The future of the sports club, leisure trust and centre in the new normal world

by | Innovation and Enterprise, Webinar by SMN

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A free webinar with inspiration and ideas from leading experts and practitioners

The future of the sports club, leisure trust and centre in the new normal world

What options and opportunities we have to develop and invigorate our community sports providers and places

Several months in after the Covid-19 outbreak there is still considerable uncertainty as to how providers and places for community sport and physical activity will operate, adapt and progress in the future. Here at SMN, we have certainly seen a vast difference in the culture, performance and enterprise across the sector, with several providers adapting and engaging with their members and their communities, whereas almost went in hibernation.  Of course, that was also affected by local, regional and national circumstances. Of course, in many places, we are seeing redundancies and lay-offs which, no doubt, will also affect the skills and capabilities within our places for community sport and leisure.
Several months in after the Covid-19 outbreak there is still considerable uncertainty as to how providers and places for community sport and physical activity will operate, adapt and progress in the future. Here at SMN, we have certainly seen a vast difference in the culture, performance and enterprise across the sector, with several providers adapting and engaging with their members and their communities, whereas almost went in hibernation.  Of course, that was also affected by local, regional and national circumstances.
 
Of course, in many places, we are seeing redundancies and lay-offs which, no doubt, will also affect the skills and capabilities within our places for community sport and leisure.

So, these are challenging times but they also represent an opportunity for introducing new thinking, new partnerships, new technology and new ways of operating

 This webinar will highlight some of the options available, based on best practice from across many nations and will aim to inspire people within the sector on how to develop and evolve

SMN have brought in two leading community sport and physical leaders to present and participate in this webinar. One from a successful multi-sports club in Denmark and one from a successful leisure trust from Manchester, England.

The webinar panel team:

Christine Winding-Lauritzen, General Manager, Beder-Malling Idrætsforening (BMI) Christine has been instrumental in the amazing at this enterprising community sports club. Beder-Malling is a borough within Aarhus, Denmark’s second city with a population of approximately 10,000 and the club is an amazing hub for this community, with 3000 members enjoying sports and social activities. It is based at a local leisure centre, Egelund Idrætscenter which includes two sports halls, a 25-metre pool, tennis courts, football pitches, beach volley court and petanque courts. As a multi-sports club, it incorporates 16 different separate clubs and the whole culture is focused around both the enjoyment and benefits of being physically active and community aspects and bringing people together.

Their volunteer-run café runs all sorts of activities and brings in thousands of people and in 2019 was nominated for the Danish Sports Prize. Yes, a cafeteria! Due to all this great, led by Christine, the local council has decided to build more facilities at the centre, including a community library.

So, Christine certainly has a thing or two to say to about the possible future for the community sports club.

 Chris Rushton, Chief Executive, Active Tameside Tameside is a Borough in Greater Manchester with a population of around 225.000 people and is in the top 20% of the most deprived areas in the UK and where approximately 10% of the population have a disability or special need and roughly 10% of children live in poverty. Active Tameside has over the years has been transformed into a social enterprise with a strong focus on health and social outcomes. There is a wide range of leisure and sports facilities, but what makes the organisation stand out, is a wide range of (non-sports) partners and its work and delivery out in the community. The trust operates 9 leisure centres, 4 family attractions, 7 gyms, 5 swimming pools, 3 thermal spas, 3 creches, 5 cafes and 2 community cafes which serve 10.500 members and many others.

Chris Rushton, Chief Executive of Active Tameside, said: “We set out to support our communities as much as possible during the lockdown and I’d like to say a huge thanks to our services and staff for the vital work they have done and are continuing to do at a time which has been difficult for many.

Chris will have some exciting ideas and insights as to how leisure centres can become hubs for their communities.

The introduction will be given by Svend Elkjaer, Founder/Director, Sports Marketing Network (SMN) Svend has been running SMN for 15 years and has been described as a ‘positive disruptor’ within community sport and physical activity and has worked with hundreds of clubs, centres, sports bodies and community organisations helping them to become more innovative and enterprising and innovative.

Especially during the global lockdown has Svend been engaging with providers across the world sharing experiences on how best to develop a more able and agile culture and skillset to adapt to the rapidly changing world.

After the presentations there will be Q&A session and participants will have the opportunity to voice their opinions and put forward their ideas and experiences.
We reckon the webinar will last 45 minutes and it will be recorded and shared afterwards
Join the weebinar here

This webinar is free to attend, and members of the Sports Enterprise Network are also invited to book a 30-minute Zoom-session with Svend Elkjaer to discuss and get advice on how they best can adapt their particular club, centre or body to the new normal world.

You are more than welcome to send your questions and observations before the webinar to svend@smnuk.com