Legacy of mega sporting events: understanding the long term impacts of volunteering
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Date
2017
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Publisher
University of New Brunswick
Abstract
Mega Sport events have a popular appeal and countries use them as an instrument to enhance their image and stimulate their development (Swart, 2016). In addition to extensive research on planning and implementation of these events, there is a lot of discussion around mega sports events and the legacies they leave. There has been a focus on the most common legacies regarding economic factors, environmental factors and infrastructure, but there has been little attention on how volunteering in these events leaves a legacy not only to the volunteer but also to the community. Volunteer legacies are often neglected and within the literature, it was found that this could be attributed to the lack of strategic objectives for a volunteer legacy (Tomazos, & Luke, 2014). Volunteers play an important role in these events and their contributions enable mega sport events to be efficiently managed. It is important to understand the impact that volunteering could have in the community as citizens become involved, support and make their community a better place (Doherty, 2009). This project aims to critically explore the positive and negative aspects of volunteers' lived experiences at MSE and consider whether the benefits create a legacy of volunteering for volunteers and their communities, years after the completion of the mega event.