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Sports Volunteering Statistics: Participation, Roles and Time

Explore sports volunteering statistics on participation, volunteer roles, time commitments, recruitment and settings across Wales, England, Ireland, Canada and the Netherlands.

November 12, 2026 9 min read sporthold.com Editorial Team

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Sports volunteering statistics describe different kinds of activity: helping at a club during the previous year, volunteering regularly, or supporting sport and physical activity more broadly. The figures below retain each survey’s population and reference period, so they should be read as separate snapshots rather than a single international league table.

In Wales, 9% of adults, or 213,000 people, volunteered in sport during the previous 12 months in 2024-25. The report also recorded 91%, or 2,241,000 adults, as having not volunteered in sport over that period. Those are the report’s two categories for Welsh adults, not shares of volunteers. (Sport Wales, Sport and Active Lifestyles: State of the Nation report 2024-25, Table 4.8)

For England, Sport England reported that roughly 10.9 million adults aged 16 and older, or 22.7%, gave time to support sport and physical activity from mid-November 2024 to mid-November 2025. The report’s trend chart gives a 22.3% rate for the preceding 12-month period, November 2023 to November 2024. These are adjacent annual survey periods and both measure support for sport and physical activity. (Sport England, Active Lives Adult Survey November 2024-25 Report, pp. 28-29)

Ireland’s 2023 report says 11% of the population volunteered regularly in sport, approximately 462,000 people. Its regular volunteering measure uses a 7-day recall period. The same report gives 12% for 2019 and describes the 2023 rate as very close to that earlier result. The percentages are the report’s stated observations for those years. (Sport Ireland, Irish Sports Monitor 2023 Annual Report, p. 39)

The Netherlands’ 2024 indicator records 9% of the population aged 12 and older as volunteering in sport monthly or more often. A separate Eurobarometer comparison on the same indicator page reports 15% currently volunteering in sport in 2022. Its broader figure of 18% combines respondents who were currently involved with those intending to support sport through volunteering within the next 2 months. The 15% and 18% figures therefore describe different responses. (Netherlands, Vrijwilligerswerk in de sport)

Country and periodMeasured population and volunteering definitionReported rate
Wales, 2024-25Adults volunteering in sport in the previous 12 months9%
England, mid-November 2024 to mid-November 2025Adults aged 16+ giving time to support sport and physical activity22.7%
Ireland, 2023Regular sport volunteering, 7-day recall period11%
Netherlands, 2024Population aged 12+ volunteering monthly or more often9%

Sources: Sport Wales, Table 4.8; Sport England, pp. 28-29; Sport Ireland, p. 39; Netherlands indicator.

Sports volunteering statistics by age, gender, and background

Several Dutch 2024 figures describe monthly-or-more sport volunteering among specific age, gender and education groups. Among people aged 12 and older, the rate was 12% for men and 6% for women. By age, the reported rates were 13% among 12-to-19-year-olds and 12% among 35-to-54-year-olds. These are selected age bands; they do not provide a rate for every age group. (Netherlands, Vrijwilligerswerk in de sport, “Geslacht” and “Leeftijd”)

The same indicator page reports a rate of 10% among Dutch residents aged 25 and older with HBO or WO education, compared with 6% among those aged 25 and older with primary education or a VMBO diploma. The education groups and age restriction are part of the measure. They should not be treated as covering the whole population or as explaining why rates differ. (Netherlands, Vrijwilligerswerk in de sport, “Opleidingsniveau”)

Ireland’s Q2 2025 Labour Force Survey reports sporting-organisation volunteering among people aged 15-74: 7.1% for men and 5.7% for women. It also reports 7.8% among people in a relationship with children under 15. This is a family-status subgroup, not a rate for all parents or all adults with children. The survey’s framing is volunteering for sporting organisations. (Central Statistics Office Ireland, Labour Force Survey – Volunteering Quarter 2 2025, volunteering by sex and family status)

Population and surveyGroupRate
Netherlands, 2024; aged 12+Men12%
Netherlands, 2024; aged 12+Women6%
Ireland, Q2 2025; aged 15-74Men volunteering for sporting organisations7.1%
Ireland, Q2 2025; aged 15-74Women volunteering for sporting organisations5.7%

Sources: Netherlands indicator; Central Statistics Office Ireland.

Sports volunteering statistics for roles and activities

In Wales, the 2024-25 survey lists a broad set of activities among sport volunteers during the previous 12 months. Fundraising was reported by 42%, or 89,000 adults; coaching by 41%, or 87,000; and transport for people other than family by 29%, or 61,000. Administration was reported by 27%, or 58,000, while stewarding was reported by 23%, or 50,000. (Sport Wales, Sport and Active Lifestyles: State of the Nation report 2024-25, Table 4.10)

Other listed Welsh activities were catering, reported by 11%, or 24,000 adults; refereeing, 10%, or 21,000; and “Other” activity, 11%, or 23,000. The table’s percentages are shares of sport volunteers, not all adults. The categories can overlap: a person may have reported more than one activity. (Sport Wales, Table 4.10)

Activity reported by Welsh sport volunteers, 2024-25Share of volunteersNumber of adults
Fundraising42%89,000
Coaching41%87,000
Transport for those other than family29%61,000
Administration27%58,000
Stewarding23%50,000
Catering11%24,000
Refereeing10%21,000
Other11%23,000

Source: Sport Wales, Table 4.10. Percentages and counts are reported values; volunteers could undertake multiple activities.

