and that

being involved in the actual sport practice is the preferred service to offer. From that, and from

similar findings (Fahlén, 2017), we can assume that administrative services are not the primary

option for individuals considering to volunteer. Thus, the expectations on individuals taking courses

to develop their administrative competencies must be kept reasonable.

Another way of approaching the current situation acknowledges the professionalization trend

driving much of the developments in Swedish sport (Stenling & Fahlén, 2009) and focuses instead

on increasing the number of staff with formal degrees in sport administration position. The upside

of such a route is again that the actual cost for formal degrees would be placed on the government’s

bill since higher education in Sweden is tax funded. Paradoxically, the obvious downside is that it is

in fact a comparatively expensive solution due to the simple fact that individuals with formal

degrees tend to expect formal employments and salaries. So even if the government is covering the

costs for a degree, employing a trained sport administrator is too expensive for many sport

organizations. Raising funds to cover costs for such an employment, in turn, would probably

increase membership fees, and demand more volunteer work from the membership cadre in

efforts to recruit more sponsors.

Either way, increasing competence tends to drive costs. So, the key question to consider is where

to locate them. In a Swedish perspective and based on the voluntary traditions permeating Swedish

sport, the first alternative is arguably the most feasible alternative. Not least because the second

alternative would be more pervasive to the sport club practice since it would increase costs for

participation to the extent that sport might not be accessible for all.

References

Fahlén, J. (2006). Structures beyond the frameworks of the rink – On organization in Swedish ice

hockey. Doctoral thesis, Umeå university.

Fahlén, J. (2015). Sport clubs in Sweden. In H. van der Werff, C. Breuer, S. Nagel & R. Hoekman

(Eds.). Sport Clubs in Europe – A Cross-National Perspective. New York: Springer, 396-429.

Fahlén, J. (2017). The trust-mistrust dynamic in the public governance of sport: exploring the

legitimacy of performance measurement systems through end-users’ perceptions. International

Journal of Sport Policy and Politics, 9(4), 707-722.

Fahlén, J., & Ferry, M. (2018). Sports Participation in Sweden. In K. Green, E. Skille & T. Sigurjónsson

(Eds.) Sport in Scandinavia and the Nordic Countries. Abingdon: Taylor & Francis. 136-172.

Fahlén, J., & Stenling, C. (2016). Sport policy in Sweden. International journal of sport policy and

politics, 8(3), 515-531.

Stenling, C., & Fahlén, J. (2009). The Order of Logics in Swedish Sport – Feeding the hungry beast

of result orientation and commercialization. European Journal for Sport and Society, 6(2), 121-134.

Svensson, R. (2019). Från träningsoverall till trenchcoat: Den svenska herrelitfotbollstränarens

förändrade position mellan 1960-och 2010-talet. Doctoral dissertation, Örebro University.

Swedish Sports Confederation (2019a). Idrottsrörelsen i siffror [The Sports movement in numbers].

Stockholm: Riksidrottsförbundet.

Swedish Sports Confederation (2019b). Idrotten vill [What sport wants]. Stockholm:

Riksidrottsförbundet.

IV. Analysis of the online survey results

The consortium conducted a study relative to sports club administrators using a self-developed

online questionnaire. The study addresses the following issues:

1) To determine the competencies needed by managers;

2) To identify curricula content areas which would aid in the professional preparation of athletic

club managers for purposes of developing a sport management curriculum.

Respondents served as a jury of expert’s panel reviewing material to be included in data collection

instrument. Respondents were given a checklist of competencies and course content areas and

were asked to rate each item in terms of the five-point Likert scale provided.

There were 120 respondents, 30 from each participating country (Croatia, Italy, Croatia, and

Sweden).

The ages of the participants range from 25 to 63, with peeks on age 42 (11 participants) and 35 (10

participants).

Regarding the respondents’ gender, 63% of the participants who indicated their gender are male.

IV. 1. COMPETENCY (skill or knowledge to perform activity)

The first section of the survey contains a series of competences (knowledge and skills) researchers

in this study determined are needed by sports managers. Our panel of experts rated each

competence as follows: 1 Unnecessary 2 Little importance 3 Average importance 4 Very important

5 Essential. The following graphs depict their ratings.

IV. 2. EDUCATIONAL CONTENT AREAS

In this section, researchers identified curricula content areas which would aid in the professional

preparation of athletic club managers for purposes of developing a sport management curriculum.

Our panel of experts rated each content area as follows: 1 Unnecessary 2 Little importance 3

Average importance 4 Very important 5 Essential. The following graphs depict their ratings.

