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Relative importance of sport management competency areas as perceived by schools' sports managers
Author
D'Cruz, Charles Timothy
Supervisor
Ch'ng, Alan
Abstract
The growing and diversifying interest in sports globally has created a demand for sports managers with professional competencies in the designing and delivering of effective sports programmes and services.
This study was carried out with the purpose of establishing if the 10 sport management competency areas as outlined by Toh (1997) perceived to be of relative importance by the School Sports Manager (SSM) to manage sports CCA programmes in Singapore schools differed according to different levels of age, gender, experience, qualifications and training. The method adopted for this study required that the Competencies for Sports Managers (COSM) questionnaire by Toh (1997) be administered to 264 SSM from 180 secondary and post-secondary schools in Singapore.
The data from only the fully completed questionnaires (N=63) was analyzed using one way ANOVA and descriptive statistics. Demographic data provided a clear profile of the characteristics of the SSM. Descriptive statistics presented the means and standard deviations for the 10 sport management competency areas according to levels of age, gender, experience, qualifications and training. One way analysis of variance showed that there was no significant difference in the perceived importance of the 10 sport management competency areas of the SSM according to different levels of age, gender, experience and training. A significant difference was detected for those with higher academic qualification as they perceived differently the relative importance of 8 out of the 10 sport management competency areas.
Although no significant differences were noted except for level of qualification, the mean scores of some of the sport management competency areas were consistent with other studies in this field. The area of Legality / Risk Management which scored the highest means for age, gender, experience, qualifications and training was one of the six factors that were identified by the work Toh (1997) and subsequently Barcelona (2001). The second highest mean scores for Communication / Public Relations are aligned to other findings that stress the importance of communication skills (Jamieson, 1980; Jennings, 1984; Chen, 1993; Toh, 1997 and Barcelona, 2001).
This information on the sport management competency areas could lay the foundation for the development or planning of training courses for the SSM. In the long run, the information could also be used to introduce preparation training for the SSM.
In addition, these sport management competency areas can assist with the professional outcomes of the SSM by bettering assessing the performance of the SSM as well as to identify potential SSM with the right sport management competencies which are more specific to the role of the SSM and hence complement the existing Enhanced Performance Management System (EPMS).
The growing attention that youth sports is receiving in Singapore and abroad reinforces the need for more research in this area. The first Youth Olympic Games in 2010 announced by the International Olympic Committee is further testimony that knowledge, skills and attitudes that define the competence of the youth sports manager need to be examined to better equip them to meet the challenges ahead.
This study was carried out with the purpose of establishing if the 10 sport management competency areas as outlined by Toh (1997) perceived to be of relative importance by the School Sports Manager (SSM) to manage sports CCA programmes in Singapore schools differed according to different levels of age, gender, experience, qualifications and training. The method adopted for this study required that the Competencies for Sports Managers (COSM) questionnaire by Toh (1997) be administered to 264 SSM from 180 secondary and post-secondary schools in Singapore.
The data from only the fully completed questionnaires (N=63) was analyzed using one way ANOVA and descriptive statistics. Demographic data provided a clear profile of the characteristics of the SSM. Descriptive statistics presented the means and standard deviations for the 10 sport management competency areas according to levels of age, gender, experience, qualifications and training. One way analysis of variance showed that there was no significant difference in the perceived importance of the 10 sport management competency areas of the SSM according to different levels of age, gender, experience and training. A significant difference was detected for those with higher academic qualification as they perceived differently the relative importance of 8 out of the 10 sport management competency areas.
Although no significant differences were noted except for level of qualification, the mean scores of some of the sport management competency areas were consistent with other studies in this field. The area of Legality / Risk Management which scored the highest means for age, gender, experience, qualifications and training was one of the six factors that were identified by the work Toh (1997) and subsequently Barcelona (2001). The second highest mean scores for Communication / Public Relations are aligned to other findings that stress the importance of communication skills (Jamieson, 1980; Jennings, 1984; Chen, 1993; Toh, 1997 and Barcelona, 2001).
This information on the sport management competency areas could lay the foundation for the development or planning of training courses for the SSM. In the long run, the information could also be used to introduce preparation training for the SSM.
In addition, these sport management competency areas can assist with the professional outcomes of the SSM by bettering assessing the performance of the SSM as well as to identify potential SSM with the right sport management competencies which are more specific to the role of the SSM and hence complement the existing Enhanced Performance Management System (EPMS).
The growing attention that youth sports is receiving in Singapore and abroad reinforces the need for more research in this area. The first Youth Olympic Games in 2010 announced by the International Olympic Committee is further testimony that knowledge, skills and attitudes that define the competence of the youth sports manager need to be examined to better equip them to meet the challenges ahead.
Date Issued
2008
Call Number
GV713 Dcr
Date Submitted
2008