Abstract
One of the most valuable resources of volunteer sport organizations is human capital, which is provided mainly by coaches. Coaches play a special role as they provide direction and leadership to athletes. Their dedication and effort determines the success of many sport organizations. Despite this fact, very little is known about factors that influence the effort volunteer coaches put into their activity. As part of a larger study on volunteering, this research examines those factors. Three hundred and twenty four participants filled out a battery of measurement instruments on volunteer motives, satisfaction, efficacy, psychological climate, role clarity, and role acceptance. All instruments were based on volunteering literature. A stepwise multiple regression analysis was performed to examine the most influential factors of volunteer effort. Two follow-up stepwise multiple regressions examined the predictors for those predominant factors. The results showed that role acceptance was the most powerful significant predictor of effort, (F(10, 277) = 56.35, p <.001, R2 = .57), which was mainly influenced by role clarity (F(9, 278) = 31.13, p <.001 , R2 = .27). The psychological climate dimension of trust showed the highest predicting power for role clarity (F(7, 280) = 21.42, p <.001 , R2 = .18). Other predictors (i.e., aspects of satisfaction and efficacy) played a minor role in the analyses. The implications of the results and future research directions will be discussed.
