From the General Manager

With a charter ‘to support the development of sport in Australia’ and its unique status of being able to give tax deductible receipts for donations in support of eligible sporting projects, the Australian Sports Foundation (ASF) has both the capability and willingness to complement the fundraising initiatives of sporting and community bodies. In fact, approximately 70 per cent of registered ASF clients are sporting bodies, 20 per cent are community organisations (including local government) and the remainder are schools.
This diversity of clients enables community sports fundraising to occur at all levels, from school-based sport, to local clubs, through to state, national and peak bodies with responsibility for the promotion and development of their sport.
While the growth in ASF business continues to be heartening, the potential for further growth is huge considering the numbers of community and sporting organisations throughout metropolitan and rural Australia. I encourage local government, and state and national sporting bodies to promote the opportunities of working with the ASF to their affiliated clubs and associations. The ASF looks forward to receiving new proposals for the development of sport at local, state or national level.
The holiday season brings on a number of planning issues for clubs. Summer junior sports will no doubt be ensuring that enough volunteers are on hand to run events over the holiday period. Those clubs participating in finals or with athletes competing in local or state championships will be adjusting training to suit the next stage of competition. Club administrators will be gearing up for end-of-season activities including presentation nights, annual reports and annual general meetings, while ensuring that equipment audits, Facility developments and planned activities for the coming season are put on the agenda.
Winter sports will be finalising access to sites for training and playing while ensuring that qualified coaches are in place and are supported by an enthusiastic committee and volunteers. Clubs will begin to put out promotional material to attract new members and develop training plans suitable for their sport, athlete base, available facilities and equipment. Elite sports will have commenced training and be finalising playing lists for the coming season.
In the transition between summer and winter sport, it is not only the participants that move from one to the other. More often than not, particularly in the case of suburban and rural clubs, it is the volunteers who also move from one to the other, enabling sport to continue and to benefit from their enthusiasm and experience.
In recognition of the importance of local club-based sport to communities, this newsletter features an article on the Club Development Network operated by the Australian Sports Commission. The article contains a case study and also provides details on how clubs can access the Network and benefit from the available material.
I hope this information will be of assistance to clubs.
The ASF looks forward to having more opportunities to complement developments initiated by local sporting organisations. In the meantime, from the team at the ASF, have a safe and happy holiday season.

Rod Philpot
General Manager
Australian Sports Foundation

Email contact details

As a service enhancement for clients, the ASF plans to increase the use of email for some elements of its project management. Where possible to do so, advice of approved discretionary grants, together with an accompanying draft tax invoice and grant expenditure reports, will be emailed to the project contact. It is also planned to email future editions of this newsletter.
The email address to be used will be that of the primary contact as advised by the organisation. Bearing in mind that sport is a transient industry, it would be appreciated if project organisations could notify the ASF of current contact details and email addresses. If your organisation would prefer not to receive these documents electronically, please notify the ASF by emailing info@asf.org.au. Thank you for your assistance.

Case study - Melville City Hockey Club

The project

Establish synthetic turf

The need

Melville City Hockey Club’s vision to establish an artificial turf surface was first considered by the club in the late 1980s, but concrete discussions to determine a potential location did not commence until around 1998. After extensive negotiation and community consultation, Morris Buzzacott Reserve, Kardinya, was chosen as the preferred site.
Melville City Hockey Club’s aim was to provide a high-quality playing surface and facilities to ensure its players could reach the highest level of competition without having to leave the club. Such a surface would also:
• encourage greater junior and senior participation in the sport
• provide access to best-practice facilities for elite-level players
• attract additional spectators and further promote the sport by staging elite matches
• increase club participation and greater interaction among all grades
• enable additional winter weeknight competitions for veteran and senior sides
• increase the potential for cross-seasonal competitions (that is, winter sports for summer)
• increase the standard of sporting facilities and opportunities available for school students
• cater for sports such as kanga cricket, soccer, lacrosse, gridiron and touch football.

