Involving athletes and other internal stakeholders in organizational change in sports clubs: The crucial role of autonomy support

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Tom De Clerck, Leen Haerens and Annick Willem

Department of Movement and Sports Sciences, Ghent University, Belgium

Citation

De Clerck, T., Haerens, L., Willem, A. (2022). Involving athletes and other internal stakeholders in organizational change in sports clubs: The crucial role of autonomy support. International Journal of Sport Psychology, 53(6), 569-590. doi:10.7352/IJSP.2022.53.569

Abstract

Many sports clubs are facing organizational problems (e.g., a lack of coach- es), challenging them to implement organizational changes. Therefore, the central aim of this study was to develop and evaluate a group discussion that sports clubs can use to discuss necessary change initiatives in an autonomy-supportive environ- ment. The athletes as well as other important internal stakeholders (i.e., parents, coaches, leaders, volunteers) participated in this discussion. This group discussion was implemented in 18 Flemish nonprofit and voluntary sports clubs. The quan- titative measures indicated that the participants of the group discussion (N =144) perceived the group discussion as autonomy-supportive and useful, which related to their readiness for change, and in turn to their intention to convince others to support the change. The focus groups conducted in three sports clubs further em- phasized the importance of appointing a neutral facilitator that can guide the group discussion in an autonomy-supportive way and provide theory-based guidance.

Keywords: Autonomy support, Competing Values Framework, organizational change, Self-Determination Theory, sports clubs

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