Governance within sports organisations: Exploring how non-professional sports organisations motivate and retain their volunteers.

In order to have an effective organisation and governance, non-professional sports organisations mainly use the contribution of volunteers for their sporting activities. However, as the number of participants in leisure sports is rising, the volunteer workforce is decreasing because of a lack of motivation, thus threatening the survival of sporting organisations. Volunteers are crucial to providing sports to members who are seeking to practice their sport, in a competitive manner. They are the individuals who plan, budget and organise activities within a non-professional sports setting. Without their contribution, non-professional sports organisations may not be able to function. Consequently, this study aims at exploring how non-professional sports organisations motivate and retain their volunteers within a non-profit environment. The thesis will explore what motivates people in volunteering for certain positions, what are the factors behind the retention of volunteers, in the framework of sports activity. It aims at knowing how non-professional sports organisations can motivate and recruit volunteers, with the intention of retaining them for a longer period, so that the management teams know how to deal with their volunteers and govern over them.Master [120] en sciences de gestion, Université catholique de Louvain, 201