Editorial: sport volunteering, educational leadership and social transformation

Abstract

Volunteerism is considered an innately altruistic and meaningful act. In light of prevailing public health, well-being and educational discourses, volunteerism has been afforded greater value as an area of global concern; particularly in relation to creating and sustaining opportunities for people to engage in sport, physical activity and leisure. Against this backdrop, the interrelated area of sport, physical activity, physical education and leisure-related volunteering represent a vibrant landscape of ideas, activities and enterprise. From local community and grassroots ventures, regional development projects, to large scale sport mega-events, volunteerism within this space offers a means for substantial individual and collective interaction, personal and professional skill development, knowledge transfer, capacity building and sector transformation. Yet, while advantageous aspects of volunteerism are well-founded, they may rarely be guaranteed. Rather, sustaining volunteerism (both in and beyond the sport sector) requires considerable foresight, investment, resourcing and goodwill. Moreover, while volunteerism may provide considerable benefits for those involved, and official organisation rhetoric continues to pronounce volunteerism as means to/of ‘mobility’, ‘change’, ‘action’ and ‘empowerment’, such characteristics and benefits are not always inherent, evident or shared equally among participants. Moreover, nor do they necessarily contribute to the growth and sustainability of the sector more generally. Accordingly, it remains of value to interrogate volunteerism and sport volunteerism as a site of collaborative social interaction, experience and opportunities. This special issue explores sport volunteering; educational leadership; social transformation, in addition to this editorial, 6 papers build on debates and discussions positioning the impact and importance of sport for good in the communities they focus on. The links between sport volunteering, leadership and social transformation make a unique contribution to the literature on sport, education and society. These connections concern both theory and practice as this aligns with government initiatives and policies to encourage volunteering for social development and sustainability.