Planning is essential to ensure your club remains healthy and sustainable. But you need to understand where the club has come from and where it is now before any forward planning can be completed.
The SWOT analysis is the first step in determining the club’s priority areas for development. It will allow you to identify the club’s;
- Strengths,
- Weaknesses,
- Opportunities and
- Threats
Strengths
Strengths relate to the internal factors within the club. When you look at the strengths, concentrate on the club and its ability to achieve the outcomes it wants. Some examples of strengths include:
- Great facilities and club house
- Support from local businesses
- Large pool of dedicated volunteers
- Good relationship with local politicians
- Strong financial base
Weaknesses
Weaknesses are also internal factors within the club and are the opposite of strengths. Concentrate on what could be preventing a club from achieving the outcomes wanted. Some examples include:
- Out-dated facilities and equipment
- Poor club culture
- Poor player behaviour
- Lack of volunteers
- Poor financial base
Opportunities
Opportunities are related to the external environment. These are not the same as the internal strengths and are not necessarily definite. Some examples of opportunities include:
- Grants
- Change in local government
- Population growth
- Club management technology
- Growing focus on physical activity
Threats:
Threats are external factors that could cause a problem for the club. Like strengths and weaknesses, threats are the opposite to opportunities. Some examples of threats include:
- Seasonal interest in the sport
- Other codes
- Lack of knowledge of the sport
- Declining population base
- Busy lifestyles
Using the SWOT Analysis
Now it’s time to develop a strategy to address the issues identified in the SWOT analysis. You can do this by asking:
- How can we use our strengths to take advantage of the opportunities listed?
- How can the strengths be used to overcome the threats listed?
- How to overcome the weaknesses to take advance of the opportunities?
- How will we minimise our weaknesses to overcome the threats listed?
Once these questions are answered, use the SWOT analysis to develop strategies to achieve the club’s goals.
