9.4 Club Development

12 May 2009

Sustainable club development is critical for a National Governing Body to grow and develop.

Sports Development

Sports Development is ensuring that structures are in place to enable people to participate in their chosen sport and develop their skills to reach the level of competency and skill that they so desire. Whether that be at a local club level or at an elite international level, the NGBs need to ensure that there are suitable pathways for this to occur.

Sports Development is about building partnerships in order to provide appropriate and accessible sporting opportunities for all. The partners involved in sports development range from local authorities, schools (primary and secondary), colleges/ universities, clubs, governing bodies of sport, community clubs and services, leisure centres, specialist sports facilities as well as national organisations such as Sport Ireland and Coaching Ireland.

Sports Development Continuum

The Sports Development Continuum is often used to identify the pathways for participants to move through as they progress in sport.

Performance and excellence levels are primarily developed by governing bodies. Local authorities and school sports associations also provide links through to performance levels. These organisations provide opportunities for representative sport (district, county, regional) leading ultimately to national representation.

Grass Roots: local authorities and schools are primarily involved in introducing young people to sports at foundation and participation level by providing links with clubs and opportunities for continued participation after and outside of school.

Sports Development Officers

Sports Development Officers (SDOs) are often employed by National Governing Bodies and local authorities to implement their sports strategies.

Each SDO is usually responsible for developing a number of focus sports and developing active links with local agencies including clubs, schools, colleges and leisure centres as well as with national organisations. Sports Development Officers are the catalyst for ensuring that quality opportunities are accessible throughout the continuum, from grass roots through to performance and excellence programmes. One of the ways that SDO's implement this at a local level is by co-ordinating local Development Groups.

These groups consist of volunteer representatives from local clubs and representatives from the national governing body, education (primary and secondary schools, colleges, universities) and specialist sports facilities. The aim of the local Development Group is to create a positive working partnership between all agencies involved in that sport as well as write and implement a Development Plan for the area. The Group ensures that there are appropriate and accessible opportunities for all participants from grass roots sport through to performance and excellence.

Club Action Planning:

Sport is rapidly moving into a more 'professional' culture, partly as a result of changes in legislation, but largely from the desire to improve. The most effective way for clubs to develop and improve is to be involved in a planning process that sets your club on the path to a better future. There are many reasons why a club will benefit from planning:

Use your club resources more effectively
Identify and prioritise the club's aims and aspirations for the future
Recognise where the club has come from and where it is now
Improve team spirit by involving members in decision making
Forward planning is essential for accessing funding support, such as local grant aid
Ensure a professional approach
Demonstrate what the club can offer potential new players/ members
Can demonstrate the club's commitment to local schools or the Local Authority
The planning process can develop team work off the sports field
Cope with change
Check on the club's progress.

This section contains advice and guidance on the following common areas of club policy and procedure as listed in the Articles side panel:

Membership Policy - membership criteria and membership forms, including addional provisions for junior members
Equal Opportunities Policy - establishing an equity statement and its implementation through an equal opportunities policy
Code of Conduct for Fair Play - ensuring that your members are familiar with minimum expected standards of participation and play
Child protection - procedures to ensure that children, young people and vulnerable adults participate in your club's activities without risk of abuse
Health & Safety - covering a range of issues including duty of care, risk assessment, insurance, first aid, emergency procedures, etc.
Club Development Policies are covered in the section on club development planning
Ethics in sport - 'ethics' is the now generic terms for all aspects of fair and equitable conduct in both the management and running of sport.

Policies and Procedures

As your sports club grows and develops its range of activities, you will probably find it necessary to establish some club policies that set out in more detail how the club and its members should operate. Typically, these policies might cover such things as:

The requirements for a person to become a member of your club (e.g. their standard of play, or the nature of their contribution)
The standards of conduct expected of members or officials
Arrangements for protecting children, young people or vulnerable adults from any form of abuse
Arrangements for protecting members and the general public from any potential danger arising through the use of your premises, facilities or equipment.
The range of policies and procedures that you might require will very much depend on the nature of your sport and the type of activities that you choose to undertake.

Planning to Develop Your Club

There is no right or wrong way to produce a development plan for your sports club but the following guidelines should give you some positive ideas on how to get started. There are two types of plans:

A development plan: a long term plan (usually 3 to 5 years), this plan focuses on the club's "vision" for the future
An action plan: a short term plan (usually 1 year), this plan prioritises the short term actions required to get the club on the right path to achieving its long term "vision"

Who Should be Involved in Planning?

