Sport and recreation organisations have a special nature

Sport and recreation organisations have a special nature that deserves your attention and consideration so that you will better understand why communication is an important topic.

Think of the impact that the following six points will have on effectiveness of communication within a sport and recreation organisation.

Voluntary
Workers

Infrequent Contact

Geographically Spread

Passion

Learning on
the job

Lack of
resources

Voluntary Workers

Sport and recreation organisations usually have many voluntary (unsalaried) workers. The voluntary work they perform usually has a lower priority than their work and family responsibilities. What they do in that organisation is not a primary focus of their life.

Infrequent Contact

The majority of people who perform work for the sport/recreation organisation will often not have contact with each other on a day to day basis. Contact is more likely to be on a weekly basis or even less frequent.

Geographically Spread

Members or customers of a sport and recreation organisation are often spread over a wide geographic area. This is especially true of state organisations. The tyrranny of distance is very difficult to conquer and thus, members who reside in different regions will have neglible or no contact with each other.

Passion

People are often passionate about their sport or recreation activities. For most people, their principal reason for participation is enjoyment. Emotions can run very high if someone or something gets in the way.

Learning on the Job

People who undertake specific roles in a sport and recreation organisation often learn "on the job". This would include office bearers (President, Secretary, Treasurer, etc), coaches, referees, fundraisers, event managers and so on.

Lack of Resources

Lack of resources, financial and manpower, to deal with the problems above.