Barely a week goes by without sports officials being criticized, they are rarely popular, and no matter what they do they are more than likely to upset somebody. Given they are often volunteers, it is a wonder that many want to get involved at all!

While we can’t control exactly what they do on the field of play in the heat of the moment, we can however try to ensure that they are suitably prepared and able to deal with events in the correct manner.

Thats why we are working with Sports Officials UK and several national governing bodies of sport to develop a new set of national occupational standards for officials at the elite level in sport, which could form the basis for qualifications or training at Level 4.

We’ve got to a stage where a draft set of standards for officiating at the elite level are available for comment, developed through input from a steering group of industry experts.

The new standards cover:

• Managing oneself as an official at the elite level in sport
• Managing the competitive environment as an official at the elite level in sport
• Managing people whilst officiating at the elite level in sport
• Managing competition at the elite level in sport

The standards will define best practice for an official at the elite level in any sport and can be used in a range of training and employment settings:

• To develop training, courses and qualifications based on competencies required for working as an elite level official
• To support the definition of job roles
• As a basis for identifying and developing routes for progression and professional development

Recent research from Sport England and the CCPR certainly seem to suggest that is the case.

Volunteers are at the heart of most sports clubs

Sport England recently reported on their quarterly results for their Active People Survey, which provides the largest  survey of sport and active recreation undertaken in Europe. While the headline results showed promise, with 6,822,000 people (16 and over) now playing sport three times a week and regular participation holding firm since December 2008, as well as satisfaction with local sports provision increasing, there were some worrying trends including a decrease in volunteering.

Could it be that volunteering, along with competitive participation and membership, has suffered from the current economic environment?

With less disposable income it seems that participation in sporting activities, whether as a competitor or volunteer, is one of the things that suffers. A recent Times article, based on research by the CCPR, suggested that the recession could mean the final whistle for 6,000 community sports clubs due to falling membership.

The CCPR research noted that “volunteering is also being affected by the economic downturn, with more than a fifth of clubs saying that the circumstances have had a negative or very negative impact on attracting and retaining volunteers “.

Within our sector, volunteers play a crucial role in delivering activities across sport and active leisure, with volunteer hours equivalent to over 50,000 full time roles. These roles  can range from the obvious ones such as coaches and officials to many more roles behind the scenes such as those who maintain equipment or look after the finances.  One of the key barriers to volunteering, particularly in the front-line roles, is often the cost of training. With both clubs and volunteers currently suffering from a lack of funds this obviously impacts upon maintaining both the number of volunteers and their skills.

SkillsActive often plays a part in directing funding into the sector, and support a number of bursaries and projects which help those in the sector in funding their development. Our London and South West coaching bursaries were a huge success and there are a number of bursaries to coaches still available in some regions. In the East of England  the East-Links: Leading the Field programme provides opportunities in fitness and officiating as well as targeting coaches. Meanwhile in playwork, there is funding available for playworkers to undertake level 3 qualifications, allowing advancement of skills for those in or looking to join the sector.

For more information on volunteering, whether in sport or other areas, Volunteering England have a whole host of information on their website with a large section dedicated to sport. 

If you’ve seen the impact of the recession on volunteering, share your views below.