Lighten the Load. How Your Club Can Make Volunteering in Sport Easier
Ask any club president what keeps them up at night and you'll hear some version of the same answer. Not enough hands, and the hands we have are tired.
This spring, that conversation has reached the national level. On 21 September the Australian Sports Commission launched its new National Sport Volunteering Action Plan 2026-29, and nominations for the ASC's Sport Volunteer of the Year close this Sunday, 18 October (Australasian Leisure Management).
As ASC CEO Kieren Perkins put it, "Australian sport simply doesn't function without volunteers." So what does a national plan mean for the people actually running the canteen on Saturday morning?
What the new national plan says
The plan sets out 14 actions to make volunteering easier and more rewarding. It follows the first 2022-26 plan, and the ASC says it responds directly to sector feedback about three things: administrative demands, fragmented support and volunteer burnout.
The scale is worth remembering. About 2.8 million Australians volunteer in sport each year, contributing 168 million hours with an estimated labour value of $4.1 billion. The encouraging news is that 88% of volunteers report a positive experience. People want to help. The question is whether we make it possible for them to keep helping.
The real problem is the load, not the goodwill
Queensland's parliamentary inquiry into volunteering heard the same story from every corner of the state. With 571 submissions and 15 public hearings, it found volunteers are being stretched well beyond their original roles. Little Athletics Queensland told the inquiry its volunteers now handle marketing, grant writing, legal compliance, insurance, conflict resolution and sponsorship on top of on-field duties (Redland Bayside News).
Inquiry committee member Joan Pease MP described volunteers as "the lifeblood of our community", adding that "goodwill alone cannot keep the lights on." The Queensland Government has supported all eight recommendations in principle and is developing a 10-year volunteering plan.
The Australian Sports Commission's Play Well strategy points the same way. 54% of volunteers say volunteering takes up too much time, 61% don't know what they could do, and 44% lack confidence. None of those are motivation problems. They're design problems, and design is something a committee can change.
What this means for your club
National plans set the direction, and they matter. But no 14-action plan will fill your Saturday roster. The biggest lever sits with your committee. Here are four places to start.
1. Make roles smaller and clearer. If 61% of people don't know what they could do, tell them. Break "team manager" into specific, time-limited tasks, write a two-line description for each, and ask for help with one task, not a whole season.
2. Cut the admin you control. You can't change state compliance rules, but you can stop reinventing the wheel. Vicsport notes that 80% of club administration is done by volunteers. Volunteering Victoria's free Volunteer Management in Sport Toolkit, funded by Sport and Recreation Victoria, is a fully editable set of templates for finding, developing and supporting volunteers (Vicsport). Use it, adapt it and save your people hours.
3. Choose fundraising that doesn't eat volunteer hours. Some fundraisers cost more in volunteer time than they raise. Look for options where someone else does the heavy lifting. For AFL clubs, Toyota's Good for Footy raffle is one example: clubs keep 100% of $5 ticket sales, and Toyota supplies the prizes and contacts the winners (Canberra Times). Queanbeyan Tigers general manager Kane Cawse said selling tickets by QR code "eases a lot of pressure" on fundraising.
4. Say thank you, properly. The 2025 ASC Sport Volunteer of the Year, Veronica Treloar, said it well: "volunteers often say they don't do it for recognition, but recognition genuinely matters." If someone at your club deserves it, nominate them before Sunday 18 October. Finalists are announced on 23 November and the winner on International Volunteer Day, 5 December.
Underneath all four is governance. When roles, decisions and processes are clear, volunteers spend less time guessing and more time doing the part they enjoy.
Questions to ask at your next committee meeting
If we could take one job off our volunteers' plates this season, what would it be?
Which of our roles could be broken into smaller tasks that a new person could say yes to?
Who on our committee is doing three jobs, and what happens if they step away?
Which forms, emails or processes are we rebuilding every year that a template could fix?
When did we last thank our volunteers in a way they'd actually notice?
Where to start
You don’t need to fix everything at once. Start with one role and one process, make them simpler, and notice what shifts. Wondering which role or process to tackle first? Take our free 10-minute Club Pulse Check to score your club across eight areas, then explore our resources and webinars for practical help. If you'd like a clear picture of where your volunteers are stretched and what to do about it, that's exactly what a Strive Sport Club Health Check looks at. Book a Club Health Check or a chat at strivesport.com.au.
Asking better questions. Building better clubs.