Gainfully Employed Coach in Sport Clubs´ Case : the Finnish Fencing and Pentathlon Federation
Malin, Salla (2023)
Malin, Salla
2023
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2023120734950
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2023120734950
Tiivistelmä
In Finland, the majority of sports clubs are based on voluntary work. The nature of volunteer work and sports clubs is changing. The expectations of members and stakeholders towards sports clubs are increasing, clubs are becoming more professional, which has led to an increase in the number of people in gainfully employment. The third sector and sports clubs play an important role as service providers in Finnish society.
The aim of the research was to find out how the member clubs of The Finnish Fencing and Pentathlon Federation have utilised gainful employment and how the clubs have financed coaches’ expenses. The focus of the research was also to find out what kind of challenges the clubs have met and how coaches´ expenses could be financed in the future. The purpose of the study was to increase understanding of the situation of member clubs.
The qualitative research was carried out through semi-structured interviews. 18 representatives of the Finnish fencing and modern pentathlon clubs were interviewed between 4th of April and 19th of June 2023. The interviews were recorded and transcribed. The collected data was further analysed by categorizing and combining them into themes. The interviewees were anonymized. The theoretical framework of the research was based on previous academic publications and research.
The research shows that a small majority of the clubs interviewed have coaches who are compensated. The findings indicated that the size of a club does not reflect the number of people with compensation, the average weekly working hours or having a coach from abroad. The majority of coaches work less than ten hours a week and one fifth are full-time workers. Even small clubs have been able to hire a full-time coach and several of them comes from abroad. According to the results, self-financing through membership and training fees is the only sustainable way to finance coaches’ expenses, even. 40 % also use The Ministry of Education and Culture’s wage subsidy. The interviews highlighted that financial matters are the biggest faced challenges.
The research was planned to create an overall insight and summary for the Federation about the current situation and phenomenon. The research can be used by other sports clubs and federation for examining the coaches with paid compensation as well as for further research about similar topics.
The aim of the research was to find out how the member clubs of The Finnish Fencing and Pentathlon Federation have utilised gainful employment and how the clubs have financed coaches’ expenses. The focus of the research was also to find out what kind of challenges the clubs have met and how coaches´ expenses could be financed in the future. The purpose of the study was to increase understanding of the situation of member clubs.
The qualitative research was carried out through semi-structured interviews. 18 representatives of the Finnish fencing and modern pentathlon clubs were interviewed between 4th of April and 19th of June 2023. The interviews were recorded and transcribed. The collected data was further analysed by categorizing and combining them into themes. The interviewees were anonymized. The theoretical framework of the research was based on previous academic publications and research.
The research shows that a small majority of the clubs interviewed have coaches who are compensated. The findings indicated that the size of a club does not reflect the number of people with compensation, the average weekly working hours or having a coach from abroad. The majority of coaches work less than ten hours a week and one fifth are full-time workers. Even small clubs have been able to hire a full-time coach and several of them comes from abroad. According to the results, self-financing through membership and training fees is the only sustainable way to finance coaches’ expenses, even. 40 % also use The Ministry of Education and Culture’s wage subsidy. The interviews highlighted that financial matters are the biggest faced challenges.
The research was planned to create an overall insight and summary for the Federation about the current situation and phenomenon. The research can be used by other sports clubs and federation for examining the coaches with paid compensation as well as for further research about similar topics.