The Impact of the 2010 Women’s Rugby World Cup on Sustained Volunteering in the Rugby Community

Abstract

Major sport events increasingly rely on volunteers to sustain their operations. Thus, event organisers are concerned with the task of identifying volunteers and utilising appropriate strategies to retain them. The purpose of the study is to explore the potential of harnessing volunteer activity in different contexts, as a result of previous single-sport event experience, and to determine which factors influence future volunteering decisions. Data that was related to volunteers’ profile, motivations, satisfaction, and future volunteer intentions was gathered through an online survey on 70 volunteers of the 2010 Women’s Rugby World Cup. Factor analysis was employed to summarise volunteers’ motivations and satisfaction with their experience. Regression analysis was then applied to identify which of these factors, for example, which motivations, aspects of satisfaction with the experience, socio-demographic characteristics, and previous sport engagement determine future intentions to volunteer in similar events or in sport clubs. The implications of the findings for event organisers are then discussed.

1. Introduction

Sport events are increasingly becoming more complex, as they attract many participants and spectators, and they often lead to financial pressures and organisational difficulty [1]. There is a range of events of different size, style and focus with different organisational and resource requirements. For example, the London 2012 Olympic Games relied on 70,000 volunteers [2]. Events of a smaller scale, however, (i.e., city marathon) may rely on about 50 to 1000 volunteers, depending on the number of roles that are available to ensure the event’s viability [3]. The cost of running sport events without the contribution of volunteers would be unbearable [4]. Contrary to more regular volunteering pursuits, volunteering at major sport events constitutes a relatively unique and intense but episodic experience for the volunteers that are involved [5]. It is also argued that the larger the event the more unique the volunteer demographic and often with a limited connection to sport. On the other hand, the volunteer demographic at single-sport events reflects the profile of the participants of the specific sport concerned [6]. Beyond the economic impact of volunteers’ contributions, it is imperative to consider the broader social impact of bringing individuals together to work towards a shared goal and developing their skills [7]. The episodic nature of events suggests that understanding the profile and the motivations of the volunteers involved, and providing them with a rewarding experience can inspire a greater intention to continue volunteering and to create a strong volunteer base for future community events [8]. This is important since volunteers are critical for both the sport clubs and sport event contexts. For example, sport participation in England is sustained by volunteer efforts since there are approximately 85,000 volunteer-run sport clubs nationally [4]. Sport England, the local sports council, is aware of the link between achieving an increase in sport participation through increasing volunteer numbers [9]. Thus, it seems that the recruitment, training, and management of volunteers to help at single-sport events should be informed by the interconnections between club and event activity [10]. Nevertheless, most organising committees simply rely on volunteers to deliver the event and fail to consider the strategic ways of recruitment, training and development of volunteers in the long-term and create a post-event volunteering legacy by transferring volunteer skills to other events or organisations in the future [4]. Moreover, little is known about whether individuals are driven to volunteer at such events based on a general interest in sport and volunteering or a sport-specific interest. For example, one of the main reasons to volunteer at the Olympic Games may be the event itself, rather than a genuine interest in volunteering as an altruistic act [11].

Despite the plethora of research on event volunteer motivations, the multi-dimensionality of the concept, as well as variations in sample sizes, measurement employed, and event types suggest that motivations may vary over time and across different events and individuals [11]. It is also still unclear whether other aspects of the volunteering experience at an event can have an effect on increasing the post-event volunteering levels. The mechanisms and variables that are more likely to contribute to the transfer of volunteer interest and increase in volunteering levels after an event are not well explored [10]. For example, several authors argue that socioeconomic characteristics and the levels of pre-existing social networks an individual is exposed to, as well as the support that is available from local and national organisations are relevant factors in determining the decision to engage in sport or volunteering. However, the social capital that is developed through volunteering in English sport clubs is often exclusive. For example, certain societal groups are underrepresented in sport volunteering. Moreover, most of these clubs focus on single-sport provision, contrary to the multi-sport hubs that are existent in other parts of Europe. In addition, most of these clubs do not proactively seek to grow their membership base and volunteer recruitment occurs informally. Thus, volunteer engagement is exclusive to the needs, values, and interests of like-minded individuals stemming from the love of a sport and the desire to help the club to function rather than a genuine desire to play a broader role in community-sport provision [10,12]. These associations often do not approach volunteers but wait for the latter to approach them based on their commitment to the club’s values [10,12]. It follows that event volunteers with limited prior sport engagement, but with a desire to continue volunteering in sport clubs after their initial event experience, may be less aware of ways to get involved if no relevant support is in place. Sport club volunteers may also be less inclined to transfer their skills and experiences to other volunteering contexts, such as events, if their needs are met through club volunteering, and if no support is made available to facilitate this transfer [10,11].

With these issues in mind, the current research is offered to address the following concerns in the volunteering literature. First, to explore the characteristics, motivations, and aspects of the volunteering experience that contributed to the satisfaction of a sample of volunteers at the 2010 WRWC. Second, to identify the separate effects of different factors, including volunteers ‘profile, previous sport and volunteering engagement, motivation to volunteer, and satisfaction with the experience on the intentions of the 2010 WRWC volunteers to continue volunteering in other events or to transfer their volunteering across activities, such as in different events or sport clubs.

To this end, a case-study of an international women’s rugby event that was hosted in London in August 2010 was examined. The Rugby Football Union of Women (RFUW), which is the governing body of women’s rugby in England, won the right to host the 2010 International Rugby Board (IRB) Women’s Rugby World Cup (WRWC) in London. The event took place in West London and showcased the top 12 international teams in world rugby at the time. The 2010 WRWC, as an international sport competition, needed a volunteer workforce to support its operational delivery. Approximately 300 individuals volunteered at the 2010 WRWC [13]. The RFUW aimed to recruit volunteers from both clubs and the community [13]. The research team made contact with RFUW officers who agreed to support the conduction of the study. The hosting of the 2010 WRWC from the RFUW presented an ideal opportunity to test the actual impact of event volunteering on club volunteering and vice versa, as well as to investigate the stated intentions of future activity in volunteering.

This can enable the RFUW and its clubs network as well as future single-sport event organisers to make well informed decisions and strategies regarding the recruitment, retention, and development of their volunteers in an attempt to transfer volunteer efforts across activities. The next section presents the review of the literature to provide a rationale for the factors to be included in this empirical study.

2. Literature Review

This section reviews the volunteering literature to provide a rationale for the factors to be included in this empirical investigation and to answer the research questions. The review begins with a discussion of volunteers’ motivations and then explores the socio-demographic profile of event volunteers. It is argued that volunteers in sport clubs and events have quite distinct motivations and sociodemographic characteristics [6,9]. The latter represents the constituency of volunteer recruitment and has been shown to play a key role in determining individuals’ motivation and attitudes towards volunteering [3,6]. These are now discussed, along with the possibility that satisfaction with the voluntary activity and previous sport and volunteering engagement, may then lead the individual to sustain their volunteer efforts and proceed to other future volunteering roles in sport clubs or at different sport events [14].

