Comprehensive Overview of Volunteer Management Practices at Basketball Australia

Introduction                                                      

Basketball Australia is an Australian basketball organisation, which has been serving the basketball community of Australia since 1939 when it was officially declared as the governing body for basketball. It was established for the purpose of providing structure, regulations and standards for basketball in the country. Initially, the focus of Basketball Australia was to create a national framework for the sport, along with focusing on the development of common people interested in basketball. The organisation started gaining success after the development of men and women teams known as Boomers (men) and Opals (women). Basketball Australia aims to promote and manage basketball sports in Australia. Basketball Australia also hosted the FIBA Basketball World Cup in 1988, however, the Boomers and Opals still rank in the list of top basketball teams in the world and have gained remarkable achievements in the Olympic and FIBA World Cups (Basketball Australia, n.d.-a).

My motivations to volunteer                      

The first reason for choosing Basketball Australia for volunteering is my keen interest in basketball. I am deeply interested in watching basketball matches and I even try playing the game during my free time as a hobby. I have a wish to witness the basketball match live, specifically of the Basketball Australia’s teams. Furthermore, another reason for volunteering is to enhance my overall health and well-being and to connect with a diverse social circle. It has been proven in research that people wish to volunteer as it helps improve overall health performance and also increases social awareness and helps people build connections (Stukas & Wilson, 2022). Build Australia has a diverse range of basketball teams such as Rollers, Gliders, Seven consulting Opals, Boomers etc (Basketball Australia, n.d.-b), which will fulfil my needs for social interaction. However, the frequent national and international matches will provide opportunities to enhance my overall health and well-being through volunteering. Similarly, Kragt and Holtrop (2019) have also discussed that the impact of passionate volunteering on the health and well-being of a person is positive. Moreover, I am also motivated to volunteer for Basketball Australia matches to obtain practical experience in the field of my interest, as volunteering helps in career management and career development (Fényes et al., 2021). Another reason for choosing to volunteer in Basketball Australia matches is my interest in the organisation, as I am highly impressed with the successful basketball matches of Basketball Australia and its participation in the Olympics. It has also been proven in the research by Gray and Stevenson (2020), that volunteering organisation plays a big role in motivating people to volunteer, as individuals are attracted to the strength, success and pride of the organisation, and makes them feel satisfied to be a part of such inspiring organisation.