Sport Start creates a pathway from being active - to joining a club
Overview
It is always excellent news when a previously sedentary person commits to getting active. But there’s plenty of evidence to show that if they are being active solely for health reasons, they are likely to lose motivation over time. Long-term success is far more likely if, when they’re ready, they take the next step, and join a club.
Why? Participating in an organised recreation or sport links people to new friendships and social opportunities; plus it gives them shared goals and fresh challenges. Their activity becomes fun and rewarding, for it’s own sake.
But for this transition to work, clubs must be ready to welcome people of all abilities, not just accomplished athletes. Club induction processes have to be right. So too, attitudes to performance, membership structures, even the type of events on offer. Achieving all this can be a real mind-shift for traditional clubs. But by doing it right, clubs can gain new members, who in many cases will bring in further friends and family, and will often get involved in club organisation.
Sport Start helps to make it happen. The Sport Start programme covers the Taupo region, under the leadership of Sport Waikato. It helps clubs to gear up to welcome adult ‘beginners’, and it helps those beginners to come forward, and become club members. While it’s still in the early stages, Sport Start is clearly working, a win-win for the newly active, as well as for the clubs.
Background & partners
The Sport Start concept evolved from Taupo’s successful Active and Well programme, which supports sedentary people in their initial choice of activity, and prepares them to move on to more structured recreation. “Active and Well is like a gold standard of GRx,” says Zoe Blair, Sport Waikato’s Green Prescription Area Manager.
“We know that many of the people with Active and Well would like to take the next step into a club. But they don’t know where to start, or who to contact. Before Sport Start, we didn’t have a system for it to happen,” she says.
The Sport Start concept officially began in September 2008 with the employment of the first Sport Start coordinator. To guide the project, a governance group was established, with members of: the Sports Advisory Council for Taupo and Turangi; Sport Waikato; Lake Taupo PHO; and, Taupo District Council. Funding for Sport Start comes from the PHO, Council and SPARC.
The initiative
“Just like in childhood, many previously sedentary people need to develop the skills, attitudes and confidence to become an active participant. It’s the ‘learn and explore’ stage of the Sport and Recreation Pathway. In many cases these people haven’t had the opportunities before. We need to foster an environment that is safe, caring and supportive, encouraging them to have fun while being physically active,” explains Zoe.
With this in mind, Sport Start helps clubs to:
- Develop entry-level/social sport and physical recreation activities, with a pathway to competition if requested
- Welcome and retain members who were previously sedentary
- Think fresh to attract people who may be afraid to join
- Develop inclusion policies to attract a wider range of people
- Create a more welcoming environment by developing policies for areas such as smoke free, sun smart and nutrition
- Promote themselves as Sport Start clubs.
And Sport Start helps previously sedentary people to:
- Choose the sport and physical recreation activity that best suits them
- Know where to go, and what to do
- Have the confidence and commitment to make it happen
- Keep it up.
Needs Analysis
In the initial stages of the project, a needs analysis of the general population of Taupo was undertaken. Three main questions were asked, assisting the Governance group to choose which clubs to be involved. The questions asked were:
- “Are you a member of any sport clubs? If not, what are the barriers?”
- “What do you expect from a good sport club?”
- “What sport would you like to give a go?”
Sport Start Coordinators
Sport Start has a number of coordinators (1.5 FTE positions), who are Sport Waikato staff. (There is some crossover of roles with Active and Well coordinators employed by Lake Taupo PHO.) For most of the first year of the programme, the coordinators’ roles involved training, coaching and supporting Club Mentors (see below). In the second year, their roles now increasingly involve guiding and supporting the previously inactive people to get in touch with the clubs.
“Looking back, it was well worth spending the first year focused on the clubs. It built up a high level of trust. Clubs now know we’re here to help them if they need us. They approach us for ideas,” Zoe says. By having the clubs 100% on board, there’s assurance that the Sport Start promise will be delivered upon – previously inactive people will indeed get a positive club experience.
Sport Start Clubs
Expressions of Interest were called for, leading to 12 clubs being selected as Sport Start clubs. There are eight clubs in Taupo, two in Turangi and two in Mangakino. The clubs were selected for their genuine commitment to change, as well as for their focus of activities, and their location. There was effort to cover a range of sport and recreation options, from golf and bowls, to harriers and triathlon.
