Mythbusting: What the regional data says
Introduction
Is New Zealand really suffering from a big decline in sports participation and volunteering? How do we know whether to concentrate coaching, or volunteering, or improving financial management?
Perceptions about declining participation in sports may be a myth. There is some evidence emerging that participation is actually increasing in most sports, decreasing in a few, and is static in others. Trends can also vary by region, where a different mix of factors affects participation, volunteering, competitiveness and funding.
To understand what is really happening in sport at a regional level, we need to see more information collected on a regular basis.
This case study looks at the work of two Regional Sports Trusts (RSTs) who have been collecting regional data for a number of years – Sport Canterbury and Sport Hawkes Bay. The data they have gathered on trends in coaching, membership, participation and sporting performance has been useful in challenging preconceptions about sport and recreation in their regions and now provides an evidence base to support funding decisions as well as a platform for RST assistance.
SPARC is keen to see more of this kind of work.
SPARC’s Relationship Manager, David Knowles, is concerned that the commonly-expressed view (namely, that organised sport is less popular these days, that clubs are collapsing because of financial hardship, and that there are no volunteers anymore) is a dangerous generalisation. It is a perception that may, if it is left unchallenged, become a self-fulfilling prophecy. “I accept that there are pressures and that changes are inevitable but I suspect this clichéd view of community-based sport being dead & buried is unreliable. It should be tested because it carries the very real risk of driving away volunteers and potential investors.”
SPARC is supporting the development of a user-friendly survey to assist RSTs in collecting regional information in a consistent manner at least once a year.
Updated | 17 Jun 2008.
Skip page tools.