The most difficult part of action planning is that it takes TIME, a limited resource for all clubs! Before you start the planning process you will need to consider the best way of managing the process within your club. It is important that members take an active role in shaping the club's future, therefore involve and consult the members wherever possible. Ensure that the participants involved in this planning process represent all interests in the club. However, it is highly recommended that a small working group is identified to carry out the necessary paperwork and action points.

Remember: It is the club that has to DO the work, not the action planner & the process is almost as important as the final document itself..

Four Stages of Planning

1. Where are we now? - the AUDIT

All clubs provide varying sporting opportunities for many different levels and abilities, therefore before you can begin to plan for the future it is important that you consider the clubs current circumstances. By carrying out an audit the club can identify its strengths and weaknesses, as well as look at any possible opportunities or threats for development. This process will provide a clear base for setting some realistic aims and objectives for the clubs future.

2. Where do we want to be? - the AIMS

Having undertaken the audit you will have established your current status (where are we now) and started the process of identifying the clubs main objectives for the future (where do we want to be). To ensure that the aims and objectives are achievable it is important to keep them realistic. You should now be ready to formulate an 'Action Plan' to identify how you will achieve these objectives.

3. How will we get there? - the PLAN

Once the club has completed the audit and identified the aims, the third stage - action planning - should fall easily into place. The Plan identifies how you will begin to work towards the club's 'vision' and achieve it's aims. Therefore you will need to break down each aim into specific targets for your club to achieve in the first year and some proposed targets for future years.

In order to produce an Action Plan you will need to go through the following five questions:

The Target - WHAT do you want to achieve?
The Action - HOW can it be achieved?
Timescale - WHEN will it be done?
Led by - WHO is going to do it?
Cost - What will it COST in terms of money, time, people and facilities.

4. How well did we do? - the REVIEW

Once the action plan has been agreed and is a working document, it is vital that the plan is reviewed and updated periodically, at least annually. Monitoring and reviewing your club's progress is invaluable for ensuring that the club continues to move forward. Provided that the targets set in the action plan are measurable, the process should be simple and not too time consuming.

This process will look at future developments, it will also help to reflect on where the club has come from and where it is now. Importantly the club should then formally recognise the volunteers (committee members, administrators, coaches and officials) who have put in the hard work to make it happen!

The Audit

Before your club can begin to plan for the future it is important to consider the clubs particular circumstances and what opportunities it currently provides. The easiest way to do this is to work through a club audit. The club audit should be used as a guide for a SWOT analysis:

Strengths - e.g. lots of volunteer helpers
Weaknesses - e.g. few qualified volunteer helpers or coaches
Opportunities -e.g. potential links with the local secondary school
Threats -e.g. reduction in junior members this season

For any audit to be useful and a true basis for planning, time should be taken to complete it honestly and accurately.

In addition to your own club audit you can also explore the local sports provision and identify what support is available from other sports providers or partners in the area. For example there may be coaches or officials working for the local authority who may be able to offer your club some additional support, or there may be a junior after school club who may like to develop their skills in a larger club.

The Aims

Having completed the club audit and the SWOT analysis you should be able to identify some aims to build upon your club's strengths and tackle it's weaknesses. The aims should be:

Specific to your club
Measurable - consider how the clubs progress will be assessed
Agreed - it is vital that the club involves all committee staff and coaches in the process
Realistic - the aims should be challenging yet achievable
Timescales - the club must consider the time needed to achieve the aims.

The Plan

The action plan formally identifies and prioritises the club's aims. The Plan should be used to establish the timescales, personnel and costs for each aim. This plan may be used as a business plan when applying for some funding grants. There are many different forms of action plans and again, you'll find an example in the Resources panel.

Remember to review the plan. Once the club has completed and agreed the action plan it is important to set up a regular review meeting to monitor progress. The plan should be a working document that can be modified and adapted to reflect the progress and any change in circumstances. Provided that the targets are measurable, this process should be simple and not too time consuming.

Club Development Policy

A development policy clearly demonstrates the club's commitment to developing quality opportunities for its members. The policy should be a working document that can be changed as the club develops and should be supported by an action plan which ensures that the policy is put into practice and that the aims are met.

To raise the profile of the club's commitment to development include the policy in the club handbook or maybe post it on the club notice board.