DEVELOPMENT OF STANDARD CRITERIA BASED ON THE THAILAND QUALITY AWARD FRAMEWORK FOR ADVANCING PROFESSIONAL SPORTS

Abstract

The objectives of this study are 1) to analyze the context of Thai sport associations in the transition toward professional sport 2) to develop a management quality framework by adapting the Thailand Quality Award together with international quality standards and 3) to propose implementation guidelines to enhance the efficiency transparency and sustainability of the sport system. A research and development design was employed. Data were collected from executives of sport associations representatives of the Sports Authority of Thailand and subject matter experts through in-depth interviews with twenty-four participants six focus groups with a total of fifty participants a stakeholder forum with more than eighty participants and a questionnaire. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics including mean standard deviation and percentage. Qualitative data were analyzed using content analysis with inter rater agreement and content validity assessed by the IOC index. The study produced the Thailand Sports Quality Award or TSQA comprising four categories and sixteen sub categories that cover strategy athlete and         personnel development resource management and stakeholder relations together with a strategy map that links learning and development to internal processes stakeholder satisfaction and sustainable outcomes. The framework specifies indicators and evidentiary requirements for every subcategory. The contribution lies in systematically integrating sport specific dimensions into a general quality framework including end to end athlete development across clubs leagues and associations alignment of competition calendars with training load to manage injury risk integrity and safe sport measures and transparency mechanisms for sponsors and the public. Expert appraisal confirms that the framework is appropriate, comprehensive and feasible for self-assessment and external certification. Intended users are national sport associations         provincial sport associations professional sport associations and the Sports Authority of Thailand. Policy recommendations are to establish a government hosted platform for self-assessment and shared learning to prepare a concise implementation manual with staged maturity levels and to link a minimum TSQA score to eligibility for public funding together with bonus scores for governance transparency and safe sport performance to drive continuous system wide improvement.