2.1. Volunteer Motivation

Several theories have been proposed to understand the nature of volunteer motivation and to make sense of complex behavioural processes. These theories suggest that volunteers are motivated by a combination of altruistic and egoistic factors, as well as certain psychological functions that are met through the voluntary activity (e.g., ref [15]). Generally, motivation can be defined as “an internal process or a state of an organism that leads to activation” [16] (p. 472). Understanding motivation is an important determinant of the reasons that are underpinning an individual’s involvement with the voluntary activity and the identification of relevant tasks, the likelihood that the experience will be satisfying and rewarding, and will then lead the individuals to continue volunteering [17]. Recently, ref [18] proposed that both individual (e.g., socio-demographic background) and institutional (e.g., the nature of the event) factors influence the decision to engage in volunteering. Volunteer motivation is multi-dimensional, which means that individuals seek to fulfil different motives out of volunteering, even if they engage in similar activities [19]. Thus, motivation affects three aspects of the volunteer experience: initiation of the volunteer process (recruitment), satisfaction with the volunteer experience; and, retention of volunteer efforts [20].

A range of different scales have been developed over the years to examine both the drivers of volunteer motivations at sport events, but also whether the nature of the event (e.g., multisport vs single-sport or regional) and the individual’s profile impact upon the motivation to volunteer. For example, ref [8] proposed a 28-item scale, the Sport Event Volunteer Motivation Scale (SEVMS) and found four factors that contribute to volunteers’ motivations at sport events. The factors included purposive incentives (i.e., doing something useful and contributing to society); solidary (i.e., social interaction and networking); external conditions (i.e., extrinsic motivation); and, commitments (i.e., expectations from others for volunteering). Ref [8] found that the purposive motivation was ranked as the most important, whereas external conditions and commitments as the least important. The authors further concluded that the distinct nature of a special event may suggest different motives for the volunteers that are involved when compared to other volunteering situations. Subsequently, ref [17] further developed SEVMS by proposing a 40-item scale through the review of additional literature and surveyed 85 volunteers at the Florida’s Capital City Marathon. The authors identified five motivations that were linked to material gain; leisure; desire to contribute to the event; family; external links; and, social interaction.

Motivations of volunteers at the FIFA World Cup were examined by [21] who proposed the Volunteer Motivation Scale for International Sporting Events (VMS-ISE). Six factors were identified, suggesting the significance of Expression of Values; Patriotism; Interpersonal Contacts; Personal Growth; Career Orientation; and, Extrinsic Benefits. Subsequently, ref [22] validated the VMS-ISE in the context of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games and have added the love of sport as a relevant factor for mega sport event volunteering. This resonated on the theory of sport fan involvement, where the prior engagement with the sport itself, such as through volunteering, participation, or spectating is considered to be a relevant reason to drive such volunteering [22]. The revised scale exhibited high reliability and validity.

The determinants of volunteer motivations and how these impact on future voluntary engagement of volunteers at two international single-sporting events were explored by [1]. The authors concluded that significant differences in volunteer motivations exist based on the type of event and that intrinsic motivations, such as feeling needed or exploring own strength, were deemed more important than extrinsic factors among their volunteer sample.

In contrast, ref [2] found that London 2012 Olympic Games’ volunteers were motivated by reasons that were related to the centrality of the Games. Similarly, ref [11] found that individuals volunteered at the Sydney World Master Games primarily for the opportunity to be part of a unique event followed by transactional reasons such as skills’ development that could help in future employment. Most recently, in the context of London 2012 Olympic Games, ref [23] used a modified version of SEVMS and clustered volunteers in three distinct segments (the obligated, enthusiastic, and semi-enthusiastic) based on their motivations. It was found that volunteers belonging to the enthusiastic group were mainly females of a younger age and scored more highly in all of the motivation categories when compared with the other groups. This further exemplifies the relevance of sociodemographic characteristics in determining attitudes towards volunteering.

The literature also suggests that volunteer motivations may change over time and across settings [24]. For example, long-term volunteers in sport clubs are more likely to volunteer to give something back and to help the club to function. On the contrary, sport event volunteers are more likely to help at an event for the opportunity to be part of a unique experience and develop interpersonal contacts [25]. Thus, volunteer experiences influence volunteers’ commitment to the organisation or voluntary act and this issue needs to be closely examined by researchers [25].

The above discussion indicates a variety of contributing factors that motivate individuals to volunteer at international sporting events, despite the overlapping domains that are featuring in motivation research [1,11,22,23]. Generally, different group of volunteers prioritise the fulfilment of different motives at different events. This suggests that the context and nature of volunteering, such as the size of the event and the intercultural differences, determine volunteers’ participation, along with their demographic and prior sport engagement [3,6,11,22]. The following subsections explore how satisfaction with the context of volunteering, along with sociodemographic and sport engagement variables, affects future volunteering decisions.

2.2. Socio-Demographic Characteristics and Sport Engagement

Sport events tend to attract volunteers from relatively distinct constituencies in comparison to more regular volunteering contexts, such as sport clubs [10]. Past research discussed the influential role that socio-demographic characteristics play in determining future volunteering and attitudes towards volunteering [3,6,10,26]. In addition, depending on the context individuals from certain socio-demographic groups are more inclined to volunteer when compared to others [9,10]. For example, in the sport club context, males are twice as likely to volunteer as females [9]. Employment status, educational profile, and age reflect a pattern among those who choose to volunteer since generally volunteers tend to be in employment and are highly educated. It also seems that individuals aged 18–24 and 45–54 years are more likely to volunteer at large events. This, for the younger age group, perhaps reflects their desire to develop their employability skills [22]. In the context of the London 2012 Games, it was found that most of the volunteers were 45 years or older and in paid employment [2]. Despite failing to include in her analysis, ref [3] acknowledged the potential influence of socio-demographic characteristics on volunteers’ future intentions to engage in other similar events and the community following their experience at the 2001 Canada Summer Games.

By the same token [26] and subsequently [27] concluded that prior involvement with a sport determines the transition process to become a volunteer. Ref [26] stressed that the level and extent of volunteers’ involvement in swimming was influenced by their previous participation in the sport and their children current involvement. However, sport event volunteers are less inclined to volunteer because of their children, as it may be the case with sport clubs [6,9].

The importance of love of sports in determining volunteers’ involvement at mega-sport events was also discussed by [22], using the theory of sport fan involvement. Accordingly, ref [27] stressed that former athletes were more likely to engage in volunteering after their playing career has ended, as they expressed greater psychological, social, and emotional attachment to the sport and the club. Finally, in a large-scale survey with London 2012 volunteers, ref [2] identified that the majority of their sample had volunteering experiences elsewhere prior to the Games. On the contrary, ref [11] concluded that among a sample of volunteers from Vancouver 2010 and London 2012 Olympic Games, those who had previously volunteered in sports, events, or community groups were less likely to increase their post event volunteering, possibly due to a lack of time and their volunteer commitments elsewhere.

