Theoretical and Methodological Foundations for Developing Sports Volunteering in Ukraine

<jats:p>The purpose of the study is to substantiate an integrated theoretical and methodological framework for developing sports volunteering in Ukraine and to identify its structural components, functions, principles, and organizational and pedagogical conditions. The methods included a structured theoretical review, directed qualitative content analysis, comparative analysis, categorization, and conceptual modelling. The evidence base comprised 19 documents: 15 scholarly publications and four regulatory or strategic acts. Thirteen sources (68.4%) were published in 2021–2025, ten (52.6%) were international publications, and fifteen (78.9%) contained a DOI. The content analysis showed that organizational and management issues were addressed in 12 sources (63.2%), volunteer motivation and retention in 10 (52.6%), social integration and wellbeing in 10 (52.6%), and quality assessment in 9 (47.4%). By contrast, rehabilitation and veteran-related dimensions appeared in only three sources (15.8%), indicating the most pronounced gap in the Ukrainian research field. The study refines the definition of sports volunteering as voluntary, socially beneficial, and competence-based activity within physical culture and sport settings aimed at organizing events, supporting participants, expanding access to physical activity, promoting social integration, and facilitating recovery. A five-component framework was substantiated: conceptual and categorical, value and motivational, content and functional, organizational and methodological, and outcome and evaluation components. The scientific novelty lies in improving the conceptualization of sports volunteering by incorporating the educational, inclusive, rehabilitation, and veteran contexts of Ukraine and by systematizing nine functions, twelve principles, and six organizational and pedagogical conditions for its development. The practical significance is that the proposed framework can be used by educational institutions, sports clubs, civil society organizations, local communities, and rehabilitation centres to design volunteer training, support, and performance assessment programmes. The results provide a methodological basis for moving from episodic involvement of volunteers to a sustainable, safe, inclusive, and evidence-informed system of sports volunteering.</jats:p>