The relationship between types of sports club and English government policy to grow participation

Abstract

Sports clubs run by their members account for a significant proportion of sports participation in England and are central to government policy to grow participation. A survey of clubs in the United Kingdom shows that clubs can be clustered into three groups reflecting different levels of formality. While it is not possible to make a definitive estimate of the proportions of English clubs in each of the three groups, the more formal types of clubs probably offer the most viable policy instrument for increasing sports participation. These are split into two groups: large clubs for adults and juniors, owning their own facilities; and clubs focused predominantly on junior participants and relying on hired facilities. These two types of clubs will require different types of support. The third group of clubs are small informal/traditional clubs, with only adult members. As a group they make an important contribution to participation growth but their informality probably makes them a less viable medium for this policy objective.

Keywords:

• participation growth
• sport
• club
• volunteer

Acknowledgement

We acknowledge the use of data from the 2009 survey of sports clubs commissioned by the Sport and Recreation Alliance.