2.3. Satisfaction with the Volunteering Experience

The final determinant to be considered concerns how satisfaction through the experience of volunteering may affect the continued activity in the future, and its potential transfer to other contexts. The literature argues that volunteers’ job satisfaction is founded in a link between motivations, expectations, and actual experiences [8,28]. This is essential in leading to higher levels of commitment to the sports organisation and consistency in subsequent behaviour [25].

Satisfaction can be classified in two different types, cognitive and affective. Affective satisfaction reflects the extent volunteers experience positive feelings and emotions from their experience overall (global satisfaction), while cognitive satisfaction refers to the extent individuals value and are satisfied with facets of their volunteer role, such as working hours and environment, support, rewards obtained, supervision, operating procedures, and communication with co-workers (facet satisfaction) [29].

This sentiment is echoed at sports events. Ref [30] reported that satisfaction among volunteers that were involved in the 1994 Lillehammer Winter Olympic Games was determined by the job environment, the opportunity to be part of the event, to develop social networks, and to achieve certain task specific competencies. Ref [8] concluded that volunteers at an elite sporting competition expected good communication, support, and their personal expectations to be fulfilled prior to their involvement with the event, while the organisation and the facilities of the event, as well as the perceived recognition from both athletes and event organisers were noted as important determinants of their satisfaction with the event experience. This implies that volunteer management is directly related to the volunteers’ perceived satisfaction with the experience [28].

As far as future volunteering is concerned, ref [31] suggest that satisfaction with specific job duties were major determinants of intentions to remain a volunteer. Similarly, ref [3] identified that satisfaction with experiences at the 2001 Canada Summer Games affected the future intentions of volunteers. In the latter case, the effects were noted to be different for volunteers that were planning the event, and those that were delivering the event on site. This relates to the multidimensional nature of satisfaction and the need to evaluate it as both an ongoing and a post-experience attitude. Large scale sport events normally tend to occur once in a person’s lifetime. Thus, if volunteer satisfaction is evaluated in the immediate aftermath of the event, volunteers tend to focus on their overall satisfaction with the event experience. In this case, they fail to account for their expectations prior to the event and the processes that are involved in delivering the event [32]. Therefore, sufficient time needs to have passed for the immediate excitement to disappear and for satisfaction to be measured reliably. The study seeks to examine whether post-hoc perceptions of satisfaction with an event along with other variables impact upon future volunteering and the transfer of volunteer efforts. This is discussed in the following sections.

2.4. Determinants of Future Volunteering

The above discussion suggests that future volunteering is determined by volunteers’ profile, motivations, experiences, and level of sport engagement. Despite this, only limited studies have explored the impact of these factors collectively on the transfer of volunteer efforts to other contexts following an initial volunteering experience, particularly for episodic events [33]. For instance, ref [6] identified the positive impact of prior sport event volunteer experience on future volunteering, as volunteer experiences at the 2002 Commonwealth Games raised the intentions for more sport participation, interest, and volunteering in general in a study that was conducted a year after the event. Ref [1] identified the positive impact of motivations to volunteer at a handball or equestrian event on intentions for future sport club or sport event volunteering. One of the few studies that accounted for the impact of all these factors collectively on determining future volunteering decisions was in the context of women’s rugby clubs in England by [10]. While accounting for variations in the emphasis of the results, the study showed that both the retention of the rugby club volunteering effort, as well as its transfer to other contexts, such as in rugby or other major sport events, is affected by the motivations to volunteer, sociodemographic and sport engagement variables, as well as satisfaction as experienced through the club [10]. Accordingly, ref [7] drew insights from a sample of London 2012 volunteers and discussed the impact of standard variables on the transfer of volunteer efforts across future sport club and general volunteering. Their findings provide statistical support for the hypothesised impact of motivational, dispositional, sociodemographic, and sport engagement variables in promoting future volunteering in other contexts. Social capital theory is relevant in explaining the mechanisms that promote this transitional decision-making process among volunteers. It is often claimed that volunteering in sport develops social capital [10,34] and facilitates social mobility through bonding and bridging mechanisms within voluntary associations [35]. Bonding applies to developing tight-knit relationships between members of homogeneous groups, such as sport club members. Bridging refers to developing links across more heterogeneous groups of people though for example sport event volunteering [7,10,35]. In this regard, if bonding dominates, it may mean that volunteers who have formed tight-knit relationships with their clubs are less inclined to volunteer in other contexts, even if they are associated with the same sport. If it does not, then the bridging of social capital is encouraged where human resources are more likely to be mobilised across different volunteer activities stemming from the love of sport or other relevant motivations [10,35]. However, the decision to engage in sport as a participant or volunteer is often determined by macroeconomic factors, socioeconomic characteristics, and the degree of pre-existing levels of social capital that an individual has developed over time, through their exposure to different social and relational networks in sports or elsewhere. In this case, the enthusiasm arising from the hosting of an international sport event that often determines volunteer decisions to be part of it, is often short-lived [6,10]. Nevertheless, ref [34] by evaluating a volunteer legacy organisation that was established after the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games concluded that there is the potential to convert the episodic enthusiasm of mega-event volunteers to a long-term volunteering interest, and in the process, develop social capital through the development of volunteers’ skills, social interaction and collective identities. This, however, can only be facilitated, if relevant support networks are in place and the volunteers are made aware of them. On the contrary, ref [11] identified that previous volunteering engagement hinders the possibility of further volunteering after an event, which perhaps reflects the impact of being a current volunteer and the lack of time that is associated with it in reducing the likelihood of transferring volunteer efforts across contexts. Similarly, ref [23] noted a reluctance of certain social groups to transfer volunteer activity to other contexts following their experiences at the London 2012 Olympic Games, as only younger females were more enthusiastic with this possibility. Thus, the dynamics of inspiring a post-event sustainable volunteer engagement appear to be complex and the balance of these forces needs to be tested empirically. Notwithstanding the differences noted in the literature between volunteer profiles, motivations, engagement, and satisfaction, the focus of this paper is not to solely examine these issues. Rather, the paper seeks to empirically test the hypothesised impact of such key dimensions of a single-sport event volunteering experience along with volunteers’ profile in determining the decisions to volunteer, continue volunteering, or to transfer volunteer activity across contexts.

3. Methodology

Context Data and Variables

Following the approach of [10], the current research expects that the motivations for, and satisfaction with, WRWC volunteering will not only contribute to further rugby event volunteering intentions, but also transfer to volunteering at other sport events, as well as rugby club volunteering. The mechanisms of this transfer of effort between event and club activity are explained by bonding and bridging social capital processes that can be developed through voluntary association, as noted earlier. Thus, it may be expected that a volunteer of a certain demographic profile may be prepared to transfer his efforts in another context if the experience is satisfactory or due to pre-existing levels of social capital that an individual has developed over time, and in seeking to meet certain motivational needs in different contexts. This will be tested empirically in the current study. Data for this study was collected through two online surveys among 70 volunteers at the 2010 WRWC-one before and one after the event. Approximately 300 volunteers assisted with the operations of the 2010 Women’s Rugby World Cup, and hence this equates to a 23.3% response rate for the current sample [13]. Anecdotal discussion with the RFUW Volunteer Manager suggested that the RFUW aimed to recruit volunteers from both male and female rugby clubs and the community through word of mouth and online advertising to assist with the event.

