Examining Sense of Community in Sport: Developing the Multidimensional ‘SCS’ Scale

Abstract

As scholars conduct more research on the social benefits of community sport, the need for an instrument to measure sense of community is increasingly necessary. Utilizing previous grounded theory research specific to sport and community building, the purpose of this study was to test previous sport and sense of community theory through the creation and validation of a measurement scale to gauge sense of community. The authors tested a 21-item tool comprised of 6-subscales (i.e., Administrative Consideration, Common Interest, Competition, Equity in Administrative Decisions, Leadership, and Social Spaces) among samples of young sport participants using the three-phase method of item generation, confirmatory analyses, and concurrent validation. The resulting analyses yielded a valid and reliable instrument to measure sense of community in sport. This research suggests refinement to previous sport and sense of community theory and provides needed utility for this theory that has been grounded in the sport experience.

Exploring sense of community among small-scale sport event volunteers

“…Their work in the youth sport setting supported six of the seven original Sport and Sense of Community factors 2013a). Specifically, Voluntary Action was the only item that did not hold up within their model of sense of community in sport (Warner et al, 2013). This anomaly was attributed to the youth athletes' obvious dependence on their caregivers for support, and removed this factor 'in an attempt to create a more parsimonious scale that can be applicable across sport settings ' (p. 359).…”

“…athletes. In particular, work by Warner, Dixon, and Chalip (2012), and Warner et al (2013) demonstrated a sense of community benefits both individuals and organizations. After extensive interviews and focus groups with 80 athletes, the summation of 2013a) work generated a Sport and Sense of Community theory.…”

“…Given previous literature on sport volunteering (e.g., Coyne & Coyne, 2001;Farrell et al, 1998;Hamm, MacLean, & Misener, 2008) and sense of community and sport (e.g., Warner et al, , 2012Warner et al, , 2013, it is clear that social factors are important in sport volunteerism. Sport event volunteers typically receive training and/or orientation prior to the event.…”

“…Since the SCS scale was developed in a sport setting based on the athlete experience (i.e., , 2013aWarner et al, 2013), ! the 21-item scale was adopted with minor wording changes to represent the sport volunteer sample.…”

“…Overall the literature demonstrates a propensity for individuals to develop a sense of community around their sport experience (Costa et al, 2006;Green & Chalip, 2004;Warner, Kerwin, & Walker, 2013) and that sense of community relates to various individual outcomes, such as commitment and satisfaction. Thus, the purpose of this paper was to (1) assess !…”