New resources hub to help sporting organisations attract and support volunteers

The Australian Sports Commission (ASC) and the Sport Volunteer Coalition have launched the Sport Volunteer Resource Hub, an online initiative that aims to help sporting organisations support and attract more volunteers.

The new hub gives sporting clubs and Australia's nearly three million sport volunteers access to free resources and practical tools to get the most out of their volunteering experience.

Advising that the hub has been co-designed with the sporting community to ensure it provided best-practice support to volunteers no matter their age, gender, background, sport or volunteer role,

ASC General Manager Participation, Cameron French stated “this is the start of the journey and we're looking at how we best empower our communities to increase volunteer numbers and provide some really practical tools to support the great participation experiences we want kids to have across the country,”

The hub is a key deliverable of the Sport Volunteer Coalition Action Plan, which seeks to enable more Australians to volunteer in sport and lead the sector to enhance the sport volunteering experience.

VicSport Chief Executive, Lisa Hasker was most excited to see the hub reduce the duplication of effort and resources, which had impacted sport in the past, noting “here's a chance to come to one place and get all the important resources and all the things people need to help them with sport volunteering.

“It's a huge breakthrough.”

Sporting passion is often at the core of volunteering, and Sarah Wilson, the National Strategy Director at Volunteering Australia, believes the hub would allow volunteers to focus on why they decided to get involved in the first place.

Wilson explains “the hub will enable volunteers to access the support they need to focus on the parts of volunteering they really care about, while also making sure they're checking all the boxes they need to, in terms of compliance.”

The ASC and Sport Volunteer Coalition value the support of partners from across the Australian sport sector who have contributed directly to the development of the Sport Volunteer Resource Hub and look forward to working collaboratively to ensure volunteers are at the heart of all we do.

Click here to visit the Sport Volunteer Resource Hub

Image: A new Sport Volunteer Resource Hub will help volunteers focus on the parts of volunteering they care about most. Credit: ASC.