Department of Sport Science, Tourism & Leisure SOCIAL CAPITAL AND SPORTS VOLUNTEERISM IN GREECE: THE CASE STUDY OF THE AUTHENTIC MARATHON D. Chatziefstathiou, C. Tsagdi, A. Baltas, N. Choutas Canterbury Christ Church University, UK Panteion University, Athens Hellenic Amateur Athletic Association (SEGAS),

Introduction  The term ‘social capital’ was first described as “those tangible assets that count for most in the daily lives of people: namely goodwill, fellowship, sympathy and social intercourse among the individuals and families who make up a social unit”. (Hanifan, 1916: 130)  In the field of social science, most of the studies in relation to social capital were derived from the work of Bourdieu, Coleman, and Putnam.

Social capital  Recently a growing interest in exploring the association between sport and social capital.  Sport has been considered as a useful tool to tackle issues of broader social development, e.g. social integration, the creation of national identity.  However, studies backed up with robust evidence in relation to this concept are still scarce.

Social capital & Political discourse  On 26 November of 2013 the Council adopted the first ever Council Recommendation in sport, notably on promoting health-enhancing physical activity across sectors (HEPA).  It also adopted Council conclusions on the ‘Contribution of sport to the EU economy, and in particular to addressing youth unemployment and social inclusion’

Social capital & volunteering  Many studies on the motivations of volunteers for volunteering  Only a few have investigated how volunteering may impact on social capital and vice versa.  Same applies in the context of sport volunteering and how it is linked with social capital

Social capital & sport?  Is sport unique in its ability to build social capital for participants?  Some studies have demonstrated the capability of sport in providing opportunities for social capital formation.  However, the uniqueness of sport itself for the creation of social capital is largely unexplored  This research aims to shed further light into this by examining the social capital of runners in a marathon event.

Methodology  A convenience sample of n=250 questionnaires was collected from the total n=1980 volunteers who participated in the 32nd Authentic Marathon (2014, Athens).  Measuring social capital is problematic, especially in identifying causality relationships between variables.  The problematic nature of measuring social capital is also evident in the variety of different questionnaires used by social scientists (political scientists, sociologists etc.).

Results  volunteers are more inclined to be active citizens and engage with decision-making of the clubs or organizations of which they are members.  they offer volunteering activities regularly rather than sporadically.  They demonstrate a high degree of social connectedness and have an active social life with frequent meetings in public with friends and family.

Results  a rather high percentage of the sports volunteers (28%) responded that they never participated in activities that benefitted their neighbourhoods or close region in the past 12 months  25.5% answered that they never attended an event organized by their neighbourhood or close region in the past 12 months.

Conclusions  Thus, our findings did not indicate a direction of a causal link between volunteerism and social capital ...but also showed that a deeper and longer involvement with sports volunteering may be a strong determinant of social capital.

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