Crushing a community: The untold impact of Covid restrictions on community sport

By Barclay McGain

They are at the heart of Australia’s cities, towns and neighbourhoods and provide a hub through which members of a community connect. But, according to figures revealed in a report by the Australian Sports Foundation, brutal COVID-19 restrictions have left community sporting organisations gutted.

At our core, we are a proud sporting nation. From the young prodigy who dreams of one day emulating her idol to the old battler who said he would retire 10 seasons ago, Australian community sport caters to over 15 million people each year. A further 3 million people volunteer their time to community sporting organisations, filling vital roles for the good of the club or the local town.

Of the 4,127 community organisations across the country that responded to ASF’s survey, a staggering 83% of organisations reported a loss of revenue during the COVID period with the average club experiencing a $18,500 loss in revenue. All up, Australia’s 70,000 community sporting clubs have lost a combined $1.6 billion due to restrictions. It's difficult to find a revenue stream that hasn’t been tarnished by government regulation during the pandemic.

COVID-19 lockdowns have significantly impacted the participation rate of youth in community sport

Businesses who suffered during lockdown earmarked the generous annual sum they donated to the local footy club as the first thing they’d forgo in order to make ends meet. The local mum no longer saw the justification in forking out registration fees for her kids to participate in a reduced season, bound to be marred by postponed games due to snap lockdowns. The league’s officiating body felt the pinch as well, so they wound up fees for match day expenses. The diehard volunteer who used to love cooking the barbecue found it hard to be a makeshift “COVID marshall” on game day and would now rather stay at home than boss people around on how to wear a mask correctly. Events were largely non-existent, severing any fundraising opportunities.

When you combine all of these factors, it’s easy to see how at least 1 in 10 community sport organisations now have a well-founded fear of insolvency. That’s 9,000 clubs that will have to delay getting fresh gear or equipment for the new season, clubs that will need to break the news to the groundskeeper that their services are no longer needed. But what for? Not due to the virus itself, but due to the draconian restrictions imposed by the government.

So far, 43% of clubs have reported a decline in participation overall. A cricket club in Victoria noticed a decline in social men’s cricket's 4th and 5ths teams who use the club as a social hub and claimed that “many of these men had been put out of work and that can be a difficult thing to stand around and talk about with mates”. For a New South Wales rowing club, the ongoing lockdowns are seriously affecting their elderly membership base who are experiencing mental health issues as the rowing club is “a major component of their lives”.

Yet perhaps most alarming is the decrease in participation by those aged 11-18 years old. That’s 4 in 10 teenagers who have given up on their sporting dream, likely in favour of spending their weekends trapped inside glaring at a computer screen.

The long term flow-on effects in terms of future sporting quality, obesity and mental health concerns will be devastating, albeit impossible to accurately quantify.

Even in the short term, the data found by the Australian Sports Foundation gives enough reason for concern. After 18 months of reduced sporting activity, a quarter of all respondents reported worse general health, increasing to nearly a third of all teenagers involved in sport. A further 31% reported a decline in their own mental health.

Community sporting clubs have seen a huge reduction in volunteers who have fallen out of love for the sport and would prefer not to act as a “COVID marshall” on gameday

The testimonies from sporting clubs reveal the tragic effects that a knee-jerk announcement by an inner-city government bureaucrat can have on a sporting-rich town or community. A basketball club in Bairnsdale in regional Victoria is feeling the effects of a lack of volunteers: “we will have to get people to come in one entrance and leave out another, sanitise everything before, during and after the games, and log everyone who has been through the centre, so there’s a whole lot of logistics that put us behind the eight ball because of a lack of volunteers”. Nearby, a cricket club found it risked losing volunteers. “We have some great volunteers, but the longer the COVID-19 restrictions are in place the more fatigued and overwhelmed they are becoming and we feel the drop off could be concerning,” the club reported.

In the west, the Ashfield Sports Club has been crushed by the lockdown measures imposed by Premier Mark McGowan claiming that “a large number of members particularly in women’s teams have indicated that they can no longer afford to participate, due to external pressures COVID-19 has placed on their personal lives”.

Many organisations didn’t have reserve funds that could sustain them for a long period of time. 17% of small clubs (less than 1,000 members) reported only having enough funds to cover costs for 3 months into the future. 29% claimed that they would be financially unviable after 6 months of inactivity. Therefore, it’s no surprise that after 18 months of ongoing pandemic restrictions, with case records still being broken regularly in New South Wales and Victoria that clubs are feeling the fallout. “The huge impact that not being able to run our usual social activities and fundraisers has meant the club has had to eat away at our reserve funds to continue with normal programs” claimed a cricket club in regional Victoria.

In the New South Wales town of Narrabri, there are currently zero covid cases, despite ongoing restrictions on community sport in the area. The local tennis club said it was the “only thing” the tiny community had. “Coronavirus may be the end of our club,” a club spokesperson said.

In rugby league heartland, the Baradine Magpies Rugby League club fears for the social impacts restrictions have had as it’s the “only major sport in the town”.

A local cricket club in New South Wales highlighted the breadth of revenue downfalls: “Due to COVID-19, we have been significantly impacted by a reduction in the amount corporate sponsors are able to provide, and have seen our taking from weekly raffles held at our local club significantly drop”. The regional Queensland AFL club claims to have lost “five sponsors in the last 12 months” as business owners refine their priorities and pursue cost-cutting measures to navigate reduced trading hours.

Footy clubs in WA have been driven crazy with hygiene mandates. One club claimed COVID-safe measures drained the budget. “(We) had to spend money on hand sanitisers and (enforcing) social distancing, signage and (following) other requirements,” the club reported. In Queensland, a hockey club found that “the ongoing disruption to competition led to some members just giving up & walking away, which contributes to short term & long term loss and (threatens) our financial & social stability”.

Australia is a proud sporting nation but, with some of the harshest restrictions in the world, it’s taken a critical hit. While community sport may one day resume, the pride in which we compete may take much longer to recoup.