The Australian Sports Commission’s Active After-school Communities (AASC) program is providing a significant boost to the development and growth of local clubs and community-based sport.

The AASC program creates opportunities for Australian children to discover the benefits of happy, healthy and active lifestyles and to develop motor skills through sport — all in a fun and safe setting, after school, from 3.00pm–5.00pm.

The cornerstone of the AASC program is the involvement and support of a national network of clubs, community organisations, local governments and schools.

The Australian Sports Commission’s Director of Community Sport Judy Flanagan said that the Commission’s three-year research indicates clubs and community-based organisations are experiencing numerous benefits and increases in participation as a result of the AASC program:

‘Research shows that sporting clubs and community organisations have embraced the AASC program with real passion and are now enjoying the benefits of improved participation and membership growth.’

For many children, participation in the AASC program is the first step to long-term sport and physical activity. It creates a pathway to participate in sporting clubs and the wider community. ‘In some cases, the delivery of the AASC program in local communities has even led to the emergence and establishment of new sporting clubs and organisations,’ said Flanagan.

One of the AASC program’s most successful initiatives is the Community Coach Training Program (CCTP) which delivers education and training to thousands of community coaches and provides training and support for club development, including sports gala days, travel arrangements and sports equipment.

The evidence of the AASC and Community Coach Training Program’s success is in the dozens of communities around Australia where clubs and local sporting organisations are going from strength to strength.

Children in Penola, South Australia were inspired by the 2006 FIFA World Cup to play football, but the town’s population was too small to support a football program. Thanks to the AASC’s Community Coach Training Program, local coach Guy Detot established hugely popular Saturday morning football games supported by Penola Primary School, which are creating flow-on benefits for the whole community.

In Deniliquin, New South Wales, the AASC program leveraged the support of the local golf club to increase participation. The partnership was so successful that 50 primary school children had now taken up the sport, a junior competition has been established and Deniliquin Golf Club now has seven members registered as AASC program delivers.

There are over 60 sites in the Northern Territory delivering the AASC program, half of which are dedicated to improving the participation of Indigenous children in sport and physical activity.

In Minyerri, 260km south east of Katherine, the AASC’s Community Coach Training Program provided a local resident Wallace Dennis with the training and support to provide children with after-school sporting opportunities. Dennis is an inspiring role model for the young children, who now have the opportunity to take part in regular organised games of Australian Football, cricket and softball.

The Active After-school Communities program currently delivers free safe and inspiring sport experiences to 150 000 children in 3250 schools, supported by thousands of community coaches. The program is growing in leaps and bounds: everyday more and more children receive opportunities to engage in sport, leading directly to increased growth and development of local community clubs and sporting organisations.