Celebrate National Volunteer Week

Volunteers at the 2019 ISPS Handa Women & # 39; s Australian Open with champion Nelly Korda

With an estimated 2.3 million Australians offering their sport and physical activity every year, Kate Palmer, CEO of Sport Australia, encourages every sporting participant to thank their local volunteers during National Volunteers Week.

National Volunteer Week from 20-26 May celebrates the six million Australians who voluntarily devote their time to the causes in Australia, and Palmer says that no industry benefits more than sports.

"Volunteers donate 158 million hours to exercise, which is the equivalent of nearly 90,000 full-time jobs. Research has rated that contribution conservatively at $ 3 billion, but for me and the Australian sports industry, our volunteers are invaluable – they are the backbone of the Australian sports industry.

"It would be misleading to describe volunteering as a thankless task, since Australian sport is one of the most passionate and dedicated volunteers in the world. Volunteering is linked to positive mental, social and physical benefits.

"At the same time, we must ensure that our volunteers feel valued, because the reality is that many sports in Australia may not exist without the commitment and dedication of our volunteers.

"We should celebrate our volunteers every day, but I urge every Australian sporting participant to make extra efforts and to extend his hand this week and to thank them. It could give your mother or mother and extra hug for it Coaching your football team It can give the officials three cheers at the end of your game or just say thank you, it could help the team manager to carry the sporting kit bag.

"You may even want to take a pair of tongs at the canteen barbecue and offer yourself as a volunteer. The more volunteers the Australian sport has, the stronger we will be."

The theme of the National Volunteer Week is "Making a world of difference" and it will include thousands of events across the country.

Volunteers in sports research *

• Unlike volunteering in general, sports volunteering and in particular sports volunteering from club sports is strong for families.

• About 77 percent of the sports team volunteers are between 35-54 years old, compared to 30 percent of the non-sport volunteers.

• The types of roles that sports volunteers play are: general support (55 percent); fundraising (45 percent); scorer or timekeeper (37 percent); canteen / bar duties (35 percent); be a board member or manager (31 percent); be a coach, instructor or teacher (28 percent); or be a referee (22 percent).

• Volunteering based on seasonal clubs is the most common (58 percent, but nearly one in four (24 percent) volunteers in club sports throughout the year.

• Club sports volunteers spend some time volunteering with half (52 percent) of the weekly sports team volunteers who give more than 10 hours a week.

* Note that the above survey for sports volunteers is based on Sport Market Market Segment Report, 2014, available at this link.

Thank your local volunteers on social media using the hashtag # NVM2019