Types of Services

Sport and Recreation experiences are most often more rewarding when participants receive instruction from "experts". As a result of such instruction and the skills learnt by participants, they will usually reach a higher standard of performance, acquire greater knowledge "of the game" and play more safely.

Sport and Recreation organisations also need to educate and train those who desire to provide coaching and instruction to others. The provision of education programs for coaches and officials is a fundamentally important service which ensures the continuance of the sport or recreation.

Facility management services Sport and Recreation organisations develop and manage indoor and outdoor spaces. These facilities require constant upkeep to ensure that the level of service provision meets with members/customers expectation.

Facilities are vital resources and the usage of facilities needs to be carefully controlled for the following reasons: Meet with expectation of customers/members The facility needs to be protected from improper use that might cause damage The facility needs to operated within budgetary expectations Safety must be maintained.

Sport and Recreation organisations provide equipment essential for playing sport or participating in recreation.

Equipment is often very expensive and is well beyond the financial capability of the majority of individuals. Unless organisations are able to acquire this equipment to enable beginners to get started, the sport cannot exist. For example, sailing boats, rowing shells and gymnastic equipment are all very expensive and need to be provided by clubs.

Other types of equipment such as sailboards, golf clubs and canoes are often made available by sport and recreation organisations on hire basis, especially where it is financially worthwhile.

An essential role of the Sport and Recreation organisation is to keep participants in touch with one another and what is going on inside the organisation to which they belong.

Participants will want to know what is happening and when, who is involved and how much will it cost. This area of communication relates strongly to the organisation function.

Participation in Sport and Recreation is also about forming friendships and participants will want to stay in touch with each other for many other reasons.

There are approximately one million people who provide voluntary service to Sport and Recreation organisations.

When individuals volunteer they often acquire new skills and knowledge such as:

• Organising and planning skills
• Communication skills
• Coaching and teaching skills
• Administrative skills
• Facility management skills

These skills are transferable to other walks of life and can result in increased employment prospects.

Furthermore involvement in Sport and Recreation can be process of self-fulfillment and maturation of the individual physically, emotionally and psychologically.

Sport and Recreation organisations need to ensure that coaches and instructors, and often the participants themselves are accredited for the activity. This necessitates keeping a database of accredited persons.

The accreditation service is closely aligned with coaching and instruction services outlined above and ensures that participants have sufficient knowledge to undertake the activity safely.

Perhaps the most outstanding benefit of involvement in Sport and Recreation is improvement in health and fitness.

This may be very deliberately engineered as in services provided by Health and Fitness centres or just a by-product of participation as in most sports.

Health services also include the provision of First Aid, sports injury insurance and sports medicine.

Sport and Recreation organisations provide information for a variety of reasons such as:

• What events are on and where
• Keeping supporters updated on scores
• Keeping rankings and records
• Providing students information for their projects
• Providing information on benefits of participation to the public seeking
• Providing governments with information on participation numbers and facilities operated

Information will be provided by a many ways such as web sites, fax back services, telephone, brochures and publications.

People choose to be involved with Sport and Recreation organisations for many reasons.

One of the most important reasons includes making friendships and increasing one's circle of acquaintances.

Such friendships can be fostered through social events organised by Sport and Recreation organisations.

A recent addition to the array of services offered by Sport and Recreation organisations, child care services are now considered essential to allow women to participate.

This service is problematic for many organisations as it requires additional facilities, trained staff and additional cost.

The majority of Sport and Recreation is not run on a "user pays" basis.

If it were necessary for new participants to pay for all costs, for example coaching costs, facility costs, equipment costs, etc, then participation would be restricted to only a few wealthy sections of the community.

Sport and Recreation organisations therefore need to raise money from a variety of sources including governments, the corporate sector (sponsorship), general fundraising from the public and engaging in profitable programs.

Fundraising is a major preoccupation of most sport and recreation organisations. Sometimes professional fundraisers are employed.