It could be argued that all boards operate under the same rules regardless of sector, and whether for-profit or not-for-profit. But in my view, the boards of sport and recreation organisations hold unique characteristics that separates their work, at least partly, from that of other boards.
Exercising sound judgement and making good decisions is important for a sport and recreation board because the decisions that it makes have an impact on local communities and individuals. Learning how to be an effective director is therefore key and so is understanding how to contribute to a board’s overall effectiveness.
The workshop: Improving board effectiveness, on 22 November 2017, will get you thinking about and understanding the most important features of being an effective director and board. It will discuss what is a good standard of board effectiveness and you will be given examples of where things have worked well and where they haven’t.
I want to look a bit more closely at why I believe that sport and recreation boards have distinctive characteristics.
Things can go wrong in sport and recreation, just like any other sector. And when problems do appear, for the reasons mentioned above, issues of trust rise to the top.
Serving on a sport and recreation board carries significant responsibilities. Historically boards in the sector have had an imbalanced number of ‘gifted amateurs’. What I mean by this is people passionate about their sport, but unaware of the qualities to be an effective director.
Your organisation and others in the sector are attempting to address this imbalance. But, the appointment of professional directors can also lead to risks as they may not truly understand the culture and dynamics of the sport they are leading.
Making sure that the right processes are in place to protect and take appropriate action when issues arise, is the responsibility of the board. The stories that have surfaced over the last year about bullying in sport are a good example of where, it seems, boards have not been up to the task of understanding their role.
If governance is about stakeholder management, boards need to be effective –collectively and individually. They must be effective at managing different challenges, whether that is the pressures of delivering medals or helping to engage the inactive so that more people can lead an active lifestyle.
For more information on the Sport and Recreation Alliance’s Governance Training Programme please contact Hayley Foster – hfoster@sportandrecreation.org.uk
The Sport and Recreation Alliance and the physical activity sector have published an open letter to the Government on the impact of Pathways to Work on disabled people and activity levels across the UK.
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Here, we seek to update you on some of the key workstreams we’re focused on, as well as provide an overview of the ways in which you, our members, can foster more inclusive, equitable, and diverse environments for your organisations, including advertising some of the training options we provide (at discount!) and job postings too.
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Here is an end-of-week wrap on some key workstreams we’re undertaking for you, our members, that we want to bring to your attention. It covers a number of important pieces of information for consideration or action.
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