| Course | MT242 Managing Sport Programs |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 2 |
| Paper type | Program structure analysis |
| Length | About 1,090 words, 6 pages double-spaced |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Purdue University Global |
| Program | BS in Business Administration |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for MT242 Unit 2
Nine Board Members, One Coordinator and Three Gyms It Does Not Own: A Unit 2 Program Structure Analysis
[Student Name]
Purdue University Global
MT242: Managing Sport Programs
Unit 2 Program Structure Analysis
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
Linden Valley Youth Basketball, its people, agreements and figures are composite and illustrative; the sources cited are real.
The Program
Linden Valley Youth Basketball is a nonprofit league serving children in grades 3 through 8 in a composite suburban school district. Each winter it runs 48 teams in six divisions, boys and girls at grades 3-4, 5-6 and 7-8, with 612 players, ten game Saturdays from January to mid-March and weeknight practices from December. It has no building, no equipment room of its own beyond a rented storage unit, and one paid employee. Everything else is volunteered, contracted or borrowed.
Chelladurai (2014) treats a sport organization as an open system, in which inputs such as volunteers, fees and gym time are converted into programs through roles and decision rules. This analysis follows that order: who holds authority, where the inputs come from, which person may decide what, and where the structure is thin. It is written for the board's planning retreat in August, before registration opens, when changes to the structure are cheapest to make.
The Organization Chart
The chart has three levels inside the league and two parties outside it.
At the top sits a nine-member volunteer board elected by member families each spring. The board sets fees, approves the budget, adopts rules and hires the coordinator. Below it, the coordinator, paid for twenty hours a week from August to March, runs registration, schedules gyms, handles family questions and reports to the board president. Three volunteer committees report to the coordinator: scheduling, which builds the game and practice calendar; equipment, which orders uniforms and keeps balls and scorebooks; and coaching, which recruits, screens and trains the 96 volunteer coaches.
Outside the box sit two kinds of contracted party. A referee assignor, paid per game, books the 18 referees on the league's list and is responsible for their training and conduct. The three gym hosts, the school district for two gyms and a church for the third, provide the space under their own rules.
Paid, Contracted and Volunteer
The distinction matters because each group answers to the league in a different way. The coordinator is an employee and can be directed and evaluated. The assignor and referees are contractors: the league can end the contract but cannot tell them how to do their work. Volunteers can be asked, trained and removed, but not required to show up. Cuskelly et al. (2006) found that how sport clubs plan for, recruit and support volunteers affects whether they stay, and in a league that depends on 96 volunteer coaches, retention is part of the structure, not an afterthought.
The Resource Table
The season's revenue is $86,240, from three sources.
Registration: 516 paying players at $140, $72,240
Sponsor: a local credit union, $6,000
Grant: a community foundation, $8,000, restricted to fee waivers for 96 players
The grant is the only restricted money. It covers part of the value of the 96 waivers, which at $140 each would be $13,440; the league absorbs the rest. Registration is therefore both the main income and a constraint: any fee increase raises the value of every waiver the grant must cover.
Facilities rest on two agreements. The school district grants a facility-use permit each year for two gyms on Saturdays and weeknights, subject to the district's own events, which take priority. The church that hosts the third gym signed a one-page letter agreeing to Saturday use for a donation per hour, with no term and no notice period.
The league's third gym rests on one page and a handshake.
Decision Rights
Who can make a decision matters most when something goes wrong on a Saturday morning. The decision-rights table sets out four common decisions.
Cancel or move a Saturday's games: the coordinator, after consulting the board president; for a single gym, the site supervisor may stop play for safety and the coordinator decides on rescheduling.
Approve spending over $500: the board treasurer and one other officer; under $500, the coordinator within the approved budget.
Clear a coach to work with players: the coaching committee chair, only after a background check and required training are complete.
Speak to the media: the board president only.
Hums and MacLean (2018) argue that sport organizations work best when authority for each decision is written down in advance, so that people are not inventing a process during a crisis. The table is short because the league is small, but each line answers a question someone has asked under pressure.
Single Points of Failure
The structure has four dependencies that could each stop a season.
The district permit. The two district gyms hold 16 of the 24 games each Saturday. The permit is renewed yearly and the district may withdraw space for its own events. Without it, two-thirds of the schedule disappears.
The church letter. The third gym's one-page agreement has no notice period, so the church could withdraw it for any reason without warning, and the league would lose eight games every Saturday.
The assignor. One person books all 18 referees. If the assignor leaves mid-season, the league has no list, no relationships and no way to cover 48 referee slots a week.
The coordinator. One part-time employee holds the registration system passwords, the gym contacts and the family email list. An illness in January would leave the board without the information to run Saturdays.
Recommendations
The board can reduce each risk at low cost. It should ask the church for a seasonal agreement with a notice period of at least 30 days. It should ask the assignor to share the referee list with the coordinator and identify a backup assignor in a neighboring league. It should keep a written handover file with passwords, contacts and procedures, stored where two board officers can open it. And it should ask the district for a written list of known district events before the schedule is built, so conflicts surface in December rather than in February.
Conclusion
Linden Valley's structure works because a small number of people hold a large number of tasks, which is also why it is fragile. The organization chart is simple, the money is modest and the decisions are clear, but the season depends on four arrangements the board does not fully control. Writing down those dependencies is the first step to managing them.
