The Blindspot for Sports Club Leaders

What nobody tells you about running a grassroots sports club

As a passionate individual, stepping into a grassroots sports leadership role, you may find yourself blindsided by the complexity of what you’ve taken on. You signed up to make a difference, to improve your sport, to create better opportunities for your community - but suddenly you find yourself drowning in governance requirements, volunteer management issues, member disputes and financial pressures that you never anticipated.

Australia has around 70,000 community sports clubs, each playing a crucial role in their local community's physical and mental health, social connection and sense of belonging. But these benefits can only continue if we have strong, well-run clubs led by capable, supported leaders who are equipped with the resources and skills to translate their passion into impact.

Recent research tells a concerning story: 27% of our clubs have experienced a decline in financial reserves over the past year, with small clubs particularly vulnerable. But here's what's interesting: the clubs that are thriving aren't necessarily the ones with the biggest budgets or the most members. They're the ones with leaders who've managed to bridge the gap between passion for sport and effective business management.

Let’s be honest – the challenges facing grassroots sports clubs go deeper than just declining participation rates or rising costs (though these are certainly significant). The real issue often lies in the foundation of how our clubs operate. These are highly volatile environments filled with historical landmines, unspoken etiquette and a unique set of rules that would make any seasoned business professional scratch their head. It's a world where phrases like "you can't discipline a volunteer" and "we can't spend money" are accepted as gospel, even when they shouldn’t be.

For over 40 years I’ve lived grassroots sports from nearly every possible angle – starting as a 6-year-old playing at the local community field. I've been a seasoned representative player, a coach from local to state level and a Board Director of both a local sporting association and regional sports Academy. As a parent I’ve watched my daughters progress through club and representative sport. I served as President of a 1,000-strong local sports association for five years, as a Director of a national sports league for three years and I now sit on the Board of a state sporting organisation. And these were just my volunteer roles!

Professionally, I've dedicated my career to working with sports and community organisations across Australia. In my work I lead strategic change, build operational capabilities, diversify and grow revenue streams and strengthen governance. This unique combination of hands-on volunteer experience and professional expertise has given me a rare perspective on what makes organisations tick – and more importantly, what makes them succeed.

I believe the passionate, committed, often highly credentialed leaders running and guiding our Clubs need easier access to relevant, actionable, timely knowledge and practical skills, to drive change in the challenging environments they have so generously dedicated their time and energy to champion.

Over the next few weeks, I'll be deep diving into four critical areas that I believe can transform how we approach grassroots sports club management in 2025:

1. Strategic Planning for the Time-Poor Leader: How to create and implement effective strategies when you're juggling volunteer commitments with work and family life. (And yes, it is possible!)

2. The Modern Sports Club Business Model: Moving beyond the traditional "registration fees and sausage sizzles" approach to create sustainable, diversified revenue streams.

3. Building Better Volunteer Cultures: Practical approaches to recruit, retain and yes - even manage - volunteers in ways that work for everyone.

4. Enhancing Member Experience: Stay relevant and appealing with techniques to boost engagement and retention in the digital age.

I promise this isn't going to be another series of articles that simply points out what's wrong. Each topic will spark meaningful discussion and be followed up with practical, actionable steps (and some tools and templates) that you can implement in your club.

The future of grassroots sport doesn't lie in doing things the way we always have. It lies in embracing new approaches, new tools and new ways of thinking about club management. It's about making the complex simple, the overwhelming manageable and what seems impossible achievable.

If you're involved in running a sports club, whether you're a seasoned president or a newly minted committee member, I invite you to join me on this journey.

Subscribe to this content series for insights, practical tools and a fresh perspective on club management.

Follow along on Facebook, Instagram and/or LinkedIn for tips and updates.

And keep an eye out for my new Facebook Group, The Sports Club Collective – coming soon!

Together, we can build stronger, more sustainable clubs that serve our communities for generations to come.

Let's get started!