Sports clubs in battle for financial survival
Community recreation faces tough times as sponsorship by small business dries up
COMMUNITY sport is fighting to survive the COVID-19 economic battle and are unable to compete with the giants of the Far Northern economy such as tourism, hospitality, construction and health.
While some of the governing bodies of the major codes in the Far North have been eligible for JobKeeper payments, their not-for-profit, volunteerrun clubs have been left with diminishing savings and no clear path to financial stability.
The Cairns Post spoke to five team-based sporting codes – football, rugby league, cricket, basketball and AFL. All their bosses conceded that the clubs in their competitions had been financially impacted and some had serious concerns about their futures.
Cairns Brothers Rugby League Club is one of four clubs in the CDRL competition, which rely on their community leagues clubs for income.
President Steven Widt said his club had been hit hard.
“The leagues club has been shut obviously, and yes, money has been and will be a struggle,” he said.
AFL Cairns boss Gary Young represented the Far North’s sports interest in February’s Cairns TNQ Convoy to Capital Q and said the financial issues in front of community sports clubs were obvious.
“A lot of clubs are volunteer-based and run a tight budget to start with,” he said.
“And a lot of them rely on sponsorship money from small businesses. If those businesses have been affected, sponsorship is going to be hard.
“Sports is great because it brings people together and gives them a break from life. But at a community level it doesn’t do much for the economy.
“So it’s going to be hard for people to keep giving to clubs when they’re struggling themselves. And a lot of club members are business owners or employed by a business that’s been affected. Some of our clubs are sponsored by pubs and restaurants, so they’ll be doing it tough.”
Mr Young said he expected to see most codes run their competitions on “shoestring” budgets with cost-cutting measure likely affecting match officials, player wages, availability of new equipment and the number of rounds.