The event organisers, (RFUW) granted permission to the research team to conduct the study. A panel of experts including academics and three representatives of the RFUW, including their Volunteer Manager, was asked to thoroughly examine the surveys prior to distribution to ensure that it meets ethical requirements and content validity. The RFUW contacted all event volunteers via email with a URL-link to the pre-event online survey.

Results from both of the surveys are presented in this article. Socio-demographic profile, sport and volunteering experiences, and motives for being a volunteer are taken from the pre-event survey, whereas satisfaction and future volunteer intentions are from the survey six months after the event. The responses for each respondent between the two surveys was possible to be linked, as participants of the pre-event survey were encouraged to disclose their email addresses if they wished to be contacted for a follow-up study. The researchers approached the participants who provided email addresses with a URL-ink to the follow-up survey. The participants were guaranteed confidentiality. The post-event survey was conducted sometime after the event, in order to eliminate volunteers’ immediate enthusiasm with the event, which could add bias in their responses [36,37]. Similarly, ref [6] assessed the experiences and intentions of the 2002 Commonwealth Games volunteers a year after the completion of the event. Three reminder emails were sent to reaffirm non-respondents and the data collection was finalised in April 2011.

4. Results

4.1. Independent Variables

4.1.1. Socio-Demographics

Table 1. Socio-demographic variables.

Variable	Description	Mean	SD
Gender	‘1 Male, 0 Female’	0.500	0.504
Children	Have children ‘1 Yes, 0 No’	0.19	0.392
Ethnicity	‘1 White British, 0 Other ethnicity’	0.930	0.259
Education	‘1 Degree level education, 0 Other’	0.610	0.490
Fulltime	‘1 Full time work, 0 Not’	0.571	0.498
Partime	‘1 Part time work, 0 Not’	0.157	0.366
Student	‘1 Student, 0 Not’	0.129	0.337
Retired	‘1 Retired, 0 Not’	0.086	0.281
Unemployed	‘1 Unemployed, 0 Not’	0.057	0.204
age1824	‘1 Aged 18 to 24 years, 0 Not’	0.357	0.482
age2534	‘1 Aged 25 to 34 years, 0 Not’	0.142	0.352
age3544	‘1 Aged 35 to 44 years, 0 Not’	0.142	0.455
age4559	‘1 Aged 45 to 59 years, 0 Not’	0.285	0.455
age6069 **	‘1 Aged 60 to 69 years, 0 Not’	0.071	0.259

** Aged 70 years and above is omitted category.

summarises the socio-demographic characteristics of the sample. The variables are measured as binary values, with the mean values indicating the sample proportions of the respective categories being measured. The data reveal a balanced gender distribution, as 35 of the participants were male and 35 were female. This is consistent with a study on women’s rugby clubs in England that revealed that support for women’s rugby is balanced between males and females [10]. Six age categories reveal that the majority of volunteers (35.7%) came from the age group 18–24, with 28.6% from the second largest age group of 45–59. In contrast, ref [10] found balanced proportions of age categories between 25 and 60 years of age. As expected at an event context, the age groups suggest the skewed distributions within the sample [3]. The data also reveal a high incidence of degree-level education for the majority of respondents as 61.4% were educated to degree-level. This is consistent to the women’s rugby clubs’ context [10]. Most (57.1%) of the respondents stated that they were in full-time employment at the time of the survey, followed by 15.7% in part-time occupations, and 12.9% being students. The respondents were predominantly white British (93%), as with the women’s rugby clubs study. The majority of respondents (81%) had no dependent children living at home. This is perhaps indicative of the younger age background of the volunteers involved with the event, followed by those volunteers at the 45 to 59 age range who tend to have children that are grown up and do not live any longer under their dependency. In contrast, ref [10] found that 27% of their sample had dependent children living at home. These results confirm the sentiments that are expressed in the literature [2,6,9].

4.1.2. Sports Participation and Volunteering Engagement

Table 2. Sport engagement & volunteering variables.

Variable	n	Description	Mean	SD
plyrugby	70	Playing rugby ‘1 Yes, 0 No’	0.543	0.502
plyothsp	70	Playing other sport ‘1 Yes, 0 No’	0.343	0.478
Type	70	Volunteer in women’s game ‘1 Yes, 0 No’	0.29	0.455
Currentlyvolunter	70	Currently volunteering in clubs ‘1 Yes, 0 No’	0.543	0.502
pastvolunteering	37	Past volunteering in clubs ‘1 Yes, 0 No’	0.26	0.44
years	70	Years volunteering at the club	4.37	6.265
hrsseason	70	Weekly hours in season	4.6	6.102
hrsnotseason	70	Weekly hours out of season	3.59	5.058
othvol	70	Volunteer elsewhere ‘1 Yes, 0 No’	0.442	0.5
Importance	33	Rugby more important ‘1 Yes, 0 No’	0.479	0.485
Satisfaction	54	Range: ‘5 very satisfied to 1 very satisfied’	4.35	0.894

summarises the sport and volunteering engagement of the event volunteers’ sample. The sport participation and volunteering behaviour of the participants was assessed through a number of binary and continuous variables. A 54% of the sample currently played the game, with 34% of the respondents participating in other sports, which shows a commitment to sports participation among the sample. The majority of the event volunteers (54%) confirmed their current involvement with club volunteering in rugby. However, from the remaining 46% of the event volunteers who were not involved in club volunteering at the time of the survey, approximately 26% stated that they were volunteering in rugby clubs in the past. Of the 54% of those who reported an active rugby-club involvement at the time of the survey, approximately 29% volunteered primarily for the women’s game. This reveals that the volunteers involved at the 2010 WRWC represent a wider rugby constituency that is involved in other forms of the game either as participants or volunteers, and not particularly in women’s rugby. Skewed distributions of the years of involvement in, and hours volunteered at rugby clubs are revealed by the data, but a high level of volunteer commitment is evident both during (Mean = 4.60) and outside the rugby season (Mean = 4.60). On average, volunteers in England contribute between two and three hours a week to their sport [9]. Significantly, 44% of the respondents volunteered for other organisations. These results suggest the potential of harnessing volunteer efforts across contexts. Those that were involved in other volunteering contexts along with rugby (65%), considered rugby as the most important voluntary activity that they are involved with, which reveals a certain attachment to the sport. Ref [10] suggested that the club volunteer population in women’s rugby is approximately 750 individuals and have revealed similar sociodemographic and participation patterns, as with the current study. Perhaps this is indicative that the current sample to an extent represents the wider volunteer population of women’s rugby clubs.

