On The Operation And Functions Of University Sports Associations In Sichuan Province: An Empirical Study

As an important parts of China' s Higher Education and the intermediate stage of long life Physical Education (PE) , PE in universities and colleges undertakes a great mission. It is to promote college students' awareness and develop their competitive skills and good habits in physical training in a very formal , systematic and all-round manner way. To complete such mission, however, only PE classes are far from satisfactory, more out-of-class physical training is also needed. Undergraduate Sports Organizations (sports clubs), important vehicles and organizational forms of extracurricular athletics, are increasingly becoming one of the most dynamic students clubs on campus. Morever, due to the flexibility and diversity of its option in sports items as well as its openness to space or time, they come to develop into the most influential and cohesive student club and thus gain acceptance among students.Nevertheless, sports clubs in schools just have a short history of development. Despite their great achievement so far, some detriments have been exposed as it develops, for instance, there are still some attendant problems in the Management Systems, Development Goals, Organizational Structures, Incentive Systems and its Operating Mechanism. Meanwhile, its position and function need further understanding and comprehending.According to this research, the whole situation of the organizational construction of PE clubs in Sichuan universities or colleges is good. It can be summed up as the following: generally, the members have a clear motive for joining the clubs as well as the cadres for taking a position; they can actively participate in the daily club work or activities; they can also communicate frequently inside but little outside even among departments; there exist some organization clashes within departments because of different viewpoints; in most cases cadres or head leaders can run for a position openly or are elected by the general assembly; most of the clubs have a very distinct development goal and job objectives;the decisions of major affairs or activities are mainly made by the main leaders or agreed upon mutually by commanders or department directors something like this;the overall rule and other regulations for these PE clubs are specifically made and their daily management is going well as well as financial administration. So far some popular clubs such as ball games and dance aerobics develop well. Since these clubs can implement lots of activities, they gradually foster their own traditions and characteristics, steadily stepping into maturity.However, according to the research, there are still some problems the clubs are facing: first of all, the communication does not go well among departments; secondly, there seems to be many hands involved in the outside management; thirdly, as for the institutions, it' s necessary for some clubs to add new departments or cancel some ones; fourthly, the evaluation and incentive systems are unsound, and the places and outlay for activities are limited. Moreover, the operating mechanism and its function need improving further.In addition, due to the research, a conclusion is drawn that sports clubs in colleges or universities have the function of diversity, manifesting itself as follows: it helps improve students' health, meet their needs for entertainment, enhance their overall quality in terms of their moral, intellectual and fitness level as well as in their appreciation of aesthetics and enrich the Campus Culture; it can promote the level of college competitive sports and serve the community sports , making full use of market-oriented means for appropriate financial rewards in an effort to supplement the existing funding gap.In accordance with the problems sports clubs are confronted with, it is suggested we try to establish organization structures corresponding to the external and internal management to meet the clubs' sound and sustainable development. It is not only useful for forming a multi-financing model with the combination of school appropriation, social support and self-making-money, but for establishing an operating mechanism combining planned regulation with market regulation and market orientation. Meanwhile, it is important to blaze a trail for marrying sports with commerce complying with laws of the market economy, thus gradually making some PE activities commercialized. If these suggestions can be carefully considered, PE clubs are very likely to step into the virtuous cycle, moving forward on the road of self-development, self-compensation, relaying on school-PE-department.