The goal

To ensure such a goal could be delivered on time, on budget and to specification, Melville City Hockey Club formed an independent Turf Committee consisting of volunteers with specific professional skills including architecture, banking, engineering, corporate finance, business planning and communications.
The Turf Committee set a reasonably aggressive timeline, with development expected to take six months and the new field envisaged to be completed to coincide with the commencement of the 2005 winter hockey season.
Initial Turf Committee estimates were that a single wet synthetic multi-sport synthetic turf facility including lighting, reticulation and surrounding improvements would cost in the vicinity of $1.2 million. To reach this target, the Turf Committee identified that funds could be sourced in the form of grants, loans and donations from the following key stakeholders:
• Western Australian Department of Sport and Recreation
• City of Melville
• WA Hockey Association
• Melville City Hockey Club in conjunction with the ASF.
Planning ahead, it was also proposed to set up a sinking fund to facilitate turf replacement in around seven years. Any profits raised from the club’s licensed bar and kiosk would be retained and devoted to future enhancement of the facility and surrounds.

The approach

Once the Turf Committee was formed, it undertook the following activities:
• the development of a Strategic Business Plan 2003–2016 (supporting the objectives outlined in Melville City Hockey Club’s existing Strategic Plan) to back the Turf Committee’s approach and support submissions, particularly to Government and other stakeholders such as the WA Hockey Association
• establish Melville Turf Inc. as the operating business entity for the turf within the Melville City Hockey Club structure
• a mix of telephone calls, written correspondence and site visits to various clubs with existing synthetic turf operations around Australia, but primarily in Western Australia
• finalisation of the specifications that formed the core of the tender for the turf and its associated works
• ongoing engagement with key stakeholders to guarantee their support for the duration of the project

The challenge

Standout challenges for the Turf Committee during the life of the project included:
• initially selling the idea to Melville City Hockey Club members to ensure support, both morally and financially, would be there when needed
• obtaining support from all levels of government
• developing a positive dialogue with other co-tenants of the site
• being ‘good neighbours’ to local residents and other sporting clubs utilising the site
• deciding who and what to believe in terms of the product being offered
• working with the various contractors and subcontractors through the execution phase of the project.

The successful strategies

Key strategies adopted by the Turf Committee (that in some cases remain ongoing) include:
• remaining professional throughout and working to a clearly articulated (but flexible) plan
• maintaining an open dialogue with all stakeholders from the outset
• ensuring the project received support from all levels of government and sports clubs
• utilising the most highly skilled and committed people available for the project
• registering a project with the ASF that has seen Melville City Hockey Club raise in excess of $130 000 from members and supporters since February 2004
• sourcing separate sponsorships in the form of cash, in-kind products and services
• looking for opportunities to maximise the return on investment.

The way forward

The Melville City Hockey Club and its Turf Committee are very proud of their achievements to date and acknowledge the tremendous work and respective contributions of members since the mid-1980s. In light of the project’s $1.2 million price tag for Phase 1, Phase 2 of the project (an upgrade of the club rooms at a cost in excess of $750 000) has been deferred until the committee has a better projection of revenues and costs going forward. To assist in the funding of Phase 2, Melville City Hockey Club intends to renew the registration of its project with the ASF.

Location

Melville is a suburb approximately three kilometres east of Fremantle and provides hockey services to southern Perth.

Case study - Greenvale Cricket Club

Project

Turf wicket installation

The need

The Greenvale Cricket Club has participated in the local cricket association competition for a number of years. The local association caters for various senior grades with all matches being played on synthetic grass.
The Greenvale Cricket Club had reached and won the top-level competition of the local association and was realistically in a position to finish in the top few teams of the competition on a regular basis.
Other stronger clubs in the area had moved their senior teams to the Victorian Turf Cricket Association to access a higher standard of turf competition, including the Association’s Metropolitan Grade. Additionally, the Greenvale Cricket Club faced the prospect of losing a number of its younger talented players who wanted to play on turf to further their careers.
The installation of a turf wicket was therefore seen as a necessity for the Club in terms of future development and growth.

The goal

The club was admitted to the Victorian Turf Cricket Association in 2004 and was able to play turf cricket during the 2004–05 season on a ground occupied by another club.
The Greenvale Cricket Club’s goal was therefore to install a turf wicket area, comprising at least eight wickets, on the club’s main oval in Greenvale. The turf wicket had to be laid prior to the 2005 football season (in or around February 2005), to ensure it would be available for use prior to the commencement of the 2005–06 cricket season.

