Designing social sport opportunities

Keep it simple when trying to attract new participants

by Jak Carroll, Strategic Sport Solutions

I recently listened to a podcast where Dr Erica Randle from the Centre for Sport and Social Impact at Latrobe University talked about the need to “design sport for those who are not good at it”.

During a time when many of us are watching the Tokyo Olympics and marveling at the achievements of the athletes, this may seem like a strange statement.

However, Dr Randle was highlighting the need for sporting bodies to make it easy for people to start playing sport without having to learn too many skills or complicated rules.

This is particularly important when sports are talking about designing social sport products for the large group of people who do not play any sport at all.

Pickle ball, which has been described as a mix of tennis, ping pong and badminton, is an example of an activity that is relatively easy to learn and play.

It’s played on a badminton-sized court with a net lower than a tennis net and the players use paddles and a wiffle ball (which is easier to track).

It’s a lot simpler to pick up than most racquet sports and requires fewer specific skills (for example, players serve underarm).

I have a middle-aged friend who has never played organized sport, but recently fallen in love with pickle ball.

She says that the sport is more about “strategy than strength” and she likes that families and people of all ages can play it together.

Interestingly, in the town were my friend  lives, they play pickle ball on netball, basketball or tennis courts.

Maybe there’s some lessons here for designing other social sports!

Does your organisation need some help with planning or governance? Jak Carroll has extensive experience in the sport and nonprofit sectors, including consulting to organisations and conducting training sessions. If you are interested in some quick advice or having Jak work with you on your next project, please click here