Profession sport administrator

Sport administrators act in a middle management role within sport organisations at all levels, in any sport or country in Europe (e.g. sport clubs, federations, and local authorities). They carry out organisational tasks across a wide range of functions in accordance with the strategy and policies set by management, boards of directors and committees. They play a crucial role in the overall delivery of sport and their work in sport organisations directly impact the unlocking of the potential of the sector in Europe towards health, social inclusion and economy.

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Personality Type

• Enterprising / Investigative

Knowledge

• Impact of politics on sport delivery

  The political context of current service delivery and the sources of possible external influence for the sport organisation.

Skills

• Respond to enquiries

  Respond to enquiries and requests for information from other organisations and members of the public.

• Perform project management

  Manage and plan various resources, such as human resources, budget, deadline, results, and quality necessary for a specific project, and monitor the project's progress in order to achieve a specific goal within a set time and budget.

• Implement strategic planning

  Take action on the goals and procedures defined at a strategic level in order to mobilise resources and pursue the established strategies.

• Manage internal process of a sport organisation

  Plan and implement the management of teams or groups within a club or organisation. ​Coordinate human resources and communication.

• Manage personal professional development in sport

  Take responsibility for developing own knowledge, skills and competence to meet the current and future requirements of the work and to support personal and career development in sport.

• Develop opportunities for progression in sport

  Develop and implement plans and frameworks to increase participation and the progression of athletes.

• Lead a team

  Lead, supervise and motivate a group of people, in order to meet the expected results within a given timeline and with the foreseen resources in mind.

• Involve volunteers

  Recruit, motivate and manage volunteers in the organisation or in a department of the organisation. Manage relationship with volunteers from before they make a volunteering commitment, throughout their time with the organisation to beyond the conclusion of their formal volunteering agreement.

• Coordinate the administration of a sports organisation

  Develop and implement strategies to coordinate the administration of teams or groups within a club or organisation.

• Ensure health and safety of customers

  Promote and maintain a culture of health, safety and security among your customers by maintaining policies and procedures for the protection of vulnerable participants and when necessary, dealing with suspicions of possible abuse.

• Develop practices to conduct effective sport club management

  Develop practices to conduct effective sport club management. Support the formation of a club, role and structure of a committee, purpose and procedure of meetings, role of club treasurer, role of sponsorship and fundraising, role of marketing and sport promotion, requirements of personnel in event management, basic legal and risk management issues in sport.

• Manage customer service

  Manage the delivery of customer service including activities and approaches that play a vital part in customer service by seeking and implementing improvements and developments.

• Implement operational business plans

  Implement the strategic business and operational plan for an organisation by engaging and delegating to others, monitoring progress and making adjustments along the way. Evaluate the extent to which strategic objectives have been achieved, learn lessons, celebrate success and recognise people’s contributions.

• Ensure the provision of resources for physical activity

  Ensure the physical resources (equipment, materials, premises, services and energy supplies) required to carry out planned physical activities and sports in the organisation.

• Manage a team

  Ensure clear and effective channels of communication across all departments within the organisation and support functions, both internally and externally ensuring that the team is aware of the standards and objectives of the department/business unit. Implement the disciplinary and grievance procedures as required ensuring that a fair and consistent approach to managing performance is consistently achieved. Assist in the recruitment process and manage, train and motivate employees to achieve/exceed their potential using effective performance management techniques. Encourage and develop a team ethic amongst all employees.

• Ensure health and safety of staff

  Promote and maintain a culture of health, safety and security among the staff by maintaining policies and procedures for the protection of vulnerable participants and when necessary, dealing with suspicions of possible abuse.

• Promote equality in sport activities

  Develop policies and programmes that aim to increase the participation and involvement of underrepresented groups in sport, such as women and girls, ethnic minority groups, disabled people and, in some cases, young people.

• Liaise with sports organisations

  Liaise with local sports councils, regional committees and national governing bodies.

• Manage sport facility finances

  Manage finance in sport and physical activity to achieve the stated objectives for the organisation. Develop a master budget and use this to monitor, evaluate and control performance and take action to deal with identified variances. Delegate responsibility for budgets for clearly defined activities.

Optional knowledge and skills

Source: Sisyphus ODB