The session featured contributions from a diverse panel of speakers and participants, fostering rich and engaging discussions on the skills, competencies, and training required by both volunteers and volunteer managers in sport. A key message that emerged from the event is that while volunteering offers significant potential for personal and professional growth, this development does not occur automatically. Rather, meaningful skills development requires intentional design and strong collaboration between stakeholders.

Discussions challenged the common assumption that participation in volunteering alone leads to skill acquisition. Participants stressed that structured learning opportunities, clearly defined learning outcomes, effective mentoring, and sustainable funding are essential to transforming volunteering into a genuine pathway for development. Equally important is recognising volunteers’ motivations, aspirations, and individual circumstances, ensuring better alignment between people and roles.

The event also highlighted the critical role of volunteer managers whose contributions are often under-recognised despite being fundamental to creating impactful volunteer experiences. Dr Koutrou shared insights from the UVMIS programme, including the development of a proposed master’s-level curriculum. This work is informed by data collected from approximately 90 sport volunteer managers and academics, alongside extensive desk research conducted by UVMIS 9 partners across Europe. The UVMIS study, which underpins the development of volunteer management educational materials, reinforces the need for stronger recognition of this role, as well as the establishment of core skills, competency frameworks, and structured learning pathways to professionalise and support sport volunteer management across Europe.

Beyond individual organisations, discussions also explored the wider ecosystem shaping sport volunteering, highlighting the importance of a more coherent and sustainable approach to skills development across the sector.

The SHARE 2.0 Sport and Society Community of Practice once again demonstrated the value of collective dialogue and knowledge exchange in supporting volunteers and their coordinators as one of sport’s most valuable human resources. In its role as an advocate for grassroots sport in Europe, ENGSO remains committed to advancing this important work through the UVMIS partnership, contributing to a stronger and more supportive environment for sport volunteers and volunteer managers across the continent. Project outputs, the state-of-the-art report, comprehensive sport volunteering management guides and curriculum materials are available at the UVMIS website: www.uvmis-eu.org.