John Tower

Leisure organisations’ most valued staff are often the most likely to leave. Leisure employees (e.g. swim instructors) are resources essential to organisational performance requiring proactive stra...

Employee turnover is the loss of talent in the workforce. High employee turnover is expensive and disruptive. Young employees are more likely to leave one job for a better one and are often less attached to an organisation while they are completing their education. The aquatics industry has been described as being in a crisis, experiencing unprecedented levels of turnover amongst lifeguards. A first important step is to understand the reasons for turnover amongst lifeguards. This study utilised semi-structured interviews with aquatic and recreation centre managers (N = 16; 69% female) to explore their insights about lifeguard turnover. A deductive content analysis determined that lifeguards leave their current position for four main reasons: lifeguarding being a temporary position, a negative working environment, pursuing employment in a higher paying lifeguard position and location. Consequently, centre managers need to consider short and long-term strategies to retain lifeguards.

While participation in traditional sports and leisure-time physical activity (PA) is declining globally, participation in extreme sports is increasing. Few studies have examined the motives of participants in extreme sports. Adopting a qualitative design, we explored motives for participation in extreme sports in China. Participants were 14 adults who participated in extreme sports as serious leisure pursuits. We interviewed participants about the reasons they participated in their chosen activity. Each interview lasted between 40 and 60 minutes. We transcribed digital recordings verbatim and conducted an inductive-deductive content analysis. We identified 9 general dimensions (motives); 7 were consistent with participation motives in traditional sports (mastery, enjoyment, psychological condition, physical condition, affiliation, others’ expectations, competition/ego), and 2 were new to extreme sports (vertigo, catharsis). We note limitations of this study, draw conclusions for future research, and propose implications for increasing participation in sport and PA arising from this study.

Social capital's measurement has been limited and an effective scale is needed. This research employed focus groups and interviews and a panel of experts to provide understanding and items for a social capital scale in sport and recreation setting. After a pilot study the Club Social Capital Scale (CSCS) was completed by 1,079 members of sport and recreation clubs. This 42-item scale included the factors trust, friendship, acceptance, reciprocity, norms, and governance. Exploratory factor analysis resulted in a 20-item four component (governance, norms, friendship-acceptance, and trust-reciprocity) CSCS. Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the potential four or five factor model and the hierarchical structure. The CSCS is the first psychometrically developed instrument to measure the factors underlying social capital rather than its outcomes. It can inform policy makers or sport and recreation administrators to establish baseline social capital in their organization and the efficacy of interventions or changes in policy.

A recurring theme has emerged from past ANZALS (Australia and New Zealand Association for Leisure Studies) Conferences' keynote presentations concerning the status of leisure studies from a teaching and research perspective. While this broad discussion has been raised, little is formally known about the current status of leisure studies in Australian and New Zealand universities. The ANZALS Board initiated a project in 2015 to gain insights into this topic. The purpose of the project was to document issues about leisure studies in Australian and New Zealand universities and to explore strategies that could assist ANZALS to promote leisure studies across various sectors. This initiative sought feedback from the ANZALS Patron organisations as well as members via a workshop conducted at the 2015 ANZALS Conference. Outcomes from the project have identified leisure studies as a diverse and disparate field of study. Leisure studies is no longer a centralised field within Australian and New Zealand universities. Instead, leisure studies have become divergent and focused on the elements within leisure such as recreation, sport, tourism and events, as well as across domains such as management and health. The project outcomes indicate the need for organisations such as ANZALS to develop and maintain collaborative networks with a variety of stakeholders, both within the tertiary sector as well as amongst practitioners in various industry sectors. There is also a need for ANZALS and kindred organisations to recognise and acknowledge the past and ensure its future by examining how leisure studies can be defined for application in a realm of related fields of study.

The catalyst for the production of World Leisure Journal’s (WLJ) Leisure Management (LM) Special Issue came out of the Leisure Management Commission’s conversations at the 2014 WLO Congress in Mobi...

This article sets the scene for the range of issues that could be addressed in the World Leisure Journal special edition on leisure management. The management and delivery of leisure programmes and services is the foundation of community leisure. Leisure management textbooks provide guidelines and direction for leisure programme delivery but there is limited research about how leisure programmes and services are delivered and evaluated. This paper provides a summary of a range of considerations about leisure management and community leisure programmes and services. After decades of leisure services delivery, there is still a need for public leisure managers to provide a rationale for why they deliver services. Five legitimations based on health, socialization, economic impact, community development and national identity provide a further consideration for what needs to be better understood about leisure management.