4.1.3. Event Motivation

The motivation scale that was used in the current study comprised of a total of 30 items. Items were measured on a 7-point Likert scale, indicating the level of agreement, ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). A modified version of the VMS-ISE, which was tested in the context of Athens 2004 Olympic Games and its volunteers by [22] was adopted to reflect the nature of a single-sport event such as the WRWC. No items were removed from the original scale, rather the items were slightly modified to reflect the nature of the WRWC, which is a single-sport event as opposed to the Olympic Games where the VMS-ISE was tested. The current study proposed the inclusion of another set of motives that reflect the leisure nature of volunteering, such as the seeking of “pleasure”, “enjoyment”, and “fun”. This set of motives was adapted from [17] who conclude that volunteering is seen by several volunteers as a hobby that would like to pursue in their leisure time. The scale was chosen as a relevant research tool for two reasons: First, because the factors that were included in the instrument adequately described most of the dimensions that were reviewed in the existing sport volunteering literature. Second, both the VMS-ISE and the leisure dimension of sport-event volunteering motivations were deemed as being valid and reliable in previous research [22].

4.1.4. Event Volunteers’ Satisfaction

Volunteers staffing the 2010 WRWC were also asked to complete a 36-item scale that explored the factors that may have contributed to their satisfaction with their volunteering experience at the event. Responses to all of the questions were graded using a seven-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree).

As this research shows volunteer satisfaction with the experience in an event is not only related to fulfilling volunteers’ expectations, but is also dependent on the degree the volunteers are satisfied with the organisation of the event and the competition facilities. This further confirms that both cognitive and affective components of satisfaction should be considered when managing volunteers [8,29].

4.2. Dependent Variables

Future Volunteering Intentions

The statements that were used to investigate volunteers’ future intentions reflected attitudes towards volunteering in rugby clubs “rugbyclubvolunteering”, rugby events “otherugbyevent”, or other future sport events “othesportevent”. All of the variables were scored on a seven-point Likert scale with values ranging from “1—strongly disagree” to “7—strongly agree”.

Table 3. Dependent Variables.

Variable	Description	Mean	SD
othrugevt	I am willing to volunteer for any other rugby-related event	6.06	1.14
rugbyclbvol	I intend to continue volunteering at rugby clubs	5.77	1.32
othspevt	I am willing to volunteer for any major sport event	5.88	1.31
n = 70

below reveals that the event experience has the potential to translate into more club activity (Mean = 5.77), which reflects the relevance of the transfer of effort across different contexts. Significantly, future volunteering at rugby events is rated most highly (Mean = 6.06), as indicated by a higher mean value and smaller standard deviation. A positive likelihood to get involved in other future major sport events, such as in the London 2012 Games, is also evident among rugby event volunteers (Mean = 5.88). Specific aspects of individual experiences and socio-demographics that contribute to predicting, sustaining, and promoting volunteers’ commitment to rugby and to the transfer of their efforts across other sporting contexts are explored further in subsequent ordinary least squares (OLS) regression analysis.

4.3. Factor Analysis

4.3.1. Factor Analysis of Event Motivation

Table 4. Event Motivations.

Items	Career	Patriotism	Contacts	Leisure	Rewards	Values	Growth	Love Rugby
I wanted to do something worthwhile						0.736
I feel it is important to help others						0.758
I wanted to help make the event a success						0.779
Because of my devotion to my country		0.835
I wanted to help my country gain international prestige		0.882
My love for my country makes me to help it to host an event		0.875
I want to express my pride in my country		0.830
I wanted to interact with others			0.832
I wanted to work with different people			0.821
I wanted to meet people			0.850
I wanted to develop relationships with others			0.712
Volunteering experience will look good on my C.V.	0.896
I wanted to gain some practical experience	0.788
I could make new contacts that might help my career	0.857
I wanted to gain work-related experience	0.798
I wanted to gain beneficial experience in any job	0.791
Volunteering makes me feel needed							0.890
I can explore my own strength							0.644
Volunteering makes me feel important							0.732
I wanted to get free food at the event					0.764
I wanted to get event licensed apparel					0.840
I wanted to get tickets/free admission					0.851
I like any event related to rugby								0.619
Rugby is something I love								0.862
I enjoy being involved in rugby activities								0.839
I wanted to get away from everyday life responsibilities				0.672
I wanted to slow down the pace of my life				0.725
Volunteering is a good escape from my own troubles				0.906
I wanted to relieve the stress of everyday life				0.947
By volunteering I feel less lonely				0.610
Cronbach’s a	0.915	0.909	0.923	0.859	0.885	0.863	0.871	0.794
Eigenvalues	4.110	3.941	3.595	3.401	2.685	2.512	2.398	2.288
Total Variance (%)	13.258	12.712	11.596	10.97	8.66	8.104	7.736	7.382

presents the results from an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) that was undertaken to summarise the items measuring the motivations to volunteer at the 2010 WRWC. Factors were extracted by undertaking a principal component analysis with Varimax rotation. Despite the small sample size, an examination of the Kaiser-Meyer Olkin measure of sampling adequacy suggested that the data matrix was factorable (KMO = 0.694), while the Bartlett test of sphericity {χ²(465) = 1856.784, p < 0.001} indicated that the dataset was significant at the 0.001 level [38].

Decisions on the number of factors to extract were based on item loadings that were equal to 0.6 or higher and had no substantial (0.4 or greater) cross loadings in keeping with the literature, as the sample size from the current survey is relatively low at n = 70 and the sampling adequacy poor (i.e., being less than 100 is “poor”) [39]. Eight factors were extracted, accounting for 80.4% of the total variance, by considering their eigenvalues being greater than 1.0, the loaded items in each factor being interpretable and the number of included items in each of the factors being at least three items [40].

The eight extracted factors were labelled: ‘Career Orientation’, which reflected the desire of individuals to develop their future career by volunteering at a sporting event. The ‘Patriotism and community values’ factor included items that reflected volunteers’ pride in their country by wanting to contribute to the event’s success. The third factor, ‘Interpersonal Contacts’ emphasised volunteers’ desire to develop social networks and make friendships through their experience at an international event. The ‘Leisure’ factor demonstrated volunteers’ desire to engage in event volunteering to escape from their daily routine. The ‘Extrinsic Rewards’ factor suggested that individuals volunteer at international sporting events to experience something that would otherwise be less affordable to attend and to be a part of. The sixth factor, ‘Expression of Values’ consisted of items related to altruism, as volunteers may be motivated by a desire to help others such as athletes, spectators, visitors and contribute to the event success. The ‘Personal Growth’ factor reflects the need of individuals to get involved in sport event volunteering to enhance their self-esteem and self-actualization. Finally, the ‘Love of Rugby’ factor described volunteers’ involvement with this international sporting event due to attachment with the sport. The Cronbach Alpha reliabilities for each of the extracted factors ranged from 0.79 to 0.92, suggesting that the factors were reliable [41].

Convergent validity was ensured by achieving high item loadings in each extracted factor [42]. Factor mean scores were also calculated and the Expression of Values emerged as the most important factor (Mean = 6.29, SD = 0.788) among this volunteer sample, followed by the Love of Rugby (Mean = 6.19, SD = 0.910). The least important motivation factor that was related to Extrinsic Rewards (Mean = 2.67, SD = 1.605).

