thesportjournal.org

What It Is

The Sport Journal is a peer-reviewed academic journal in sport studies published by the United States Sports Academy. The content reviewed here is not a traditional online video course, but an academic article and case study titled “Reducing Absenteeism and Turnover of Part-Time Employees in a Community Sport Setting.” This resource is designed to provide teaching material for students and instructors in sport management, exploring how to address the pain points of high absenteeism and high turnover among part-time employees in community sport facilities.

Core Content (by Dimension)

• Course Area: Focuses on sport management and human resource management, with an in-depth look at managing part-time labor in community-based commercial sport facilities.
• Delivery Format: Presented as an academic article and detailed case study, not as video instruction. The article sets out a specific facility environment—an ice hockey rink—along with operating schedules and various part-time roles, such as concessions, front desk, and ice maintenance, and provides clear project tasks.
• Instructor/Institution Background: The article is written by Dr. Michael J. Diacin, Associate Professor of Sport Management at the University of Indianapolis. The journal is published by the United States Sports Academy, giving it solid academic credibility.
• Project Design: Students are asked to take on the role of mid-level managers and, within an annual budget of $12,000 to $18,000, design three major incentive programs: “Survive the Day” for handling unexpected absences, “Survive the Season” for retaining seasonal employees, and a performance recognition program.

Pricing and Certification

This journal article is available to read online for free, with no fees involved, but it does not offer a certificate of completion or any formal credential. Its core value lies in academic discussion and teaching application rather than professional certification.

Pros and Cons

• Pros: Academically rigorous, with an extremely detailed scenario setup that includes specific staffing structures, shift schedules, and budget constraints. It offers strong practical guidance, directly addresses real operational challenges in sport facility management, and is completely free.
• Cons: Presented as a purely text-based academic article, so it lacks interactivity. It has a relatively high reading threshold and requires some professional background knowledge. The content focuses only on the niche area of part-time employee management, so its broader applicability is limited.

Who It’s For

Best suited for university students majoring in sport management or sport business, college instructors looking for classroom case-study material, and frontline or mid-level managers at community sport centers or commercial multi-sport facilities.

Access in China

The text does not provide any network access test information, so its accessibility from China is unknown. However, as a .org academic journal, connectivity is generally expected to be acceptable, though actual access should be tested directly.