Community Sport Councils

What is a Community Sport Council?

Sport councils are mechanisms to encourage greater cooperation and collaboration among sports groups. Their development has been encouraged by municipal councils, appointed recreation advisory committees, staff, or tourism authorities to provide a collective voice for sport in a community. They are intended to break down barriers between sports, serve as a liaison on sport issues, and support joint advocacy regarding sport needs.

Some sport councils focus solely on promoting and advocating for sport in their communities, while others may execute an event hosting and economic development mandate as part of a larger sport tourism and economic development strategy in their respective community.

Benefits of a sport council include:

• A common voice for sport in the community
• Improved input for facilities development
• Improved input and cooperation around facilities management
• Enhanced input and cooperation around facilities programming
• Increased opportunities for efficient use of resources
• Increased awareness and support between community based and rec based organizations
• Growth of a sport community
• Increased ability to promote sport at every level of government
• Increased credibility at the political level
• A place for the sport community to develop consensus solutions and strategies
• A single point of contract for sport in the community for all organizations