Dr Niki Koutrou

Dr Niki Koutrou attained her first degree in Physical Education and Sport Science at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. She has then pursued postgraduate studies in the UK, with a scholarship awarded from the Hellenic State Scholarships Foundation (IKY) after national exams, and from the Alexander Onassis Public Benefit Foundation. She then completed an MSc in Sport Management, at Sheffield Hallam University and an MA in Olympic studies & Olympic Management at the International Olympic Academy in Greece. She has also recently completed her PhD from the Institute of Sport and Leisure Policy at Loughborough University. 

Her main area of interest centres on volunteer management. Her PhD thesis is on ‘Assessing the impacts of and relationships between sport club and sport event volunteers’ behaviour: A case study of Women’s Rugby in England’. She has worked in various volunteering and paid roles within the sports and leisure industry including her experience as a Scheduler at the Fleet Transport Department of London 2012 Olympic & Paralympic Games and as a Coordinator at the 51st session of Young Participants, organised by the International Olympic Academy. Niki has presented research at various conferences including the European Association of Sport Management Conference, the Sports Volunteering Research Symposium and the International Symposium for Olympic Research. Niki joined the SSES in September 2013 and her current research interests include evaluation of Sportivate and the Sport Participation Legacy of London 2012.

My research interests include sport policy analysis and evaluation with a focus on programme evaluations.I also examine the sport participation and sport volunteering legacies of the London 2012 Olympic Games. I currently supervise PhD projects on these areas. My research also focuses on the determinants of volunteers’ behaviour and management of volunteers in both sport clubs and sport event settings and the factors that promote or constrain sport participation. I am also interested in the area of Olympic studies. I was recently involved in a consultancy project for Kent FA evaluating the current state of adult male 11v11 football in Kent.

Niki's teaching focuses on sport industries, human resource management in sport and sport and exercise leadership.