4.3.2. Factor Analysis-2010 WRWC Volunteers’ Satisfaction

The satisfaction scale that was used in the current analysis of events was a modified version of [8] study on attributes of motivation and satisfaction of volunteers at an elite sport competition. In particular, 21 items from the original 24-item scale of [8] were adapted to reflect the WRWC context. Items that were excluded related to the satisfaction with air quality, the Lounge facility, and the tours that were not similar to the WRWC context. The remaining items were adopted from [43] who examined satisfaction of Polyclinic volunteers at the 2002 Winter Games with a unidimensional 24-item scale. A principal component analysis with a Varimax (orthogonal) rotation of the 36 scale questions from this satisfaction after the event survey was conducted on the data that were gathered from the 70 participants. An examination of the Kaiser-Meyer Olkin measure of sampling adequacy suggested that the sample was ideal for factor analysis (KMO = 0.883) and was significant at the 0.001 level (χ² (171) = 1280.428, p < 0.001) [39]. The four factors that emerged from the analysis explain 79.3% of the total variance. The Cronbach Alpha reliabilities for each of the extracted factors ranged from 0.86 to 0.95, suggesting the scale’s reliability [41].

Table 5. Event Satisfaction.

Items	Facilities	Organisation	Athletes’Attitudes	Support
Support received				0.629
Prior information received regarding my tasks				0.731
Communication with other volunteers				0.637
Athletes were appreciative of the care I provided			0.824
Athletes were agreeable to work with			0.865
Athletes contributed to a positive experience			0.790
Pre-event training was acceptable				0.728
The ceremonies		0.753
The opening ceremony		0.645
Rugby activities for spectators		0.757
Organisation of Rugby Games		0.677
Organisation of social events during the event		0.696
Facilities were well designed	0.679
Ease of movement around the facilities	0.841
Access at the facilities	0.845
Cleanliness of the facilities	0.903
Visibility of Rugby Games	0.866
On-site availability of bathroom facilities	0.840
Cronbach’s a	0.958	0.890	0.868	0.867
Eigenvalues	6.191	3.193	2.931	2.767
Total Variance (%)	32.582	16.804	15.428	14.565

presents the results of the EFA for volunteer satisfaction with the 2010 WRWC event.

The first factor was labelled ‘Satisfaction with the Tournament Facilities’ as it relates to volunteers’ reported satisfaction with aspects that are relevant to the ease of access, the air quality, and the cleanliness within the venue. The second factor relates to volunteers’ satisfaction with the organisation of the WRWC and other issues that were related to the event activities, such as the opening ceremony. Thus, it was labelled ‘Satisfaction with the Organisation of the Event and other Rugby Related Activities’. The third factor was named ‘Satisfaction with the Athletes’ Attitudes’ and comprised items reflecting volunteers’ interaction with the athletes and whether these contributed to a positive experience. Lastly, the fourth factor was labelled ‘Satisfaction with Support to Volunteer’, as it described aspects of pre-event training, information, and support provided to the volunteers at the WRWC to perform their duties effectively. Convergent validity was also achieved [41].

After calculating the factor mean scores, the participants reported higher scores for those items in the ‘Satisfaction with the Tournament Facilities’ factor (Mean = 6.12, SD = 1.138), followed by the factor ‘Satisfaction with Support to Volunteer’ (Mean = 6.01, SD = 1.047). Lower scores were reported for those items in the ‘organisation of the event and other rugby related activities’ factor (Mean = 5.37, SD = 1.212).

5. Predictors of Future Volunteering

In this section, the results of the regression analysis are presented. The available sample for regression analysis included 63 responses, which comprised the maximum set of observations across all of the variables analysed and excluded missing values as well as the responses of the 60–69 age group (five individuals) who showed no variation in their responses. As 32 covariates are used to measure motivation, socio-economic characteristics, sports engagement, and satisfaction with volunteering based on a widely accepted level of the power of a test of 0.8, a significance level of five per cent, and a conventionally “large” effect size of 0.35, a minimum sample size required is 98 observations [41]. Since this research follows an exploratory case-study framework, it does not aim to statistically generalise its findings to the wider sport event volunteer population. Thus, the available sample of 63 responses was deemed to be appropriate for regression analysis despite posing some limitations in the analysis of the data.

OLS multiple regression analysis was performed to examine the impacts of event volunteers’ socio-demographics, experiences, motivations, and satisfaction on their intentions to volunteer for future rugby events, with a rugby club or for other sport events.

Table 6. Regression analysis.

	(1) Othrugevt	(2) Rugbyclbvol	(3) Othspevt
Career-Orientation	−0.458	−0.018	−0.167
	(−1.43)	(−0.04)	(−0.37)
Patriotism	0.0481	0.114	0.00712
	−0.3	−0.47	−0.04
Interpersonal-Contacts	−0.0416	−0.304	0.0804
	(−0.16)	(−0.99)	−0.27
Leisure	−0.0957	−0.173	−0.066
	(−0.54)	(−0.68)	(−0.33)
Extrinsic-Rewards	−0.211	−0.253	−0.237
	(−0.88)	(−0.84)	(−0.88)
Expression-of-Values	0.198	0.255	0.158
	−0.71	−0.89	−0.47
Personal-Growth	0.236	0.174	0.332
	−0.95	−0.61	−1.66
Love-of-Rugby	−0.219	0.0825	−0.323
	(−0.68)	−0.26	(−1.18)
facilities	0.181	0.0102	0.165
	−0.89	−0.06	−0.57
Rugby-activities	−0.0378	0.35	−0.286
	(−0.18)	−1.67	(−1.35)
attitudes	0.0171	−0.485 *	−0.356
	−0.08	(−2.14)	(−1.87)
support	0.399 **	−0.165	0.536 *
	−2.75	(−0.84)	−2.3
plyrugby	−0.852	0.95	−0.284
	(−1.28)	−1	(−0.40)
plyothsp	−0.152	−0.541	−0.0107
	(−0.26)	(−1.00)	(−0.02)
type	0.397	0.736	0.44
	−0.79	−1.08	−0.84
years	0.00832	−0.0338	−0.000906
	−0.16	(−0.51)	(−0.02)
hrsseason	0.00363	0.0191	0.0159
	−0.04	−0.19	−0.17
hrsnotseason	0.0323	−0.0355	0.0282
	−0.26	(−0.29)	−0.25
othvol	0.259	0.224	−0.162
	−0.63	−0.41	(−0.31)
gender	−0.129	0.421	0.185
	(−0.47)	−1.27	−0.71
children	−0.0849	−0.715	−0.0178
	(−0.17)	(−1.17)	(−0.03)
ethnicity	−0.101	−1.186	−0.0204
	(−0.14)	(−1.05)	(−0.04)
education	0.991 *	0.328	1.075 **
	−2.13	−0.61	−2.81
Full-time	0.619	−1.664	−0.115
Part-time	0.0808	−1.037	−0.319
	−0.11	(−1.01)	(−0.38)
Student	0.427	−1.278	−0.0397
	−0.45	(−0.97)	(−0.04)
Retired	−0.129	−0.933	−0.0504
	(−0.15)	(−0.85)	(−0.06)
age1824	0.468	0.192	−0.493
	−0.28	−0.09	(−0.27)
age2534	−0.00603	0.995	−0.223
	(−0.00)	−0.48	(−0.12)
age3544	−1.194	1.139	−0.825
	(−0.84)	−0.62	(−0.55)
age4559	−0.38	1.072	−0.455
	(−0.37)	−0.92	(−0.50)
_cons	5.152 ***	6.498 ***	5.805 ***
	−4.14	−4.17	−5.06
N	63	63	63
1 R2	0.533	0.472	0.534