The approach

After approaching the local council, the Greenvale Cricket Club obtained approval for the installation of a turf wicket but was informed that the entire cost of the project would have to be borne by the Club. With the cost nearing $40 000, the Greenvale Cricket Club knew that in order to finance the project, funds would have to be raised from such sources as donations and loans, predominantly from members.
The Greenvale Cricket Club was also made aware of the potential benefits of registering a project with the ASF. The Club then set about registering their Turf Wicket project with the ASF, began canvassing support for the project with members and approached their bank.

 The challenge

The Greenvale Cricket Club had previously arranged a loan facility for the completion of other capital works, and retained the ability to re-draw an amount of approximately $11 000.
The Club, however, still faced the challenge of directly raising a further $28 000 within a very short time frame.

The successful strategies

‘The strategy of having the project registered with the ASF proved successful,’ said Greenvale Cricket Club President Bruce Kent.
The ASF has received approximately $20 000 in unconditional donations from members and supporters of the Greenvale Cricket Club since project registration and has subsequently issued discretionary grants to the Club to assist in funding the project. Further amounts were then borrowed by the Club from members, and this ensured the target of approximately $40 000 was reached and the laying of the turf wicket occurred (as planned) in February 2005.
According to Kent, ‘The installation of the pitch has been a complete success. Not only is it “playing well”, but the enthusiasm and the interest that it has generated has invigorated the club and will continue to do so’.

Location

Greenvale is a northwestern outlying suburb of Melbourne located near Tullamarine airport.

Are you in the SMART list?

This is the list of SMART organisations and communities who shared in the $5.95 million the ASF issued in discretionary grants in the period July to December 2005. Ask the ASF about how to register your sports project and join the SMART list or visit the ASF web site www.asf.org.au for more information. We may have some innovative ideas in the form of proven strategies to complement your fundraising for those vital sports projects.

Australian football
Brisbane Lions Football Club, QLD
 Carlton Cricket and Football Social Club, VIC
 Collegians Football Club, VIC
 Collingwood Football Club, VIC
 Fremantle Football Club, WA
 Glenelg Football Club, SA
 Hawthorn Football Club, VIC
 Kardinia Park Sports Foundation, VIC
 North Adelaide Football Club, SA
 North Melbourne Football Club, VIC
 PAFC Foundation, SA
 Port Adelaide Magpies Football Club, SA
 Power House Amateur Football Club, VIC
 Red and Blue Foundation, VIC
 Richmond Football Club, VIC
 South Barwon Football and Netball Club, VIC
 Sports Foundation Geelong, VIC
 St Joseph’s Football Club Geelong, VIC
 Sydney Australian Football Club, NSW
 Sydney Australian Football Foundation, NSW
 Walkerville Junior Football Club, SA
 Western Bulldogs Forever Foundation, VIC
 Woodville West Torrens Football Club, SA
 
Baseball
Baseball WA
 
Boxing
NSW Amateur Boxing Association
 
Canoeing
Australian Canoeing, NSW
 Coomera Watersports Club, QLD
 Kayak and Canoe Inc., NSW
 Mitta Mitta Canoe Club, VIC
 
Community groups
Advance Camperdown Inc., VIC
 Goodlife Community Baptist Church, QLD
 Kew Heights Sports Club, VIC
 Layne Beachley Reach for the Stars Foundation, NSW
 Lesmurdie Baptist Church, WA
 Yinnar Recreation Reserve Committee, VIC
 
Cricket 
Glenelg District Cricket Club, SA
 
Cycling
On Track for Life Foundation, VIC
 Peel District Cycling Club, WA
 
Flight
Victorian Motorless Flight Group
 
Golf
Commonwealth Golf Club, VIC
 Frankston Golf Club, VIC
 Glenelg Golf Club, SA
 Greg Norman Golf Foundation, QLD
 Heidelberg Golf Club, VIC
 Huntingdale Golf Club, VIC
 Kooyonga Golf Club, SA
 Leongatha Golf Club, VIC
 Royal Melbourne Golf Club, VIC
 Royal Perth Golf Club, WA
 Spring Valley Golf Club, VIC
 Victorian Golf Foundation
 Woodlands Golf Club, VIC
 Yarra Yarra Golf Club, VIC
 
Hockey
Altona Hockey Club, VIC
 Melville City Hockey Club, WA
 Port Adelaide District Hockey Club, SA
 Shentons Club, WA
 Toorak East Malvern Hockey Club, VIC
 Waverley Hockey Club, VIC
 
