The Voice of the Participant (VOP) is a nationwide survey that aims to capture the voice of sport club members. This page provides answers to commonly asked questions about the survey.

Who has been involved so far?

VOP is primarily targeted at national sport organisations (NSOs). In 2015, four sports were part of a pilot that led to the first round of full reports that were released in 2016. Since then 15 NSOs have been involved. 

The 10 NSOs who participated this year are included in the latest report. This report (2016 Winter / 2017 Summer) includes Athletics, Bowls, Cricket, Football, Gliding, Golf, Netball, League, Touch and Waka Ama. The remaining sports that have been involved in VOP are Badminton, Basketball, Hockey, Tennis and Rugby.

What are the benefits for nsos of being involved in vop?

• Provided with an understanding of their club environment from the club member perspective
• Information on the key factors driving member experiences
• Analysis of the current state of club sport in the relevant code
• After being involved in VOP for 2+ years, trends emerge and progress in various areas can be tracked and measured.

What do NSOs receive as part of being involved?

NSOs will each receive a customised report with key insights and metrics, including comparisons to overall results for all NSOs. An example report is available on request. Sport NZ will facilitate forums after the surveying to share results and support the interpretation of findings.

What information does the vop report provide?

All the information in the VOP report is aimed at helping NSOs gain a clearer understanding of the club experience from the perspective of participants in their sport. It includes a detailed breakdown of results including key metrics, what is causing these ratings and how they differ across club member characteristics.

The report is ultimately designed to be used as a guide in providing positive experiences for club members and participants.

Can the VOP survey questions be customised?

A large part of the survey and report is templated, but there is a small section where some sport-specific questions can be included. 

How were the key measures and key drivers decided?

In 2015 qualitative research took place to identify which factors influence a good or bad club experience and what players perceive as the ‘ideal’ club experience.

The qualitative stage identified seven factors that influence the club experience. The findings were used to design an online quantitative questionnaire which was then piloted in 2016 with Rugby League, Tennis, Bowls and Football club members. Since the pilot, these 7 key drivers were expanded to 9 core and 8-11 secondary factors of club experience.

Sport Voice Of Participant Club Member Experience Survey

pdf - 437 KB

What is the difference between the report published on this page and what NSOs receive?

The overall report published on this page presents the findings across all sports involved. It averages some of the findings and does not specifically mention any of the sports. It provides a wide perspective of club sport and delves into some of the similarities and differences among sports. Because of the larger sample size, subgroups can be analysed in detail. The overall report is publicly available and can be utilised by anyone.

The sport-specific report that NSOs get covers all the areas identified in the overall report as well as any added, specific content, and looks at the results in relation to the specific sport.

Among the survey respondents, what is the difference between parent and player?

‘Players’ are adults aged 16 years and over, who completed the questionnaire themselves. For players aged 15 and under the parent completed the questionnaire, thinking about the experiences of their child in their sports club.

What is the net promoter score (NPS)?

NPS measures how likely a member is to recommend their club to someone they know who is interested in playing their sport. Likelihood to recommend is rated on a scale from 0 (not at all likely) to 10 (extremely likely). 

Members who rate 9 or 10 are classified as promoters. Members who rate 0 to 6 are detractors. The remainder is classified as passive in terms of their likelihood to recommend. 

NPS is calculated by taking the percentage of promoters within a sport and subtracting the percentage of detractors to get an ‘NPS score.’ For example for all sports 2016/17:

• Promoters 58%
• Passives 25%
• Detractors 18%

Resulting in a NPS score of 40 (58% – 18% = 40).

How can the report be used?

VOP has been developed to help put participants at the heart of decision making. It is an information tool that can be used to help make better, more informed decisions based on participants’ experiences. The report serves as strong evidence of what is really going on in club sport from a member perspective, and can be used to help inform change.

How can the findings reach grassroots level?

NSOs will work with their regional bodies and/or clubs to help them understand the findings of the survey and identify areas these organisations can target to initiate positive change.

What is an example of VOP findings being used to initiate positive change?

Examples of how some NSOs have been using VOP so far include:

• Evidence to challenge traditional club practice
• Participant perspective on how to deliver for them
• New data to allow NSOs to drill down into the specific needs of member groups
• Contributing to the development of targeted approaches to cater to members with different needs
• Tracking the impact of targeted strategies

Is VOP going to provide specific actions to implement?

VOP is designed to be used alongside existing information and knowledge to help guide decisions around meeting participant needs and can be used to support a wider participant-focused approach.

The real value from the VOP comes when you start considering findings in the local context, and alongside existing knowledge and expertise to build well-informed strategies.

If you have any further questions, please email the insights team.