¹ As it is evident, there are very few significant variables but a reasonably sized R² suggesting that some multicollinearity may be present in the estimates, as expected with the small sample size used. This was considered, and an F-test was used to make the results more accurate.

presents the regression results for each case. The dependent variables are shown at the top of each column. For each regression model, the estimated coefficients, and the corresponding (asymptotic) “t” values are given and presented in the Table 5 below. Issues of heteroscedasticity within the data were accounted for by using robust standard errors to calculate the “t” values. These might occur because of subpopulation differences or because error terms are not independent and identically distributed (e.g., this normally occurs when the sample is not collected at random, which may lead to the participants having similarities between each other, which would not occur if they were randomly selected) [42]. The table also details the sample sizes as “n”. The corresponding R² and F statistic for the OLS regressions are also presented. Significant variables at the 1%, 5%, and 10% level are reported and are indicated by “***”, “**” and “*”, respectively. The corresponding R² and F statistic for the OLS regressions are also presented. All of the VIF statistics were below 10 with the vast majority of variables that are less than 2, suggesting that there is no serious multicollinearity in the results [39]. However, it was only the oldest age-group that showed no variation in the data, which is indicative of collinearity with the constant. However, the fact that this occurs for the oldest age groups is to be expected. Therefore, it was dropped from further analysis.

Before proceeding on commenting and explaining the results of the regression analysis, it is worth recalling what this research aims to achieve and what the hypotheses that are under investigation are. Firstly, it is expected that the general determinants of volunteering such as volunteers’ socio-economic background, motivation to volunteer, sports engagement, and satisfaction with the experience that have been shown to promote future event volunteering, will be shown to be also relevant in promoting the transfer of their efforts across other volunteering contexts, that is in that case to becoming engaged in other rugby, sport events, or rugby clubs. As shown in Table 6, each of the dependent variables appears to be affected by only one individual variable that is associated with satisfaction. Satisfaction with the experience of the RWC could increase other rugby and other sport event volunteering. In contrast, being appreciated by the players could reduce the intention to volunteer further for clubs. These results suggest that not only could a good experience of event volunteering promote further event volunteering in rugby and across other sports contexts, but it also may hinder club volunteering. In the former cases, moreover, having a degree-level education might also reinforce the potential for future volunteering. Ref [10] noted the instrumental role of higher education in the development of women’s rugby in England.

However, these limited significant individual variables and the relatively high R² suggest that, despite the amenable VIF statistics, some multicollinearity may be present in the estimates, despite it not being sufficient to cause problems with the estimation. For example, in the case of the other rugby events “otherugbygevent” equation the independent variables explained 53.3% of the variance on volunteers’ stated intentions (R² = 0.533, F = (31, 31) = 2.45, p < 0.05). The model also explained 47.2% of the variance in volunteers’ intentions to continue volunteering at a rugby club “rugbyclubvolunteering”. Finally, the results for the “othersportevent” equation show that the independent variables accounted for 53.4% of the total variance.

To allow for this, therefore, F-Tests of blocks of variables were undertaken to examine the motivation, satisfaction, socio-demographic, and sports engagement variables on each dependent variable.

The results suggest that satisfaction variables have a jointly significant effect for “otherugbyevent” (F = (4, 31) = 3.14, p < 0.05). The satisfaction variables also contribute jointly to the intentions to volunteer for “othersportevent” (F = (4, 31) = 3.54, p < 0.05), and similarly for “rugbyclubvolunteering” F = (4, 31) = 3.63, p < 0.05). None of the motivation, socio-demographics, and sports engagement variables emerged as significant in promoting future rugby club activity after the experience at the 2010 WRWC.

Taking into consideration the above regression results suggests that future volunteering effort in rugby events, other sport events, and women rugby clubs is retained and promoted by volunteer satisfaction, as experienced through a single-sport event context such as the 2010 WRWC. There is no evidence of motivations or sports engagement variables in promoting such intentions. Certain socio-economic variables, such as the education level of the participants affect the results, and, particularly stated intentions to volunteer for future rugby or other sport events. These results also provide statistical evidence for the stated impact of standard variables that are affecting both retention of volunteering and the transfer of volunteer effort to other similar contexts [10].

In this regard, the results also imply that even though certain variables determine future volunteer behaviour and can also contribute to the transfer of effort across contexts, the context that the voluntary activity takes place also determines future volunteering and provides further variation in the results. For instance, the factor ‘satisfaction with athletes’ attitudes’ has been shown to have a negative effect in promoting future club volunteering, despite having a positive effect on volunteering for other rugby or sport events. This means that depending on the context certain factors can ‘push’ volunteering, while in others, it may not be relevant and ‘pull’ volunteers away. In this case, volunteers at major sport events are often attracted by the opportunity to be part of a unique experience that cannot be replicated or met in the club’s context. Consequently, interacting with, being appreciated by, and helping elite athletes to participate at the event is not a relevant factor in promoting future club volunteering. However, this opportunity can be replicated or subsidised through volunteering at similar rugby or other major sport event contexts [22].

6. Conclusions

The volunteer workforce constitutes an integral component for the successful staging of international single or multi-sport events [1,2]. The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of certain factors on promoting future volunteer interest and transfer of volunteer activity across other contexts following an initial sport event experience. This is one of the few studies that examines the impact of certain variables in determining the potential for a volunteering legacy and the transfer of volunteering efforts across volunteering contexts. A similar study that accounted for all of these key variables, such as volunteer profile, motivations, satisfaction, and sport engagement in determining future volunteering decisions and the potential for a volunteering legacy beyond one context, has only been conducted in the sports-club setting by [10]. The current analysis confirms the notion that, despite the variations in the emphasis of the results, certain variables, such as the socio-economic background, prior sport engagement, and satisfaction with volunteering at the 2010 WRWC determine future volunteering behaviour, promote further volunteering in the event context, as well as the transfer of volunteer efforts across other sporting contexts, such as clubs.