IV. 3. Findings

The competences the majority of the participants in this study considered essential for sports

managers are budget preparation (42.5%), time management (45%), public speaking (42.5%),

knowledge of sports (43.7%), legal liability and responsibility (48.7%), facility management (30%),

communication with clientele (35%), security policies and procedures (33.3%), decision making

(55.8%), and staff communication (44.2%).

The rest of the competences are mainly considered very important or of average importance.

However, a small percentage indicated they believe equipment repair and procedures (6.8%), First

Aid and Safety procedures (6.7%), and feasibility studies (5%) are unnecessary knowledge and skills

for sports administrators.

The curricula content areas the majority of the participants who responded to this survey

considered essential for sports managers include administration of sports (50.8%), leadership and

management in sports organizations(45%), facilities and equipment management (31.9%),

communication skills (40.3%), sports law (31.1%), and Introduction to sports management (44.2%).

Surprisingly, although in quite small percentages, there are a lot of curricula content areas that

participants rated an unnecessary for administrators in the field of sports. Some of them are: sports

in European culture (4.2%), sports law (4.2%), adult education (6.7%), history of sport (3.3%),

business law (3.3%), research interpretation and utilization (7.5%), internship in management

(7.5%), journalism (17.5%), adult development (4.2%), political science (13.4%), physical activity for

the aging adult (3.3%), disabled populations (5.8%), computer application and utilization (2.5%),

Psychology of sport (3.3%), Statistics (7.6%), facility design (3.4%), sales communication (3.3%),

program planning for youth (3.3%), economics (2.5%), and physiology of exercise (4.2%).

The competences and content areas reported as essential have to do generally with management

of external aspects such as delegation and performance management, project process

management, managing execution, coaching and developing talent, managing differences and

conflicts.

V. Conclusions

The complexity of sports organisations requires increasingly professional and entrepreneurial

management. In response to the evident needs of sports organizations, the number of

systematically designed training and education programs for sport administrators is rising across

Europe. However, some of the training courses and education programs organized for Sports

Administrators seem to reinforce once again the figure of the Manager destined to a world of profit

and gain. In reality, in an environment full of emotions such as sport, economic values, although

significant and essential, must be able to coexist and highlight the primary values of sport, a social

phenomenon and integration between people of different ethnic, gender, ability and religious

backgrounds. Furthermore, it should be noted that human resources development is a long-lasting

process and the results are not always short term and cannot be easily measured.

Sport Administrators must adapt to the great changes that sports management has undergone that

goes from focusing on the public administration, to the rise of the private sector and be aware that

the level of professionalism, knowledge and skills among sports managers in the public and private

sectors must be similar, although the public ones has much less room for innovation and

development. Therefore, it is necessary to change the mentality about the competences that must

be developed by Sport Administrators, supporting a multidisciplinary approach, and reducing the

importance of the classic management competences, to promote analysis and technological

development skills for sports planning and management. Sports managers must consider Program

(youth or adults) planning, computer application and utilisation, research interpretation, and

statistics essential curriculum areas in the professional development.

Another aspect that emerged in this study is the acknowledgement of the professionalization trend

driving much of the development in Sports in European countries. This trend focuses on increasing

the number of staff with formal degrees in sport administration positions. The downside of such

route is cost and time to obtain formal degrees. Paradoxically, this is in fact a comparatively

expensive solution due to the simple fact that individuals with formal degrees tend to expect formal

employments and salaries. Hence, even if the governments cover the costs of a degree like in many

EU countries where higher education is tax funded, employing a trained sport administrator is too

expensive for many sport organizations. Financing the costs of such employment probably would

require an increase in membership fees and demand more volunteer work from the membership

in efforts to recruit more sponsors.

The main objective of the project “DEVELOPING SPORT ADMINISTRATION COMPETENCES

(ADMINS)” is to address the content areas, skills and competences of sports administration

employees that have not been considered as much in the past and can strengthen the capacities of

sports organisations and contribute to better governance in sports. Such content areas, skills and

competences are more analytical or internally rooted, For instance, problem analysis, critical

thinking, decision making, innovation, professional expertise, cross-cultural agility, teamwork and

team building, customer focus, inspiring others, business acumen, drive for results, learning

agility/development, interpersonal skills, and strategic thinking.

This report constitutes one of the deliverables of the “DEVELOPING SPORT ADMINISTRATION

COMPETENCES (ADMINS)” project, cofounded by the Erasmus + Programme of the European

Union.

The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute

endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only of the authors, and the

Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information

contained therein.