References
Chelladurai, P. (2014). Managing organizations for sport and physical activity: A systems perspective (4th ed.). Holcomb Hathaway.
Cuskelly, G., Taylor, T., Hoye, R., & Darcy, S. (2006). Volunteer management practices and volunteer retention: A human resource management approach. Sport Management Review, 9(2), 141-163. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1441-3523(06)70023-7
Hums, M. A., & MacLean, J. C. (2018). Governance and policy in sport organizations (4th ed.). Routledge.
Reading the MT 242 Unit 2 instructions
Unit 2 asks students to map how a sport program is organized: who holds authority, who does the work, where money, people and facilities come from, and how decisions are made. The prompt usually expects an organization chart, a resource summary and some analysis of weak points. Distinguish employees, contractors and volunteers, since each answers to the program differently, and show any outside party the program depends on. Decision rights, who can cancel, spend, clear or speak, are worth spelling out. Choose a program small enough to map completely, such as a community league or a school's athletic department. About five pages in APA 7 is typical, with at least three sources on sport organizations or governance.
How the MT 242 Unit 2 example is put together
The analysis introduces the league's 48 teams and 612 players, then uses Chelladurai's open-system view to set the order of the paper. The chart section places the board, coordinator and three committees inside the box and the assignor and gym hosts outside it, with a margin note on what the board cannot direct. A section on paid, contracted and volunteer roles cites Cuskelly and colleagues on retention. The resource table explains the restricted grant and the two facility agreements, and the highlighted line notes the third gym rests on one page. Decision rights follow with Hums and MacLean. Four single points of failure are named in a second note, then low-cost fixes and a short conclusion.
Where the points sit in the MT242 Unit 2 rubric
Structure analyses earn credit for accuracy and completeness of the map, quality of the analysis and use of sources. A chart that includes outside parties the program depends on earns more than one showing only internal roles. Graders reward a resource section that ties money and facilities to their sources and conditions, such as a restricted grant or a permit that can be withdrawn. Decision rights stated in a table show understanding of governance. The strongest papers identify specific weak points and propose practical fixes. Using the terms employee, contractor and volunteer correctly matters, because each implies different control. A chart and tables that agree with the prose, plus accurate references for the governance sources, account for the remaining points.
Common MT242 Unit 2 mistakes, and how to avoid them
Many students draw an organization chart and stop, leaving out the analysis the unit is really after. Another common gap is ignoring outside parties, such as facility owners, that a small program cannot operate without. Some papers list revenue without noting which money is restricted. Others describe decision making in general terms without saying who actually decides. Avoid recommending a larger staff the budget cannot pay for. Tell us which program you know best, and a writer can draft its chart, resource table and list of single points of failure from what you describe.
Get an MT242 Unit 2 example written to your instructions
Unit 2 works best on a program you can describe concretely: a league, a school athletic department, a camp, a club. Explain how it is organized and paid for, leaving out names, and attach the prompt and rubric. The analysis maps control, resources and the dependencies that could stop a season; it takes 24-48h, and the first one is free. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.
More MT242 papers and BS in Business Administration samples
- MT242 Unit 1: Discussion Board Post
- MT242 Unit 3: Scheduling Exercise
- MT242 Unit 4: Facility Allocation Plan
- MT242 Unit 5: Staffing and Volunteer Plan
- MT242 Unit 6: Seminar Reflection
- MT242 Unit 7: Program Budget
- MT242 Unit 8: Risk and Safety Plan
- MT242 Unit 9: Crisis Communication Memo
- MT242 Unit 10: Program Management Plan
- MT241 Unit 2: Metric Definition Exercise
- MT240 Unit 2: Concept Application Paper
- MT237 Unit 2: Supply Chain Map
- MT236 Unit 2: Supply Chain Map
MT242 Unit 2 questions, answered
What is a facility-use agreement?
A written arrangement, often a permit from a school district or a lease from a private owner, that sets when a program may use a facility, what it pays and under what conditions access can be withdrawn. For programs that own no facilities, these documents are among their most important assets. A structure analysis should summarize the terms, especially notice periods and priority rules.
Why distinguish paid, contracted and volunteer staff?
Because each is engaged, managed and replaced differently. Paid staff can be scheduled and directed; contracted officials are supplied through an agreement and can be withdrawn by the contractor; volunteers must be recruited every season and can leave at any time. A program's resilience depends on the mix, which is why the analysis groups people by engagement rather than title.
How much financial detail belongs in a structure analysis?
Enough to show where the money comes from and what it depends on, usually revenue by source and the largest cost categories. A full budget comes later in most MT242 sections. The example gives revenue by source and notes that the fee-waiver grant is restricted, since restrictions on money shape a program as much as its total does.
Where can I find a free MT242 Unit 2 sample paper?
Read the full MT242 Unit 2 program structure analysis here. It charts a composite youth basketball league, traces $86,240 of revenue, sets out decision rights and names four dependencies that could stop a season.
What are the single points of failure in the MT242 Unit 2 sample?
The district permit that holds two of three gyms, a church letter with no notice period, one referee assignor who books all 18 officials and one part-time coordinator who holds the passwords and contacts.