One of the significant factors militating against the development of sports in Nigeria today is the lack of effective management. A lot of solutions are being proffered by concerned and patriotic Nigerians daily to bail us out the quagmire. One of these solutions is that this text entitled”Modern Trends in Sports Administration and Management”. It’s written by Dr. Joseph Awoyinfa, a lecturer at the Department of Human Kinetics and Health Education, Faculty of Education, University of Lagos, Nigeria; a researcher and educational consultant. I was the person invited by the writer and the university to review the book as it was introduced to the general public on December 4, 2008, in Nigeria. According to Awoyinfa, it’s a truism all around the world that game is now a reference issue that can no longer be ignored in different sectors of the market and spheres of existence.

The author adds this text thus requires a critical look at topical issues in sports management and administration, dwelling on concepts and fundamentals of contemporary trends in sports management and management like direction, organization, planning, motivation, etc.. The text comprises 16 chapters. Chapter one is christened”the notion of sports management“. Here, Awoyinfa says management is a concept that implies different things to different people at different times, thus resulting in its multiplicity of definitions. He explains that direction has been variously described as an art, a science, a person or people, a subject, and a procedure. This writer expatiates that as an art, sports management is all about executing sports organizational purposes and tasks through individuals; while as a science, sports management is all about establishing sports doctrine, laws, theories, principles, processes, and practices.

As an organization, according to him, sports management is defined as a method of creating formal structures and an establishment based on a mission, objectives, targets, functions, and tasks. Awoyinfa says as a person or group of individuals, sports management may refer to the mind or to all the senior staff, committee, etc.; while as a subject, management is a field of research with a variety of subjects and topics. The author illuminates that sports management as a procedure is about a systematic means of doing things. Awoyinfa highlights management functions in sports management as planning, organizing, staffing, directing/leading, controlling, coordination, budgeting, and analysis. On whom a sports director is, this writer educates a sports manager is anybody at any level of sport organization who directs.

The attempts of others towards the achievement of organizational goals sport-wise. Chapter two is based on the subject matter of development and tendencies of sports management thought. Here, Awoyinfa discloses the growth of ideas on sports management dates back to the days when people first tried to achieve goals by working together in a group. Big efforts to create principles and theories of sports management started in the early twentieth (20th) century with the work of Frederick Taylor and Henri Fayol. The industrial revolution of the nineteenth (19th) century likely provided the climate for this very significant theorizing.” Awoyinfa adds that since the turn of the 20th century, authors on sports management and business concept have been propounding different theories about how to handle work and staff more efficiently and effectively.

This author educates the three chief schools of management thought are: the classical; the human-behavioral; and the integrative. Awoyinfa also highlights ancient sports management theorists; fundamentals and characteristics of scientific management; evaluation of the scientific management theory, etc., in this particular chapter. Chapter three is thematically labeled “fundamentals of sports management”. In this chapter, the educational consultant explains that sports principles are the fundamental laws where the practice of sports management is constructed. He adds that management principles should, therefore, be based on overall terms for them to be applicable within game organizations of varying sizes and personalities. This is because no single principle can suit all administrative scenarios,” submits Awoyinfa.

He says the basic principles of sports would be those applicable to all sports businesses and as a consequence of the overall acceptability, they are sometimes known as”universal principles of sports management”. This writer expatiates that some of the principles are: responsibility; delegation of authority and communication. As regards humanitarian principles of sports management, Awoyinfa identifies these as democracy, justice, human relations, sympathy, compassion, consideration, and humility. In chapter based on the idea of behavioral and behavioral theories in sports business, the writer says human beings are unique creatures as they behave differently under different conditions and are mostly tricky to predict.

Awoyinfa worries that since human beings constitute the main part in sports business, sports supervisors need some understanding of why people behave in 1 way or another so that they (sports supervisors ) can influence individuals to perform precisely the way sports businesses find desired. 1 potent instrument this writer suggests that may be used to elicit performance in athletes is motivation. However, it was a significant and vexing subject for sports managers.” Awoyinfa further discusses the evolution of motivational concepts in sports business; program of motivational theories to sports management; methods of behavior modification, etc., in this particular chapter. In chapters five to ten, the writer beams his analytic searchlight on subject matters like management techniques in sports business; the notion of sports organization; placing design in sports business; the notion of planning in sports management; making sports businesses more effective in Nigeria and staffing in sports businesses.