The Australian Sports Commission (ASC) has wrapped up a positive year in its ongoing support and encouragement of national sport organisations (NSOs) and State and Territory Departments of Sport and Recreation by conducting successful workshops in Sydney on 14-15 November and Melbourne on 21-22 November.

The two-day workshops held at Homebush’s ANZ Stadium and Richmond’s Amora Hotel focused on building the capability of organisations to deliver effective participation strategies and initiatives.  Incorporating research conducted into The Future of Australian Sport (in conjunction with the CSIRO) and a Market Segmentation Study, the workshops provided opportunities for education, professional development, sharing good practice, developing a collegiate approach to increasing participation, addressing common issues and professional networking.

Mike Slattery, president of the Australian Lacrosse Association, noted the value of the workshops in working with and hearing from various sporting bodies.

‘The ASC Participation Workshop for 2012 was a most valuable contribution to our organisation in understanding the challenges facing our sport (and sport generally) in Australia. It provided the most up to date market segmentation research as well as profiling actions taken or planned by other sporting bodies.”sport sector was represented in presentations by the Australian Football League (AFL), Cricket NSW, Football Federation Australia (FFA), Football United, Skateboard Australia, Tennis Australia and vicsport.

Matthew Bulkeley, Head of Game Development at FFA, discussed the ways in which sport organisations communicate and gather feedback from current and past members.  He also highlighted the need to share information with local clubs to create buy-in.

Presentations were also provided by the University of Queensland and innovative ASC units such as Workforce Development; Active After-school Communities (AASC) and Integrity.

Kym McMahon, NSO Liaison Manager for the AASC program, presented a number of successful partnership case studies that featured sport organisations such as the AFL, AFL Victoria, Basketball Australia, Bowls Australia, Table Tennis Australia and Tennis Australia.  Her presentation also highlighted the great work being done at the local level by community coaches such as Therese Nicholson of the Goulburn Valley Hockey Association who has recruited more junior players to the sport by engaging with the AASC program.

The workshops also provided an opportunity for organisations to address crucial issues such as the National Anti-Racism Strategy.

More than 130 participants – ranging from club coaches and development officers to participation managers and CEOs – represented more than 60 organisations throughout Australia.  The workshops also generated a great social media conversation with presenters and participants regularly providing Twitter updates and comments.

Swimming Australia’s Community Sport manager, Tim Arnold was particularly pleased with the approach taken by presenters and attendees.

‘The research and ideas shared at the ASC Participation Workshop were incredibly valuable and inspiring. It was great to see sports willing to share so much information as we work towards the common goal of getting more people involved in sport.’