Lack of effective management is one of the main obstacles to the development of sports in Nigeria. Many solutions are offered by patriotic Nigerians every day to help us get out of this mess. This text, Modern Trends in Sports Administration and Management, is one such solution. It was written by Dr. Joseph Awoyinfa who is a lecturer at the Department of Human Kinetics and Health Education Faculty of Education University of Lagos in Nigeria. He also works as a researcher and consultant to educational institutions. The author invited me to review the book, which was then presented to the public in Nigeria on December 4, 2008.
Awoyinfa says that it is a fact all around the world that sports are now a key issue in many sectors of the economy and life spheres. This text also examines current issues in sport administration and management. It focuses on theories and principles that are relevant to modern trends in sports management and administration such as leadership, organisation and planning, motivation, and so forth. The author explains that sports management can be described as an art.
It involves the execution of sports organisational functions through people. Sports management, on the other hand, is a science. It is about creating sports philosophy, theories, principles and processes. According to him, sport management can be described as the creation of formal structures and an institution based on a mission and objectives, targets and functions.
Awoyinfa explains that sports management can refer to a person or group of individuals, or the entire senior staff. Management is a field with many subjects and topics, while it is a discipline. The author explains that sports management is a method of organizing things. Awoyinfa outlines the management functions of sports administration, including planning, organizing, staffing, leading, controlling, leading, controlling, and coordination and budgeting. This author explains who a sport manager is.
Chapter 2 is about the evolution and trends in sports management thought. Awoyinfa reveals that the origins of ideas on sports management can be traced back to when people tried to achieve goals by working in groups. He said that there was serious thinking and theorizing about managing long before the dawning of the twenty-first century. This marked the start of modern sports management thought. Frederick Taylor and Henri Fayola were the first to make major efforts to develop theories, and principles for sports management. This was probably possible because of the industrial revolution in the nineteenth century 19th.
Awoyinfa also states that sports management and business theory writers have been presenting different theories on how to manage people and work more effectively and efficiently since the beginning of the 20th Century. The author explains that there are three major schools of management thought: the classic, the human-behavioural and the integrative. Awoyinfa also discusses early sports management theories; principles and characteristics in scientific management; and the appraisal of the scientific theory of management.