Communication vital in recovery

Awimmera

football and netball thinktank has generated a broad message encouraging sporting clubs to talk about how they can best emerge from the COVID-19 lockdown.

Wimmera and Horsham and District football and netball club leaders attended a virtual forum where they discussed the importance of sustainable community sports clubs to the region.

Wimmera Regional Sports Assembly and Wimmera Development Association hosted the forum.

Wayne Street, of Street Ryan and Associates, presented costing benchmark figures for football and netball clubs.

Mr Street’s presentation included statistics that showed football and netball clubs ranked among the top 40 to 50 percent of businesses in many Wimmera and southern Mallee centres and contributed more than $18-million to the region.

Wimmera Development Association spoke with experienced community sports leader Peter Myers to gain his insight on how club boards and committees could navigate out of the COVID-19 shutdown.

Mr Myers spent seven years on the Northern Football Netball League board and is Kew Golf Club treasurer.

“The focus should be on protecting the club so that it does survive at the end of this – and that might mean making some fairly difficult decisions in the short term. That’s so when things do return to normality, the club is in a strong position to go forward,” he said.

“Gone are the days where you just go day-byday or season-by-season. You have to have a long-term purpose for the club.”

Mr Myers encouraged boards and committees to keep the sustainability of the club in mind when making any short-term decisions.

“I think it’s important clubs put a lot of effort into strategic planning,” he said.

“First we want to get through this virus period, but we also want to make sure we’re continuing in accordance with our long-term plan.”

Wimmera Development Association executive director Chris Sounness said a vibrant sporting community helped make the region a great place to live.

“We want to make sure boards and committees have the support they need to have a secure financial future,” he said.

Wimmera Development Association has used Mr Myers’ advice to develop a ‘Guide for Committees’ that sporting clubs can use for club ‘health checks’.

The association, working in partnership with Wimmera Regional Sports Assembly, will contact football and netball clubs to provide them with the guide and to discuss what additional support community sports clubs might need to ensure viability and sustainability.