Introduction to Good Sports
Over 10,000 Good Sports clubs are using the program’s free tools and resources to build a policy around alcohol management, smoking regulations, mental health, illegal drugs, and safe transport. These together add up to help create a safe, welcoming, family-friendly environment.
About the program
Designed for busy sports clubs, Good Sports takes the guess work out of complying with legal requirements and gives you the upper hand when it comes to attracting funding, new members and volunteers.
Read moreWhat does a policy cover?
A Good Sports policy is tailored to your club. Generally, it covers six key areas. Alcohol management, smoking regulations, mental health, illegal drugs and safe transport.
Read moreHow to join
Joining Good Sports is easy. Register today and follow a few steps to become an accredited Good Sports club.
Read moreHow our program works
Good Sports is easy to use. The online portal is intuitive, and it’s a simple process to complete your action plan and sign a club policy. You can progress through the program at your own pace, and you’ll be prompted when you have actions to complete or a policy to sign.
Join Good Sports
- Register your club for the program and create an account
- Begin your questionnaire by answering questions about your club and processes you may already have in place
- Action plan is generated and you’ll clearly see which tasks you need to complete.
Sign your first policy
- Progress through the action plan until you have generated your first policy
- Email your policy to committee members or take it to your next meeting to have it signed
- Congratulations – you're now officially a Good Sports club.
Gold Medal accredited
- Continue through the questionnaire and action plan until you have completed all actions available
- Have the committee sign your final policy
- Congratulations – you're now a Gold Medal Good Sports club, the highest level in the program
- Check in every year to keep your policy up to date.
Good Sports Benefits
Good Sports has been helping build stronger community sporting clubs in Australia for over 20 years. The free program provides support in a few key areas to enable busy clubs to be the best they can be. Good Sports clubs stand out above the rest.
Fundraising and grants
Good Sports will keep you updated on current funding opportunities and give you tips on how to write a winning grant application. Sponsors often look favourably on Good Sports clubs, who are role models in their communities.
Read moreAttract members
Good Sports helps club with attracting and retaining members. We’ll support you to build on your safe and welcoming club culture and provide tips and resources to promote your club.
Read moreAttract volunteers
Volunteers are the beating heart of any community sports club. They bring the passion and dedication. Good Sports has practical toolkits and videos that will give you some pointers to increase your volunteer base.
Read moreComply with legal requirements
Our program offers simple and effective ways to improve the way alcohol and tobacco is managed. We provide support to clubs to understand liquor licensing and smoking laws for each state and territory.
Read moreGet free access to staff, tools and resources
Make your club the best it can be with access to information packs, videos, posters and templates. Clubs tell us that creating their policy was simple, and it's easy to find information on the online portal. Plus, Good Sports team members are always on call if you need a helping hand.
Read moreInformation Pack
Good Sports clubs create a safe, respectful and positive environment where players, officials, members and families can thrive. Whether your club has hundreds of players or ten, has a bar or is alcohol-free, is in the big city or rural - Good Sports is a good fit. Sporting clubs that role-model healthy behaviours are leaders in their community, playing an important role to prevent and reduce harms from alcohol and other drugs.
Good Sports is for everyone
If your club would like more details on Good Sports, what it is and how it works, you can check out our information pack. There are printable resources you can share with your members or you club committee.
Good Sports knows that community sporting clubs are run by busy volunteers, and it’s designed with this in mind.
- It’s easy to use, with a simple online portal that can be accessed on any device, anywhere and anytime
- Takes the guesswork out of complying with legal requirements
- Saves you time by generating a policy automatically based on your answers to a series of questions about your club – no writing needed
- Needs a time commitment of only a few hours per year to keep your accreditation up to date
- It’s free for all Australian community sporting clubs.
FAQs
Good Sports - Australia’s largest community health sports program – has been helping build strong community sporting clubs across Australia for over 20 years.
Being part of Good Sports shows your community that your club is a welcoming place, helping to bring in and keep members and volunteers. It can also help you comply with legal requirements, and you’ll get free access to program staff, tools and resources.
Today almost 10,000 clubs are proud to be a part of the Good Sports team.
There’s no cost to join Good Sports - it’s free for all community sporting clubs in Australia. That means your club’s all-important funds stay in your club!
Nearly 10,000 Australian clubs are using the Good Sports program’s free, online tools and resources that focus on alcohol management, smoking regulations, mental health, illegal drugs and safe transport. We also help you establish a great environment for juniors to play the sport they love. Together, this helps create a safe, welcoming, family friendly environment.
Sporting clubs that role-model healthy behaviours are leaders in their community, playing an important role to prevent and reduce harms from alcohol and other drugs.
Alcohol is Australia’s most widely used recreational drug, with one in five Australians drinking at risky levels.
We work with a variety of clubs; from those with a liquor license, those where alcohol is only consumed occasionally, to clubs that are completely alcohol and smoke-free.
Clubs from over 70 sporting codes, in all states and territories are part of Good Sports. Any and every sporting code is welcome. Good Sports clubs range from football, netball, cricket, and athletics – all the way to gymnastics, dance, equestrian and dragon boating.
Being part of Good Sports shows your community that your club is a welcoming place, helping to bring in and keep members and volunteers. It can also help you comply with legal requirements, and you’ll get free access to program staff, tools and resources.
We know your club is the most important thing. The program is designed to ensure you have time to give your all to your club, without unnecessary or complicated paperwork.
Joining is easy and only takes a few minutes. Head to our Join Now page and register your details. You’ll then receive a confirmation email, where you can login and create an account for your club.
The online portal is simple and easy to use. It outlines the steps you need to take. Good Sports clubs have told us that it’s clear what’s expected from them and easy to find further information. This has enabled them to sign off their first policy quickly.
The program is tailored to reflect each club’s situation, so you can work through it at your own pace. You can use Good Sports on your phone or tablet, anytime and anywhere.
The Good Sports program is designed for busy volunteers. The time commitment is low - generally you only need to dedicate a few hours per year to progress your policy and keep them up to date.
The time needed to complete your policy will change based on the needs of your club. It will also depend on how many aspects of the program you already have in place. This could include alcohol management, smoke free areas, mental health support and safe transport planning. You can progress at the pace that suits you.
Your Good Sports policy is your document that outlines your club commitments. For example, the part of your policy covering tobacco management outlines the actions your club will take regarding smoking (designating a smoke-free area at your club and putting up signage). It also covers the expectations you have for members and guests (not smoking in the smoke-free area).
A policy puts everything in writing. Even if you’re already doing all the actions outlined in the policy, signing it off with your committee makes it official. It shows your members, guests, and potential sponsors that your club is a welcoming place, and that you care about their health and safety. In some cases, a policy will also prepare your club to respond to any issues that may occur and gives you a procedure to follow.
Good Sports also takes the work out of writing your own policy.
Yes, the program is relevant for all Australian sports clubs. With a policy covering mental health support, smoking management, and illegal drugs Good Sports helps all clubs to get prepared for any issues before they occur.
Sporting clubs that role-model healthy behaviours are leaders in their community, playing an important role to prevent and reduce harms from alcohol and other drugs. Even if alcohol isn’t consumed or sold at your club, being a part of the program helps your club be a role model and leader in your local area.
Joining the program also shows members, volunteers, potential members and volunteers, and sponsors that you care about the health, safety and wellbeing of members and guests.