Książki

There is an ongoing problem with recruitment and retention of members in German sport clubs. As volleyball is not the most popular sport in Germany (Petry & Hallmann, 2013), the challenge to keep young volleyball players subscribed to a sport club becomes extremely difficult. Eight youth volleyball players from a Cologne-based sport-for-all club provided insight into their behavior and a conceptual model of practice attendance and membership retention in a sport-for-all club was developed. The findings of this study show that youth volleyball players come to practice because they want to have fun, want to improve as individuals, while using practice as a distraction. The proposed member-retention strategies that German sport-for-all clubs should focus on include: (1) providing adequate number of players per team; (2) good coaching; (3) appropriate equipment; (4) gym locations within the proximity of members' school and house; (5) (good) communication through social events; (6) implementing member feedback; (7) attracting members through word-of-mouth, and (8) organizing events at local volleyball facilities.

Why do you come to practice?: A qualitative study of membership retention in a German sport-for-all volleyball club