The ABCs of Growing Sport Participation
The Jackson 5 once sang that it was “easy as 1,2,3” and “simple as do-re-mi”, but the 'ABCs' of growing sport participation are anything but…
Here’s my quick take on the main four checkpoints that we grapple with as sport developers:
A for Awareness👀
“How do we inform new audiences about our programs, invoke curiosity and inspire sampling?”
This used to be about national bodies investing $$$ in TVC campaigns to reach 2 million people. But in 2025, a single post on the Dubbo Netball Club TikTok account by its secretary could reach 2 million people. The humble ‘Come and Try Day’ or ‘Bring A Friend Day’ is still the most under-utilised asset in the sport organisation’s growth toolkit in my eyes, when executed well.
I therefore believe peak bodies have an 80/20 rule to follow when trying to build awareness: 80% of resources towards empowering member organisations to ‘catch their own fish’, and 20% of resources towards ‘catching the fish for them’.
B for Belonging💛💚
The central factor in transitioning a person from awareness or sampling to joining a sports club/program is instilling a feeling of belonging. It deserves its own graphic but "how do we instill belonging at scale" is the key question any sports organisation seeking to grow participation should be asking, and is where I’ve dedicated most of my career towards.
The feeling of belonging is almost always linked with the deliverer or the broader set of people at the club/organisation, so investing in deliverer capability becomes a key ingredient for the sports ecosystem.
C for Continued Participation 🔄
“Participants are able to satisfy their version of fun through regular participation.”
The challenge of organisations in this phase is to maintain the magic of sport participation beyond the ‘honeymoon’ phase of the Come & Try Day or the 1st season. In this phase coaches/deliverers are trying to actively build the 4Cs in participants (Connection, Competence, Confidence, Character; source Coté & Gilbert 2009), and cater to the 84 determinants of fun (Visek et al.).
D for Development📈
“Participants have the agency to extend the way they engage with the sport.”
For some this might mean pursuing athlete pathways, for others it might mean becoming coaches, officials, or receiving employment as a game supervisor or statistician. Many participants may be happy where they are (and that’s totally OK!) but having the capability to provide options is crucial.
We support organisations to develop their capability across all four stages - email me at darren@forwardpivot.com.au if you’d like to discuss partnership opportunities!