Sport Start Club Mentors
Each club selected a suitable Club Mentor. This person is the first point of contact within the club – someone who is ready to be really welcoming, and provide ongoing support to new members. A two-day training programme with WILSS (Waikato Institute of Leisure and Sport Studies) provided them with an introduction into mentoring.
Media promotion
Active and Well clients are already ‘in the system’ so can be referred to the Sport Start coordinator, then on to a club. But anyone who is inactive is welcome to take advantage of Sport Start. So there has been plenty of promotion to the wider community, in the Taupo Times, brochures, flyers, posters and so on. Anyone who is interested can simply contact a Sport Start club direct.
Examples
Clubs and Mentors are helped to identify what could be better, how to seize opportunities, and how to make it all happen. That’s led to a number of initiatives, often targeting pretty unexpected audiences:
- Netball. At the Taupo Netball Association, a new social netball event has been started. This offers a ‘pay to play’ morning for young mums, creating the opportunity for the women to learn the rules of the game and play in a safe, comfortable environment. A coordinator will run the sessions and the goal is to have a childcare service on-hand.
- Bowls. An inter-college tournament is planned, linking in with the Turangi and Taupo Bowling Clubs. This initiative aligns with the clubs’ focus to get more young players involved in their sport.
- Cycling. Taupo Cycling Club has introduced a Saturday ‘try-it-out’ ride, welcoming novice cyclists and all kinds of bike; and with slow speeds and distances of just a few kilometres.
- Aqua pathway. At the Taupo Aquatic Centre, there’s now a suite of options, from aqua exercise classes and learn to swim, to masters swimming classes and swimming squads – all funded through Taupo District Council.
Key benefits
No fear. Instead of clubs being seen as ‘too hard and too serious for me,’ they’re repositioned as safe, approachable places, welcoming of all abilities. Crucially, the ‘performance’ side of clubs isn’t threatened, it’s simply complemented with a stronger ‘social participation’ side. Even if a person is a total beginner, they don’t feel intimidated at the club. They can ask questions, and try things out, without fear of failure or embarrassment. Their Mentor is there, as a friend, enthusiast, and advocate.
Sustaining activity. Exercising purely for health is not sustainable for most, and especially for Maori. A focus on sporting activity links people to ongoing participation. Family-based team sport is often the key, for example social basketball. Make it fun – to make it last!
Choice. With 12 Sport Start clubs there is plenty of choice, with the full spectrum of physical effort. A fun ‘try-it-out’ day was held in April 2009 to introduce people to all the Sport Start clubs.
Empowered clubs. With a trained Mentor, and support of the Sport Start coordinator, clubs feel empowered with the skill to try a different approach. Simply signing up as a Sport Start club is a statement of commitment that adult ‘beginners’ are welcome. Interaction between clubs is supported, further opening the way to shared events and services, and sparking off new thinking.
Increased membership. All clubs face increasingly difficult times to attract and retain members. Sport Start is a fantastic way to target new audiences and drive membership growth – volunteers as well as participants.
Accountability. Sport Start clubs will be asked to sign an MOU with Sport Waikato, to show their ongoing commitment to the programme requirements. If they can’t meet that commitment, they’ll lose their Sport Start status. This means the Sport Start marque really means something: people of the region can trust the clubs to be genuinely geared up to help them.
Looking ahead
More clubs will be welcome to join the initial dozen. These clubs will go through the same process, with selection and training of a Club Mentor.
Within the existing clubs, the Sport Start programme is now really getting rolling. The clubs have built the skills and policies – now they’re all set up to identify and appeal to new target groups. Clubs will increasingly work together.
Sport Waikato would love to extend the benefits across its region. There’s not the available funding to employ further Sport Start staff, so the organisation is exploring how existing staff could perhaps take on shared responsibilities as coordinators.
Contacts and links
To know more about sport start, visit www.sportwaikato.org.nz. To discuss Sport Start, contact Zoe Blair by calling 07 858 5388 or emailing ZoeB@sportwaikato.org.nz
Updated | 10 Dec 2009.
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