Club Sport Programming
Scott Logan, Sport Nova Scotia

It is suggested that a fundamental building block in Canadian sport is missing and that a comprehensive club development system would contribute great things towards a truly systematic approach to producing healthy sport participants and high performers alike.

It is proposed that through government financial assistance: grants and loans, long term viability could be developed in a sustainable fashion by supporting the establishment of sport clubs. It would be a difficult task to establish a sport club and see it continue in a financially sound manner. However, with significant up-front investment with diminished contributions over time, sport clubs could in most cases sustain their programming.

The tenets of this program would be to base the club around competent, professional leadership trained in athlete development and entrepreneurial sport programming. In addition, this proposal would see existing sport organizations embraced and absorbed by a club structure versus the traditional league-competition model that limits other aspects of sport socialization, revenue generation and economies of scale that can maximize corporate and community support.

This proposal would embody the following: coach development and employment; facility support and enhancement; sport body integration at the community level; an inter-club-based competition model; multi-sport programming and mutual support within the same club environment (read: options; cross-pollination; and increased critical mass). Also: inter-ministry support leveraging.

Components:
- Professional leadership key to the success if the program. Volunteer leadership still integral. Professionals assist the volunteers to be more effective.
- 5 year coaching program: 90-70-50-30-10% cost share.
- Multi-sport.
- Club professional responsible for in-house professional development of prof. & vol. Staff.
- For-profit skills camps for community.
- Intra-club �house leagues.�
- Representative teams per age group for inter-club play.
- Club identity within the community, maximized.
- PSO, NSO, NSC links maintained � Provincial Teams (e.g. Canada Games), National Teams (major Games), etc. Part of vertically integrated sport system.
- Corporate sponsorships for enhanced properties, consolidated by the club entity.
- KidSport or equivalent program maximized to minimize the socio-economic impact of user-pay programming.
- Economy of scale: buying power; volunteer/staff cross-over;
- Parent/Masters options � �sport for life.�
- Social component. Focal point of community activity � congregate, display, celebrate, store, meet, etc.
- HRDC driven (or equivalent).
- Equipment subsidy (1x).
- Community infrastructure development tied to club-community/municipality-hosting plans. General use-favoured (e.g. fields).
- Program designed for �x�,000 population (e.g. support program based on a club per 50,000 people per).
- Formula for minimum collective of sports: minimum number; winter-summer ratio.
- Out-reach facility links within the geographic area that encompasses the population base.
- Rent-lease-mortgage financing?
- Government partners � HRDC, Health, Supply & Service, Justice, etc.?

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