Title: Evaluation of operational quality of youth sport clubs: application of the importance-performance analysis

Authors: Margot Ricour; Veerle De Bosscher; Annick Willem; Jeroen Scheerder

Addresses: Department of Movement and Sport Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium ' Department of Movement and Sport Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium ' Department of Movement and Sport Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium ' Department of Movement Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

Abstract: Retaining sport club members through delivering high-quality sport experiences is the basic premise of Flanders' youth sports policy. This article aims to assess young adolescents' (13-19 years old) perception of and satisfaction with operational quality at their sport clubs. To this end, 25 operational quality items, clustered into a four-factor structure (improving sport skills, motivational coaching, integrity and cohesion, club involvement), were interrogated. Traditional importance-performance analysis in combination with a gap 1 analysis was carried out on the quality items. The results highlight improving sport skills and motivational coaching as priorities for sport clubs. Nevertheless, differences due to gender, type of sport, and recreation or competition orientation were found. The results indicate the usefulness of importance-performance analysis in sports management research, offering a frame to: 1) evaluate the current youth sport offer; 2) determine strategies to manage and improve quality for different target groups; 3) allocate scarce resources efficiently.

Keywords: service improvement; organised youth sport; gap analysis; satisfaction; perceptions; strategic decisions.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSMM.2025.148998

International Journal of Sport Management and Marketing, 2025 Vol.25 No.1, pp.25 - 49

Received: 21 Jan 2024
Accepted: 26 Nov 2024
Published online: 07 Oct 2025 *

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