Coronavirus: Community sport clubs in desperate need of funding

New research has revealed how hard Australia’s 70,000 sports clubs have been hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Born to Ride Freestyle Association BMX club in Tahmoor. Picture: John Feder

Australia’s community sport clubs desperately need funding — to the tune of $1.2bn — to survive the COVID-19 crisis, a new report shows.

A national survey conducted by the Australian Sports Foundation found 70,000 clubs have already lost about $1.6bn due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The report revealed more than 16,000, about one quarter of community sport clubs across Australia, are potentially at risk of permanently closing their doors if funding is not provided n the next six months.

More than 80 per cent of clubs reported a decline in one or more of their key fundraising areas that included memberships, sponsorships, events and hospitality thanks to the pandemic from March to June 22.

Some 91 per cent of small clubs, about 42,600, said despite the pause on community sport from mid-March to July 1, they continued to incur ongoing expenses like utility bills, affiliation fees, maintenance and rent.

The survey gathered responses from all types of community sport clubs from football, netball and cricket to niche categories like carriage driving and pickleball — with 93 per cent reporting they lost money due to these ongoing expenses coupled with a loss in revenue.

Clubs were forced to fund losses by drawing on savings or going into debt.

The local BMX track in Tahmoor, a town of about 5000 95km south-west of Sydney, has been “annihilated” by COVID-19.

Born to Ride Freestyle Association vice president Loryn Wessel said the Tahmoor DNA Dirt Park for was the “lifeblood” of the community and ordinarily kept local kids “off the streets”.

“In march with COVID restrictions the facility was closed to the public, lock and key closed,” Ms Wessel said.

“While we were shut, we had massive amounts of rain, so the park got hammered and because it hadn’t been worked on, it nearly all washed away.

“We need to do maintenance every week but while the park was closed, we weren’t allowed onto the property to do repairs which threw us back even further.”

The park is free for everyone from 2-year-olds up to the elderly to use, but the not-for-profit said they needed at least $60,000 to make it safe again.

“We were worried we would have to shut down but the kids would not have anywhere to go,” Ms Wessel said.

“It gives them a sense of achievement,” she said.

“We call it progression park because you don’t just progress your riding, but your attitude and friendship too.”