Lacrosse
Lacrosse Australia, WA
 Victorian Lacrosse Association
 
Lawn bowls
Warringah Bowls Foundation, NSW
 
Local government
City of Bunbury, WA
 City of Port Lincoln, SA
 Horsham Rural City Council, VIC
 Macedon Ranges Shire Council, VIC
 Shire of Merredin, WA
 South Gippsland Shire Council, VIC
 Southern Grampians Shire Council, VIC
 Swan Hill Rural City Council, VIC
 Town of Narrogin, WA
 
Motor racing
Australian Motor Sport Foundation, VIC
 
National/peak bodies Australian Deaf Sports Federation, VIC
 Australian Olympic Committee, NSW
 Australian University Sport, QLD
 Maccabi Australia, VIC
 
Orienteering
Orienteering Federation of Australia, ACT
 
Rowing
Adelaide University Boat Club, SA
 Balmain Rowing Club, NSW
 Bobby Pearce Foundation, NSW
 Buckingham Rowing Club, TAS
 Melbourne Argonauts Queer Rowing Club, VIC
 Mercantile Rowing Club, VIC
 Newcastle Rowing Club, NSW
 North Shore Rowing Club, NSW
 Power House Rowing Club, VIC
 Shoalhaven Rowing Club, NSW
 The Melbourne Amateur Regatta Association, VIC
 Torrens Rowing Club, SA
 
Rowing—schools
Canberra Church of England Girls Grammar School, ACT
 Canberra Grammar School, ACT
 Loreto Kirribilli Association, NSW
 Loreto Mandeville Hall Association, VIC
 Pembroke School, SA
 Prince Alfred College Foundation, SA
 Scotch Oakburn College, TAS
 St Ignatius College Riverview, NSW
 St Joseph’s College Gregory Terrace, QLD
 St Joseph’s College, VIC
 The Friends School, TAS
 The Scots College, NSW
 UCA Kinross Wolaroi School, NSW
 Unley High School Rowing Club, SA
 Walford Foundation, SA
 WH Pincott Club, VIC
 
Rugby union
Associates Rugby Union Club, WA
 Eastwood District Rugby Union Football Club, NSW
 Harlequin Club, VIC
 Lloyd McDermott Rugby Development, NSW
 Melbourne Rugby Union Football Club, VIC
 Queensland Rugby Union
 Sydney University Football Club Foundation, NSW
 Universities Rugby Club, ACT
 Victorian Rugby Union
 Woollahra Colleagues Rugby Club, NSW
 
Sailing
Black Rock Yacht Club, VIC
 Blairgowrie Yacht Squadron, VIC
 Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, NSW
 Esperance Bay Yacht Club, WA
 Leeuwin Ocean Adventure Foundation, WA
 Metung Yacht Club, VIC
 North Queensland Sailing
 Port Melbourne Yacht Club, VIC
 Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron, VIC
 Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club, NSW
 Royal Yacht Club of Victoria
 Sail Training Association, QLD
 Sandringham Yacht Club Yachting Support Foundation, VIC
 Somers Yacht Club, VIC
 Sorrento Sailing Couta Boat Club, VIC
 Squadron Yacht Racing Foundation, NSW
 The Sailing Ship Trust of South Australia
 Victorian Sabot Sailing Association
 Warren Jones Memorial Youth Regatta, WA
 Yachting Association of NSW
 
Schools—general projects
Presbyterian Ladies College, VIC
 St Joseph’s College Gregory Terrace, QLD
 Sydney Boys High School, NSW
 Tara Anglican School for Girls, NSW
 Westfields Sports High School, NSW
 
State bodies
Maccabi Victoria
 NSW Institute of Sport
 Victorian Commonwealth Games Association
 Westvic Academy of Sport, VIC
 
Tennis
Australian Real Tennis Association, VIC
 Royal Queensland Lawn Tennis Association
 Tennis Australia, VIC
 The Kooyong Foundation, VIC
 The Royal Melbourne Tennis Club, VIC
 Wembley Downs Tennis Club, WA
 
Touch football
Australian Touch Association, ACT
 
Volleyball
SA Volleyball Association
 
Water polo
Australian Water Polo, TAS
 Melville Water Polo Club, WA
 
Winter sports
Australian Bobsleigh and Skeleton Association, VIC
 Australian/Victorian Biathlon Association, VIC
 NSW Ski Association
 Ski and Snowboard Australia, VIC

A few tips

The importance of grant expenditure reports

The grant expenditure report is issued every six months to project organisations that have received a discretionary grant from the ASF in the preceding period. It is the report that enables project organsiations to demonstrate that grants received can be accounted for and have either been spent in accordance with the agreed project purose or are being held pending future commitments.