The report also groups volunteers by the number of listed activity types they undertook: 52% helped with 1 activity, 21% with 2 activities, and 27% with 3 or more. This indicates that the activity list captures varied contributions, not only a single role per volunteer. (Sport Wales, narrative following Table 4.10)

Irish coaching data distinguish between volunteers and the activities they coached. In 2023, Gaelic football accounted for 42% of sports coached by volunteer coaches; hurling or camogie accounted for 14%. In a separate breakdown of all activities coached by volunteers, soccer accounted for 20%, hurling for 8% and camogie for 6%. These are different denominators: the first figures describe sports among volunteer coaches, while the latter describe shares of coached activities. (Sport Ireland, Irish Sports Monitor 2023 Annual Report, pp. 39, 41)

Sports volunteering statistics for frequency and time commitment

Welsh volunteers who helped during 2024-25 reported different frequencies. At least once a week was the response for 38%, or 82,000 adults; less than weekly but at least monthly for 26%, or 56,000; and less than once a month for 33%, or 70,000. Another 3%, or 6,000, reported another frequency. These categories refer to sport volunteers, rather than all adults. (Sport Wales, Sport and Active Lifestyles: State of the Nation report 2024-25, Table 4.11)

Frequency of sport volunteering in Wales, 2024-25Share of volunteersNumber of adults
At least once a week38%82,000
Less than once a week but at least once a month26%56,000
Less than once a month33%70,000
Other frequency3%6,000

Source: Sport Wales, Table 4.11.

Sport Wales separately notes that adults who volunteered in sport within the previous 4 weeks provided approximately 6 to 7 hours of volunteer time. That time estimate applies to this recent-volunteering group; it is not presented as an annual total or as an average for every sport volunteer. (Sport Wales, narrative following Table 4.11)

The Irish 2023 report gives a weekly time distribution for sport volunteers: around half spent 1 to 2 hours volunteering per week, 23% spent 3 to 4 hours, and 28% spent more than 5 hours. The source’s wording for the first group is “around half,” so it does not supply a more exact percentage here. (Sport Ireland, Irish Sports Monitor 2023 Annual Report, p. 40)

Coaching can carry its own time commitment. In Ireland in 2023, 29% of volunteer coaches reported devoting 5 or more hours each week to coaching activities. This measure is specific to coaches and coaching time; it is not the same population or activity as the distribution of weekly time spent by sport volunteers overall. (Sport Ireland, Irish Sports Monitor 2023 Annual Report, p. 40)

Sports volunteering: recruitment and volunteering settings

Welsh sport volunteers most often reported serving at a sports club: 66%, or 142,000 adults, in 2024-25. A school or young person’s group was reported by 18%, or 38,000, while 20%, or 43,000, selected “Other.” These are location responses among sport volunteers, and the categories can overlap; they are not mutually exclusive shares of all adults. (Sport Wales, Sport and Active Lifestyles: State of the Nation report 2024-25, Table 4.9)

Canadian data offer a view of how people entered sport, physical activity and recreation volunteering in 2024. The most frequently reported method in the checked categories was being asked by a club or organization, at 31%. Another 23% said they sought out a volunteering activity themselves. (Canadian Fitness and Lifestyle Research Institute, Volunteering in sport, physical activity, and recreation, Table 2)

Personal networks also featured: 22% of Canadian volunteers said friends or acquaintances asked them, and 14% said family asked them. A mandatory community-service requirement was reported by 5%, while 4% responded to a media advertisement. These percentages describe reported recruitment methods among volunteers; the table does not establish that any particular route causes longer participation or better retention. (CFLRI, Table 2)

Sports volunteering across countries and sports

The national figures use different definitions and populations. Wales counts adults who volunteered in sport during the prior 12 months; England’s measure covers adults aged 16 and older supporting sport and physical activity over a specified 12-month period; Ireland’s regular volunteering measure uses a 7-day recall period; and the Netherlands indicator counts monthly-or-more volunteering among people aged 12 and older. The differences in rates cannot be read as a direct ranking of how willing people in each country are to volunteer. (Sport Wales, Table 4.8; Sport England, pp. 28-29; Sport Ireland, p. 39; Netherlands indicator)

The Netherlands page also reports international comparison values from Eurobarometer 2022. It gives 15% for current sport volunteering in the Netherlands and 6% for the EU average. The separate Dutch 18% figure combines current involvement with an intention to volunteer within the next 2 months, so it is not the comparable current-volunteering measure. (Netherlands, Vrijwilligerswerk in de sport, “Top 5 Europa” and “Internationale vergelijking”)

Irish sport volunteers in 2023 usually volunteered for 1 sport: 85% did so, while 15% were active across multiple sports. Gaelic games—Gaelic football, hurling or camogie—were the most common sport volunteered for, at 5% of the Irish population on the report’s regular volunteering measure. Soccer followed at 2%; among a range of other sports, the reported rate was 1% or less. (Sport Ireland, Irish Sports Monitor 2023 Annual Report, p. 39)

Together, these measures describe several dimensions of sports volunteering: participation over different periods, recurring roles, hours, settings, and the ways people are approached. Their usefulness depends on keeping each definition attached to its figure. The final comparison is a picture of reported activity within each survey’s scope and date, not a common measure across all countries.

Sources

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