The One Question That Will Transform Your Sport Club

I once walked into a sport club meeting that was thick with tension.

Four new members had just been elected to an eight-person board, and they had run on a platform of change. They were tired of the club's "everyone plays" philosophy and wanted to pivot hard toward high-performance training. Their goal was to make their athletes more competitive and, ultimately, to win more games.

The four original board members were digging in their heels, terrified that this new direction would destroy the recreational heart of the club. The conflict was at a stalemate.

During the discussion, someone asked nervously, "What happens if all our current members want this high-skilled training? What if it kills our original program?"

I paused and offered a different question back to them: "If that's truly what all of your participants want, does it matter? Shouldn't you offer programming that your members are excited to be a part of?"

The room went quiet.

That simple question cuts through the noise of board politics, tradition, and even our own best intentions. It’s the foundational question of a powerful leadership philosophy: Are we putting our participants first?

Moving from Board-Centred to Participant-Centred

So often, our decision-making in sport is driven by factors like reputation, winning, or simply "the way we've always done things." A participant-centred approach flips the script.

This idea has its roots in "athlete-centred coaching," a philosophy that champions athletes as humans first. It’s about sharing power and empowering athletes to take ownership of their journey. We can take this brilliant concept out of the coach's playbook and apply it to the entire organization.

When you commit to being participant-centred, you’re not just making a small tweak. You are fundamentally changing how you lead. It's a shift that requires courage, humility, and a genuine desire to serve.

What Does This Look Like in the Real World?

Putting participants first isn't just a vague ideal; it leads to concrete actions and strategic choices. It will likely ask you to rethink some core parts of your organization.

Here’s how you can start putting this principle into action:

1. Weave It into Your Values. Make "participant-centred" an official, core value of your organization. This sends a clear, powerful message to your board, staff, and members. It becomes the north star that guides you when decisions get tough.
2. Engage with Radical Curiosity. You can't serve your participants if you don't know what they need, want, and feel. This means asking them for feedback regularly and in a variety of ways. Crucially, it means being open to their answers—especially the ones that challenge you to change. This is also where you can proactively advance equity: make a point to seek out feedback from those who often go unheard, and always ask people why they leave your club. Their answers are often your greatest source of learning.
3. Let Your Programming Evolve. A participant-centred approach demands flexible programming. If you learn that your members are burning out from a four-times-a-week schedule or that your program times clash with other popular local sports, you must be willing to adapt. This is inclusion in action—it ensures your programs are accessible to kids who play multiple sports or come from families who can't manage a high-intensity schedule.
4. Change the Questions You Ask. This is the biggest shift of all. In every meeting, for every decision, your leadership team should be asking: "How does this choice serve our participants?"
   • Instead of stacking one team to win the championship, you might build balanced teams so more kids get meaningful playing time.
   • Instead of grouping kids strictly by age, you might consider their goals, skill levels, and even their friendships, creating an environment where they feel they truly belong.

This approach asks you to prioritize the long-term development and well-being of a human being over the short-term goal of a win.

Back in that tense meeting, the solution wasn't necessarily to kill one program for another. It was to understand the desires of all their members. They ultimately found a path to offer both recreational and competitive streams, meeting people where they were at. They started putting their participants first.

This is big work. Shifting an entire organization's mindset can feel daunting, and it won't happen overnight.

If you're ready to embed participant-centred decision-making into your club's DNA—from engaging your members to redesigning your programs—let's talk. I can help you navigate the process with confidence.

Get in touch, and we can explore what this could look like for you.