The provision of receipts confirming expenditure or bank or similar statments confirming that funds are held will enable grant funds received from the ASF to be acquitted.

Unfortunately, if the grant expenditure report is not correctly completed on time, the ASF Board will not consider issuing a subsequent discretionary grant until all outstanding matters have been addressed.

Project registration and collecting first donations

The ASF is often asked 'how long does it take to have a project registered with the ASF?' There are a number of factors that will influence the time taken to complete the project registration process.

It is important that all the required supporting documentation is supplied with the initial project application. Incomplete documentation will delay the initial assessment process. The complexity of the project and document turnaround times may also impact on this. As a general guideline, project registration usually takes about four weeks to complete.

Project organisations can only commence collecting ASF donations following completion of the registration process.

ASF website

The ASF website is a good starting point for those wanting to find out more about the ASF and how it works. In addition to basic information about the nature, capabilities and structure of the ASF, it also contains case studies, fact sheets and frequently asked questions. For those wishing to seek additional information from the ASF, the web site also enables direct email contact.

The web site can be accessed directly www.asf.org.au or by linkages that include state and rerritory departments and agencies and state and national sporting organisations. Teh ASF can eb contacted by e-mail on info@asf.org.au.

Schedule of grant rounds 2006

Funds accepted are donations deposited into the ASF bank account and cleared, or credit card donations processed through the ASF terminal by the date specified.

Another tip!

As the end of the month prior to a grant round can be particularly busy, try to coordinate banking and forwarding of approved completed donation forms to the ASF a week or so before the end of the month. This is particularly the case in June where donations can be received by the ASF up to close of business on 30 June 2006.
Allowing some extra time will enable processing to occur in the 2005–06 financial year and any queries relating to donations to be resolved. Unresolved queries will mean that the donation will not be receipted by 30 June 2006.

SMART bodies

These sports and sporting bodies are SMART because they work each year with the ASF to get funds to develop their sport. Work with the ASF to become a SMART body.
Participating sports
Athletics
Australian football
Baseball
Basketball
Biathlon
Bobsleigh and skeleton
Boxing
Canoeing and kayaking
Cricket
Croquet
Curling
Cycling
Equestrian
Extreme sport
Flight
Football
Gaelic football
Golf
Gymnastics
Hockey
Karate
Lacrosse
Lawn bowls
Motor sport
Netball
Orienteering
Parachute
Rowing
Rugby league
Rugby union
Shooting
Skiing and snowboarding
Swimming
Table tennis
Tennis
Touch football
Underwater hockey
Volleyball
Water polo
Yachting/sailing
Other
Community groups
Religious groups
Schools
Shires and councils
National and peak bodies
Australian Bobsleigh and Skeleton Association
Australian Canoeing
Australian Curling Federation
Australian Cycling Federation
Australian Deaf Sports Federation
Australian Institute of Sport
Australian Little Athletics
Australian Motor Sport Foundation
Australian Olympic Committee
Australian Parachute Federation
Australian Real Tennis Association
Australian Touch Association
Australian Underwater Federation
Australian University Sport
Australian Water Polo
Gaelic Athletic Association
Maccabi Australia
National Aboriginal Sports Corporation of Australia
National Rifle Association
Netball Australia
Orienteering Federation of Australia
Pistol Australia
Skate Australia
Ski and Snowboard Australia
Sport Australia Hall of Fame
Tennis Australia
Yachting Australia

Frequently asked questions

How will the ASF support my project?

