School Sport Professionals recently launched the first stage of our new collaborative initiative: The Future Landscape of School Sport. We were pleased to welcome participants from across the country, including Executive Officers from various associations and representatives from the Australian Sports Commission.
This initial session focused on exploring current and emerging issues in school sport, with attendees sharing valuable insights and examples from their own organisations. A summary of the discussion is available at the end of this post for your reference.
Next Step: Connection
The next phase of this project is Connection, where professionals are invited to nominate themselves to join one or more of the following project groups: Operational, Financial, Strategic, and Risk Mitigation. Nominations are open to those involved in the delivery of school sport at the Association level, as well as professionals from organisations that support our sector. To express your interest, simply complete the nomination form via the link below. Weโll be in touch shortly to confirm your involvement. Participation in this phase will include:
- An initial project group online meeting with Project Chair Tom Bottrell and SSP Managing Director Paddy McKenna.
- Contribution to discussion and exploration of the key theme of the project group.
- Potential for further engagement with key stakeholders from around Australia.
- Opportunity to participate in Step 3 (Collaboration) to work with other future-focussed professionals to consolidate findings and contribute towards the final project report.
If you’re seeking to grow professionally and expand your network and reputation, this is a valuable opportunity to get involved in this exciting new initiative. All contributors will be acknowledged in the final report, which will be promoted through a range of national sporting networks.
Step 1 Summary: Discussion
Summary of current and future issues facing professionals involved in the delivery of school sport in Australia, grouped under key themes: Operational, Financial, Strategic, and Risk Mitigation.
CURRENT ISSUES
Operational
- Staffing shortages: Difficulty attracting, developing and retaining skilled sport managers, coordinators, coaches, and volunteers.
- Time pressures: Increasing demands on teacher time for planning, travel, supervision, and reporting.
- Scheduling conflicts: Clashes with academic and individual school calendars, and other extracurricular commitments.
- Access to facilities: Limited availability of school and community sport venues for training and competition. The provision of free and paid access to school facilities for the benefit of the wider community.
- Transport logistics: Rising transport costs and increased travel time.
- Technology integration: Lack of fit-for-purpose systems for scheduling, team management, communication, and results tracking.
- Competition management: Complex fixturing requirements, match scheduling, uneven draws, team changes and withdrawals.
- Communication: inefficiencies in communication practices and provision of information.
Financial
- Budget constraints: Reduced school funding or limited allocation for sport and extracurricular activities.
- Rising costs: Increasing fees for association staffing, venue hire, travel, uniforms, and external coaches or officials.
- Equity in participation: Financial barriers for families limiting student access to representative or competitive sport.
Strategic
- Low sport prioritisation: Sport often seen as non-core, leading to reduced prioritisation in strategic plans and resourcing.
- Limited professional development: Inadequate training opportunities for professionals in sport leadership or event management.
- Inconsistent participation models: Variability in access, offerings, and delivery between schools, sectors, and states.
- Balancing innovation and tradition: Delivering a contemporary program while respecting the associationโs traditional foundations, amidst differing priorities and agendas of member schools. Embracing new and innovative technologies.
Risk Mitigation
- Child safety compliance: Complex and ever-changing requirements around Working With Children Checks, duty of care, and mandatory reporting.
- Injury management: Growing concerns around concussion, injury prevention, and return-to-play protocols.
- Insurance: Lack of clarity or consistency in coverage for school sport participants, volunteers, and third parties.
- Behaviour management: Managing parent, coach, and spectator conduct in increasingly high-stakes environments.
- Business continuity: Relatively small size of organisations, with significant risk around loss of IP and sustainability with regards to staff turnover.
FUTURE ISSUES
Operational
- AI and automation: Need to integrate AI tools for event planning, communication, and administration โ requiring digital upskilling.
- Hybrid/remote sport delivery: Expanding virtual or asynchronous competitions in response to rural access issues or future disruptions (e.g., pandemics).
- Sustainability practices: Pressure to reduce the environmental impact of events (e.g., travel emissions, single-use items).
Financial
- Privatisation pressures: Increasing encroachment of private sport providers into school spaces, shifting the control and culture of school sport.
- Performance-based funding models: Potential government or sectoral shifts towards funding linked to outcomes or participation metrics.
- Broader economic challenges: Impact of inflation and cost-of-living pressures on family and school sport contributions.
Strategic
- Declining participation trends: Especially among girls and teens, due to body image, mental health, or changing social priorities.
- E-sport vs. traditional sport: Emerging competition from digital forms of entertainment and alternative “sport” models.
- Cultural inclusivity: Need for more culturally responsive programs that reflect Australiaโs increasingly diverse student population.
- Wellbeing integration: Greater expectation that sport contributes measurably to school wellbeing and mental health strategies.
Risk Mitigation
- Cybersecurity & data privacy: Rising risks with managing student data in digital platforms (e.g., consent, breaches, tracking).
- Climate risks: Increasing weather-related disruptions (extreme heat, floods, air quality) affecting outdoor sport delivery.
- Reputation management: Social media amplification of complaints or incidents; need for proactive communication and crisis planning.
- Legal liability: Anticipated tightening of liability laws related to concussion, psychological safety, and anti-discrimination in sport.