Despite the extensive literature on volunteers at sports events, there remains limited comprehension among researchers regarding volunteer experience. While studies suggest direct and indirect relationships between motivation, satisfaction, commitment, and sense of community concerning volunteer experience, empirical understanding in this area remains inadequate. The primary objective of this research was to empirically examine the relationship between external influence, satisfaction, and the sense of sports event volunteers' experiences. Following the "Athens Marathon, The Authentic," 850 volunteers participated in an online self-administered questionnaire, yielding a response rate of 65%. Hypothesized linear relationships were tested using a two-step structural equation model. The findings reveal both direct (external influence and satisfaction) and indirect (commitment and sense of community) connections leading to volunteer experience. Volunteer satisfaction demonstrates an indirect relationship with material, mediated by the direct relationship with external influence. Similarly, the sense of egoism exhibits an indirect relationship with volunteer satisfaction, mediated by direct external influences. Additionally, the study identifies leisure as the sole determinant of the direct relationship with satisfaction. Overall, the study emphasizes the necessity of comprehensive analyses to account for the interconnected nature of factors influencing volunteer satisfaction.

This study examines the effects of sustainability investments, financial leverage and growth rates on stock price returns of football (soccer) clubs. Empirical analysis, including data envelopment and regression analysis, reveals that sustainability investments significantly influence stock price returns, suggesting positive investor valuation. Moreover, growth in football clubs positively affects their stock performance, underscoring the importance of growth strategies. However, the study does not establish a significant link between financial leverage and sustainability investments. The research emphasizes the necessity of understanding the underlying motivations for sustainability practices in football clubs. The data sample used includes the stock prices of nine listed professional football clubs from the football leagues of the Netherlands, England, Germany, Portugal, Italy and France between May 1, 2015 and October 7, 2023. While investors value sustainability investments, industry stakeholders must consider diverse factors beyond financial leverage when combining financial decisions with sustainability initiatives. The study's nuanced findings contribute to an understanding of the complex relationship between sustainability and financial performance in the sports industry, prompting further research into the factors driving clubs' decisions regarding sustainability initiatives.

The present study explores the correlation between the special educator’s emotional literacy/ emotional intelligence and their self-efficacy regarding the empowerment and social inclusion of students with disability. The study examines a main sample of 114 special educators working in the Greek education system. The main research hypothesis is centered around the interrelationship between the two key notions while incorporating copious variables such as age, gender, education and teaching experience to thoroughly examine all aspects. The academic tools utilized within this research include the Schutte (1999) Self-Report Emotional Intelligence Test and the Teaching Students with Disabilities Efficacy Scale-TSDES (Dawson and Scott, 2013). The SPSS statistical package has been used to process the data regarding the descriptive and inductive statistical procedures that have been applied. In the end, it appears that emotional intelligence and the sense of self-efficacy of the special education teachers are inextricably linked as the increase in Emotional Intelligence also implies an increase in Self-Efficacy. In addition, with regard to the relations among the variables, it is noted that education is directly related to the level of Emotional Intelligence as PhD holders performed higher than holders of a Master's or Bachelor’s degree. With regard to the participants’ years of Experience, participants with 6-10 years of service had statistically significant superiority over other groups in terms of Emotional Intelligence. Overall, no statistically significant differences between the genders were found with the exception of the Professionalism and Instruction indicators in Self-Efficacy. Article visualizations:

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the level of pre-competitive anxiety experienced by N=348 Greek basketball referees.In order to classify the stress factors Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 (CSAI-2) used.The aim was to examine Cognitive state anxiety, Somatic state anxiety, and Self-confidence, which require them to exercise self-control for optimal performance before and after the games.Results indicated that cognitive and somatic anxiety after the event was higher.On the other hand, self-confident decreased.Confirmatory factor analysis showed that referees' competitive anxiety might affect their fear of mistakes before a stressful game.

Obesity and health problems have been observed to reduce productivity and increase absenteeism. Although the relationship between health and productivity is strong, few studies have examined whether the level of obesity and physical activity affect the absence from work and how the health-related habits are affected. The aim of this study was to examine the relations between Body Mass Index (BMI), physical activity, health-related habits and absenteeism, among 103 employees of the Greek General Secretariat of Sports. Significant differences observed in the absence days between normal weight (NW) individuals (3.07±1.7), overweight (8.56±3.08) and obese (12.62±10.1). Significant correlations were observed between BMI and days absent from work (R= 0.673), between BMI and activity level (R= -0.497) and between days of absence and physical activity (R= -0.368). NW employees showed significantly higher physical activity score (35.87±15.79) than overweight (24.31±12.8) and obese (14.62±5.9377). In addition, NW employees consume significantly less fast food meals (2.26 ± 1.76) a week compared to overweight (3.72±1.91) and obese (3.54±1.61).  This study provides evidence that obesity and lack of physical activity affect the absent days from work. Higher BMI is also associated with unhealthy attitudes and health problems. Key words: Body mass index, health behaviours, absenteeism, physical activity.