Home Insights

The volunteer capacity of community sports clubs to support women and girls in sport

Released in October 2023, this research investigated community clubs’ volunteer capacity and provided actions for sports clubs to engage and retain volunteers and to enable women and girls to play and volunteer in community sport.

On this page

Research purpose

Research into the experiences of women and girls in traditionally male-dominated sports shows that creating a supportive club culture and strong volunteer backing is still needed for true gender inclusion.

This research aimed to explore how community sports clubs can manage, keep, and recruit volunteers to encourage more women and girls to take part and get involved in community sports.

Research was conducted by the Physical Activity and Sport Insights research group, a collaboration between Victoria University and Federation University, funded through the Change Our Game Research Grants Program. It was released in October 2023.

Research methodology

16 community sport club administrators were interviewed from cricket, soccer (football) and netball clubs in metropolitan and regional areas.

The interviews were undertaken between February and June 2022 at a time where clubs were resuming participation following the disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021.

Key findings

On women as volunteers in community sport, the research found:

  • Women’s willingness to volunteer and the roles they take on in local sports are affected by many factors, including gendered roles and stereotypes. For example, women often take on team manager roles rather than coaching or executive positions, especially in sports dominated by men.
  • Despite support for more women to volunteer, there are still negative attitudes, particularly amongst older men, which makes progress difficult. Women are still not commonly seen as suitable for roles like club president or coach of men's teams, which makes them hesitant to step up.
  • There is increasing representation of women on club executive/general committees, with some clubs reporting gender balance on their committees.
  • Women felt a lack of support from men in taking on volunteer roles, in particular, senior roles such as club president.
  • Women and girls who haven’t played the sport before may be hesitant to volunteer as coaches.

On sports clubs’ volunteer capacity to support women and girls, the research found:

  • Club volunteers have mixed views towards supporting opportunities for women and girls to play sport.
  • Men’s supportive actions, like helping with tasks on game days (e.g., scoring or running the canteen), are important for women’s participation.
  • Parents, especially dads with daughters, play a key role in encouraging girls to play sports. They often eagerly take on volunteer roles to support girls' teams.
  • Some clubs display deep-rooted gender stereotypes, valuing boys' sports more than girls'. This can create unfairness in sports performance pathways and affect how included girls and women feel, reinforcing the idea that they are less capable than boys and men.
  • Clubs who focus resources on the category with the most teams, often men’s or boys’ teams, can lead to inequities in how teams are supported.
Ive got a good group of volunteers that are very supportive of the women and girls’ game. And are big advocates of it. And equally, I’ve probably got a group of volunteers that are a bit old school, what I would call our ‘boys club’. And the women’s game means nothing to them.
Interviewed sporting club member and volunteer

What can community sports clubs do?

There are a range of recommended actions sports clubs can take to engage and retain volunteers, and to enable women and girls to play and volunteer in community sports.

To engage and retain volunteers in community sports clubs

  • Break down volunteer roles to make sure workloads are realistic for one volunteer, or by recruiting two coordinators to oversee one big team. This can decrease the individual burden and lower the risk on capacity when parents/individuals transition out of the sports club as their child moves on.
  • Consider payments for some skilled positions or reimburse volunteers. Payment for roles that require certain skills, such as canteen manager, game day operations, club administration and coaches can increase capacity and professionalism as there are greater quality expectations. Payment may not be an option or a sustainable solution for many clubs, and payment should be carefully considered as it could impact the community ethos and values of local clubs.
  • Provide incentives, such as subsidising or waiving registration fees and have other small incentives, such as a club meal, financial contributions for subscriptions and apparel to attract and retain volunteers.
  • Provide visible recognition and acknowledge the work of volunteers, particularly at club events such as presentation nights, during National Volunteers week, through life membership, and the club’s social media and informally throughout the season.
  • Provide peer mentoring to volunteers, particularly coaches, to upskill volunteers for specific roles.
  • Consider a range of approaches to engage and retain volunteers within clubs.

To support women and girls in community sports clubs

  • Address inequalities in team resourcing between women and girls’ and men and boys’ teams. At a minimum clubs should try to provide the same services for women and girls as they do for men and boys. Approaches to support different groups with different needs within a club should be considered to achieve equity.
  • Develop specific strategies to increase the number of women in volunteer roles, rather than focusing only on filling vacant positions. Women need to be actively recruited, promoted and supported to volunteer in community sport.
  • Have policies to support women in leadership roles in the club, such as targets for gender representation on club executive/general committees.
  • Support younger women and girls to build their confidence and capability to take up roles other than those traditionally occupied by women (such as team managers).
  • Create a welcoming and inclusive club culture where people can socialise and feel valued, to facilitate volunteer recruitment and retention through opportunities for people to connect, hang out and socialise together.

Access the full report

OWSR_The volunteer capacity of community sports clubs to support women and girls in sport Oct 2023 [PDF, 597.9 KB]

Page last updated:  12 September 2024

Back to top

We acknowledge the Traditional Aboriginal Owners of Country throughout Victoria and pay our respects to them, their connections to land, sea, and community. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present.

We respect and welcome people of all backgrounds, genders, sexualities, abilities and cultures.