You are a committee member of a sporting club that has plans to upgrade its oval and lighting. Your club has secured a small grant from the state sport and recreation department to upgrade the facility and you are in the process of seeking local government approval. One of your club members or department of sport and recreation has referred you to the ASF as a way to help raise funds for the development, but you are not sure what the ASF does. A check of the ASF web site provides you with contact details. You are about to contact the ASF and wonder about the support that you might receive.
This scenario is quite typical of the way project relationships with the ASF begin. Enquiries to the ASF normally come in via an email after a visit to the ASF web site or by phone. If you enquire online, you can expect that one of our client services team will respond to you, either by seeking to clarify details of your development proposal, or by forwarding an information pack that includes ASF guidelines and an application form.
If you enquire by phone, you will have the opportunity of discussing the club’s development proposal and the way in which the ASF works with sporting organisations to support their initiatives and enable them to fundraise in a manner that complements other funding sources.
The catalyst for detailed discussions with the ASF is a completed application form for the Sport Incentive Program. Once an application form is received by the ASF, you will be contacted so that we can gain a fuller understanding of the club’s plans and project details. Generally, you will be allocated a designated ASF team member as your project contact. We seek to understand your club and its objectives, the importance of the project to the club’s future and its time frame for completion. A key to advancing this stage is to provide the ASF with documentation that relates to your organisation as outlined on the checklist (at the rear of the application form and also the Guidelines booklet).
While assessing your project application, we will discuss the status of your plans with you. For example, if council approval has been sought but not yet received, it is still possible for the ASF to register the project and for your club to fundraise (subject to registration). Discretionary grants would not be paid until the local government approval was received. Fundraising strategies will be discussed, including examples used by other organisations and perhaps the opportunity to network with other ASF clients if it would be helpful. The ASF web site contains fact sheets that also may assist.
It is important to note that seeking funds from other grant-making bodies will not preclude your club from registering with the ASF. We are keen to complement your initiative and understand that successful projects will more than likely involve funds from a variety of sources.
When your project has been approved, you will be sent a letter of confirmation and a set of grant agreements to be jointly signed by your authorised club representative and the ASF. The agreements confirm the purpose and scope of your project. Also prepared and given to you at this time for consideration is a sample donation form.
Only once both parties have signed the agreements is the project registered. Your club is then able to seek donations to the ASF in support of your project. All promotional material to be used to seek tax deductible donations in support of your project or that which refers to the ASF, must be approved by the ASF prior to use. This is to protect the integrity of the process and not to expose donors to the risk that their contribution may not be accepted by the Australian Taxation Office as a bona fide donation.
From this point on, your ASF contact will help with any queries relating to promotion of fundraising strategies, collection and processing of donations, receipting, and return of receipts to you for forwarding on to donors, etc. Processes relating to discretionary grant rounds and their frequency, acquittal of grants received by completing grant expenditure reports and other matters will also be worked through with you as the project evolves.
By allocating a team member to be the principal contact for your registered project we try to ensure that you have ready access to someone who understands the nature and status of your project and unique character of your club. Of course, if they are not available when you call, any of the team in the ASF will be pleased to assist you.
The key from our point of view is regular and informed contact with projects as they progress towards their objective. In fact, if we have not heard from you for a while, chances are that someone from the ASF will call to see if everything is alright, or if there have been changes in priorities or in the personnel within the club.

The Club Development Network can help you develop your club, no matter what the size

