What CAN clubs do?
Using the lessons of COVID to help sports clubs adapt to their ever-changing reality
COVID hit grassroots sports clubs hard. From having to adapt to new regulations to dealing with complete shutdowns, there was a lot to learn for the hard-working volunteers who run local clubs.
Clubs that emerged the strongest following each shutdown were those that focused not on the restrictions themselves, nor on how they were victims of circumstance. Rather, they focused on what they COULD do. By spending their forced downtime on strategic activities rather than whinging, clever clubs found ways to stay connected with their members and to keep their members engaged (and ultimately coming back to the club as soon as they could), and invested time away from the field on things that often fall between the cracks when the day-to-day business of running a sports club keeps volunteers so busy.
COVID taught us that, like it or not, our world is going to change. Some changes happen very quickly, like when sport simply stopped due to government-mandated shutdowns. But other changes result from incremental trends over years, if not generations, and by the time a committee becomes aware of their impact, they can be left playing catch-up.
Some of these slower-burning changes include a decline in volunteering, increasing demand from members for better Levels of Service, the professionalisation of sports governance and increased legislative compliance obligations for clubs.
As Australia prepares to get back on the field for full sporting seasons in 2022, it’s time for more clubs to use the lessons that COVID taught us about change, and apply them across their operations. For example, if members want their club to still exist in a decade, what do they need to change about their operations now, to deal with the fact that the downward trend in volunteering is unlikely to reverse itself in that time? How can they use what they’ve learned in their COVID recovery to improve the viability of their business? (Yes, they may be ‘not-for-profit’ entities, but it’s business nonetheless!)