This was facilitated by a comprehensive descriptive analysis of the variables that were included in the study and by examining the factor structure of the volunteer motivation and satisfaction scales. The multidimensional nature of volunteer motivations was confirmed in this international event context, since eight factors emerged as relevant reasons for volunteering at the 2010 WRWC. These factors include: career orientation, patriotism, interpersonal contacts, leisure, altruism, expression of values, personal growth, and the love of rugby. Most studies on mega sport event volunteers, particularly in the Olympics context, suggest the desire to part of a unique event, followed by the desire for affiliation as the main reasons for volunteering at such multi-sport events [2,23]. Ref [8] concluded that purposive and solidary factors that were related to helping to the success of the event and the community, and the need for social interaction were the most important among their volunteer sample at a regional event. Ref [17] found that utilitarian, such as perks of the job or career oriented and purposive reasons were the primary factors motivating volunteers at the Florida’s City Marathon. However, the current study found that the expression of values and love of rugby were the main factors that were influencing individuals to volunteer at the 2010 WRWC. This potentially reflects the desire for social capital development through bridging processes, in the sense that individuals representing the wider rugby community, who love the sport and had prior rugby involvement, either as participants or volunteers were brought together to help the developing sport of women’s rugby to grow, and their country to host a successful event [22,35]. This supports [8], who concluded that motivations of single sport event volunteers are somewhat different from that of multi-sport event or general volunteers. Further, ref [1] suggested that for the volunteers of an Equestrian and Handball event, who took part in their study, expression of values seemed to be the most important motivator, while the love of sports was important only for handball volunteers. This suggests that the differences on motivations could be detected based on the type and the novelty of the event (e.g., team-based vs individual as well as single-sport vs multi-sport events), and the different socio-demographic profiles of volunteers.

Similarly, four factors that were related to satisfaction with the event experience emerged. These include: satisfaction with the tournament facilities, satisfaction with the organisation of the event and other rugby related activities, satisfaction with athletes’ attitudes, and satisfaction with the support received to perform the volunteer duties. These factors reflect that both the environment that the event takes place as well as attributes of the volunteering experience, such as communication, support and perks of the job are important elements of volunteer satisfaction and determine the intentions to remain in volunteering. This echo previous studies. For example, ref [31] stressed the impact specific job duties had on satisfaction and subsequently intentions to remain a volunteer. Ref [8] also found that most volunteers at the 1996 Canadian Women’s Curling Championships were generally satisfied with the overall experience and specifically with the communication and the recognition received.

Particularly, the analysis of the 2010 WRWC volunteers’ sample broadly indicates that volunteers of a higher educational background, who found the event experience to be satisfying, were more likely to intent to volunteer for similar sport events in the future. This echo previous studies who discussed the instrumental role of higher education in the development of women’s rugby out of a pool of women graduates who played the sport while at university [10]. It also suggests that satisfaction with the experience at a single-sport event might encourage volunteers to get involved in and transfer their efforts to other event contexts, and it may also substitute for club volunteering. Similarly, a study by [10] found that satisfaction with specific aspects of the club volunteering experience, such as communication and job duties promote the transfer of volunteer efforts in the events’ context within the same sport and across other sport events. Thus, a targeted strategy could be employed by the RFUW in meeting their elite operational delivery, and goals once similar projects and opportunities accrue. For example, the RFUW could liaise with clubs and local universities in identifying highly educated individuals for help with their future events to better harness the volunteering potential, whilst seeking to emphasise the broader sport connection of volunteers at clubs and the interrelationship between mass and elite sport development. Partnerships could also be established between different event owners and the governing bodies acting as brokers in seeking to match volunteers with previous event volunteering experiences to future local, regional, or international events that are hosted by them.

Moreover, providing opportunities for skills’ acquisition and training through gaining volunteering qualifications could further attract new members to rugby clubs, who are committed to their lifelong education and to further promote clubs’ roles as hubs of human, and subsequently, social capital [12]. Importantly, the analysis does not reveal strong differences in the motivation of volunteers, which suggests that the themes of extending altruistic behaviour, with some self-interest in helping to meet people and to make friends could also be used in this endeavour. The context of volunteering has also been shown to encourage or to mitigate volunteers’ desire to transfer their efforts to other contexts. In this regard, as the factor ‘satisfaction with the athletes’ attitudes’ has been shown to promote both future rugby and other sport event volunteering, but mitigating volunteers’ future involvement in clubs, future policies could be developed from the RFUW or other sport governing bodies that could harness their elite athletes in the endeavours of recruiting club volunteers.

Whilst more research is needed on this transitional decision-making process, the results suggest that event organisers should work more closely with clubs and vice versa to better harness the volunteering potential and to help the club and sport be seen as more closely related. Yet, there is evidence to suggest that volunteers’ satisfaction can both drive future club and other event volunteering, thus adding to retention, and as part of bridging social capital processes between sport clubs and events stemming from altruism or self-interest. In this respect, there is no necessary conflict of interest to be managed. Overall, the research suggests that existing rugby volunteers do provide the potential for further support of sports activities, both within the sport and in other sports. The implication is that governing bodies could further target current club volunteers to support their own events, or through liaison with other governing bodies, clubs, and sports policy agencies, to support other sports and the local community. Therefore, sport governing bodies, club authorities, and event organisers should invest more in understanding their volunteer characteristics and driving forces in order to harness their skills and experiences at future events and projects that are developed by them, while providing a rewarding experience for the volunteers. With these issues in mind, the challenge for the RFUW authorities is to provide their volunteer workforce a sense of belonging to a wider rugby community and to develop a collective rugby identity that is not only the result of a particular experience. Only then, the potential of sport event volunteering in developing social bonds and trust among individuals who do not necessarily share the same values, as in clubs, could be harnessed [10,12]. For example, similar to the example of Manchester Event Volunteers, the RFUW could establish a volunteer broker and support organisation that can make existing volunteers aware and match volunteers’ profiles with available opportunities to further use their skills and develop social capital [34].

A limitation of this study is the small sample size that is used. Nonetheless, the results appear to be reliable. Future studies could make efforts to replicate the research design by using a larger sample size and extend this framework into international multi-sport events. This would increase our understanding of the multitude of factors that determine future volunteering decisions after an initial volunteer experience. Another limitation of this study is its longitudinal nature. Participants were approached in two different points in time to examine the impact of certain factors on their intentions to volunteer in the future. However, intentions are anticipated outcomes and not actual behaviour [44], even though the purpose of the study was to test the hypothesised impact of certain variables in determining volunteering decisions and not to track the shifts of volunteering activity over time. This could have potentially affected the reliability of the findings. Future studies could consider the shifts of volunteering activity between different points in time, both prior and following an event, in order to discover the actual impact of event volunteering on volunteers’ behaviour. Future studies could also employ qualitative research methods to achieve a more in-depth understanding of the effects of an international sport event volunteer experience on future volunteer decisions. In fact, there are many other influences on volunteering opportunities in the UK, which may influence future volunteering attitudes and behaviour, and often event managers have limited control over these [4]. To conclude, this study offers useful insights on the factors that determine future volunteering. Nonetheless, further research in different sport event contexts is needed to clarify the impacts of such factors on future volunteering intentions.