Understanding and Engaging with the Sporting Landscape

Just because your organisation focuses on a specific sport doesn’t mean you can’t learn from others. What’s more, by paying attention to what’s going on in the rest of the sector you give yourself a better chance of seeing potential risks and opportunities, like a new sponsor or an opportunity to collaborate. And you shouldn’t just limit yourself to understanding the Welsh sport sector – having an idea of how to engage and influence British or international federations can also help.

Funding and sponsorship is a transaction, not a right, so it’s important you understand what you bring to the table. By observing the work of others and gauging perceptions of your own work, you can gain a much better understanding of the prevailing circumstances in the sector, are able to foresee changes (major and minor) and then adapt accordingly.

There’s also a great argument to be made for avoiding duplication of effort. If you can learn from the mistakes or successes of someone else, or find someone else to share the physical or financial load on a project then why wouldn’t you take the opportunity?

So, how do we make this happen?

·       The Board should lead the way - The directors have the power to influence the approach taken by every other person within the organisation. If they decide that it’s important to understand the sporting landscape, and to learn from it, the rest of the organisation is more likely to follow suit. This extends to every area of operation; the membership department can learn just as much as the coaching team by taking an open-minded approach to learning from others and adapting this to figure out what works best for your organisation.

·       Individual actions speak louder than words - As a director, you must commit to engage just as you’re asking everyone else to do. A seat on the board is no longer an easy ride, there is work involved. As well as preparing and contributing to every board meeting, you must be active between meetings. In addition to keeping track of what your organisation is up to, you need to make a concerted effort to find out what everyone else is up to, understand the environment and keep up with developments that might affect the organisation.

·       Find a method of engagement that works for you - Social media has made it easier than ever to keep up with the latest news and opinion from around the world, allowing you to keep on top of what you need to know. However, it also helps to build relationships on a personal level; so making the effort to network when the opportunity arises is likely to be of great benefit.

Those who are willing to make the effort and adopt an outward-looking, collaborative, growth mindset will undoubtedly benefit from engaging with the wider sector. Whether from new connections, new opportunities, or just a better understanding of the circumstances in which you’re operating, your own performance, and that of the organisation you represent, will be improved.

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