To assist clubs to improve their capacity and capability to deliver sport at the local level, the Australian Sports Commission’s Club Development and Membership Growth unit has initiated the free web-based Club Development Network. The Network caters for all types of clubs across all sports.
When the Kendall Tennis Club was named NSW Country Club of the Year, it was a remarkable achievement for the small town of Kendall — population almost 1000.
But when you consider that the Club has to cater for an astonishing 253 members on just three courts, the success is even more astounding.
In the past decade the Club, based on the NSW mid-north coast, has almost doubled in size to boast a membership that is a quarter of the town’s population.
‘It was absolutely wonderful to be named Club of the Year,’ Treasurer Wendy Hudson said. ‘All the hard work of the dedicated and determined committee finally paid off.’
Hudson has been one of the driving forces behind the Club since she returned to her home town in 1993.
‘It was a good club, but it didn’t have a junior competition and I knew I had to do something about that straight away, even though I didn’t have my own children then,’ Hudson said. ‘Juniors are the lifeblood of a successful club.’
Apart from lots of hard work and dedication, Hudson also attributes a portion of the club’s success to the Australian Sports Commission’s Club Development Network.
‘Having all that club-friendly information on hand saves a great deal of time and helps us provide a better service to our members.’
The Club Development Network is a free, web-based program that supports the development and management capacity of sporting clubs.
The Kendall club has grown steadily to its current membership of 253, of which 153 are juniors. But the growth in popularity has brought a new challenge: how to cater for all ages and levels with just three courts.
‘We have to be very careful and creative to make sure everyone who wants to play can have access to the courts.’
The Club utilises every available timeslot to make sure everyone gets the chance to have a hit. On Friday nights, 80 children play in the junior competition from 4.00pm to 10.00pm, with the teenagers playing on Sunday afternoons.
There is social tennis one night and two mornings a week, and every other evening there is a night competition. Weekends are taken up with tournaments and other events.
‘We also have to make sure we have a balance between competitive tennis and social tennis. We have a lot of people who just want to play for enjoyment and this is an important part of our club.
‘The down side of developing a strong foundation is that our juniors only get to play a half set of tennis to allow everyone to have a turn. Our facilities just aren’t adequate for our needs.’
Not a committee to sit back and complain, they are now trying to get the ball rolling to expand. This includes lobbying the Hastings Council to get a long-term lease for some disused land, plus funding to help them build six more courts and a club house.
This might seem like an ambitious project, but the club already has a good track record. Members recently raised $50 000 to go with a $30 000 grant to upgrade the clay courts to synthetic grass.
Limited facilities have done little to stop the on-court success of the small but thriving Kendall tennis club.
Four Kendall juniors are ranked number one for their age group on the mid-north coast. Hudson has played her part in this success too. She makes herself available to ferry the town’s kids to tournaments all around the region so they can get tournament practice.
‘I use a mini bus and take all the interested kids along so they can improve their tennis. I know how hard it is for some parents to get their kids to the tournaments and it’s for the good of our club.’
The Club Development Network has a huge list of resources that can help any club. Resources range from templates for a strategic plan through to fact sheets on obtaining funding and sponsors for your club. It is all there waiting for you to log on and print it off.
Your club or organisation can join more than 7000 clubs that are already members of the Club Development Network. To join, log onto www.ausport.gov.au/clubs and then click the link for free membership.
Benefits of joining the Club Development Network include:
• simple, online club/organisation planning tools
• an online checklist that helps the club review how it is performing in all aspects of its management
• an online club/organisation management resource library
• an online members newsletter and access to back issues
• eligibility to enter the Club E-news competitions to win great prizes for your club
• regular updates with information on grants that your club may be eligible to receive.
The ASF has initiated contact with the Kendall Tennis Club to work with them on the next stage of Facility development.

New project approvals since 1 June 2005

The ASF welcomes the following new projects that have been approved in the period 1 June to 1 December 2005:
Banks Rowing Club, VIC — Equipment
Berwick Montuna Golf Club, VIC — Facility development
Brisbane Grammar School, QLD — Equipment
Canberra Grammar School, ACT — Facility development
Gold Coast International Rugby Academy, QLD — Sport development
Greenvale Football Club, VIC — Facility development
Hawthorn Football Club, VIC — Facility development
Hawthorn Rowing Club, VIC — Equipment
Kew Heights Sports Club, VIC — Facility development
Killara Golf Club, NSW — Facility development and sport development
Melbourne VicCentre Swimming Club, VIC — Sport development
Midnight Basketball Australia, NSW — Sport development
Newport Bowling Club, NSW — Facility development
Queenwood Parents Association, NSW — Equipment
Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron, NSW — Facility development
Sandringham Baseball Club, VIC — Facility development
Seabrook Golf Club, TAS — Facility development
South of Perth Yacht Club, WA — Equipment
Southlakes Little Athletics Centre, NSW — Equipment
St Aidan’s Anglican Girls School Parents and Friends Association, QLD — Equipment St Ives Rugby Club, NSW — Facility development
St Joseph’s College Gregory Terrace, QLD — Facility development
Sydney Football Foundation Ltd, NSW — Sport development
The Barossa Council, SA — Facility development
The Cathedral School, NSW — Equipment
Toorak East Malvern Hockey Club, VIC — Sport development
Upper North Junior Cricket Council, SA — Sport development
Victorian Commonwealth Games Association — Team travel

Next edition

The next edition of the Australian Sports Foundation News will be in July 2006.
Could state and territory departments please contact the ASF if you would like more copies of this newsletter for distribution to sporting organisations, affiliated sports clubs or community groups?

The ASF team

Rod Philpot - General Manager
Steve Trevaskis — Business Manager
Leanne Read — Client Services Manager
Kim Horne — Client Services
Jaime Firman - Client Services
Henry Gundry — Client Services
Robyn Fisher — Client Services

Did you know?

The Australian Sports Foundation was first established in 1986

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