The engagement of volunteer officials of the Queensland Flag Marshals League Inc. as participants in serious leisure

This paper seeks to describe the engagement of long-term volunteer officials of the Queensland Flag Marshals League Inc. as participants in serious leisure. Leisure, in this context, is considered as an activity we intentionally choose because it brings us pleasure or, in more profound leisure, satisfaction (Stebbins, 1999). Importantly, such activity also offers a prime opportunity for personal expression, self-identity enhancement, and self-fulfilment (Pegg, Lewis, & Dyer, 2003). This phenomenon is, in itself, worthy of greater investigation as many people today increasingly identify themselves by their most meaningful form of leisure rather than by their occupation or place of work. The study group for this paper were members of the Queensland Flag Marshals League Inc. (QFML) who volunteer their time to the club. The League was formed in 1982 in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia to act as flag marshals for motorcycle road racing meetings held at Lakeside International Raceway, Kurwongbah. QFML volunteers act as officials at designated flag points and wave or display the appropriate coloured flag to riders to indicate changed track conditions. Their efforts in undertaking their volunteer role are paramount in terms of risk management as one might readily accept that when racing motorcycles at speeds of over 200km/h, safety and proper track management becomes a vital issue for riders and officials alike. This exploratory study, which involved a qualitative-experimental design incorporating in-depth personal interviews and personal observation, found that QFML volunteers exhibited all of Stebbins’ qualities (1999) for serious leisure engagement. Additionally for long-term volunteers at sporting events, this study has found that the activity itself was the most important factor motivating volunteers, closely followed by socialisation with like-minded individuals. Significantly, a range of barriers and constraints for volunteer engagement in flag marshalling were found. Impediments to involvement of the race official in their serious leisure included conflict with their partner’s casual leisure interests, family commitments, amount of leisure time available on the weekends, availability of discretionary money to travel to race meetings and fatigue due to volunteering for up to 8 hours per day for 3 days in a row at national race meetings. However, the study found that neither physical ability nor age is a deterrent to these volunteers of the Queensland Flag Marshals League