Sport communities across Canada have access to world-renowned coaching and athlete development programs. However, very few programs exist which support the effective management and operation of a community sport organization. The benefit of this type of programs for a sport organization is that it will help to ensure effective governance in their respective organization – but what exactly is governance?
According to the SIRC, governance is a general term, and it can be examined in a multi-dimensional way. It typically refers to the oversight, steering, and directing of an organization which can occur in three different realms: organizational, systemic, and political. In the organizational sphere, governance deals with how an organization handles their resources, profits, and losses through standards that reflect ethical norms and values. In the systemic realm, governance involves how an organization interacts within the entire sport community system (e.g., mutual adjustments, competition, and cooperation, etc.). Lastly, governance in the political sphere refers to how governments and/or governing bodies influence sport organizations.
The Government of Canada, especially Sport Canada, has great interest in supporting and strengthening the governance practices of Canadian Sport organizations. In their view, organizations who can apply effective governance are more likely to productively use public funding which will result in more high-quality sport programs for Canadian athletes. Sport Canada believes that the core component of effective governance is “the expectation that sport leaders and board directors will model the highest standards of ethical behaviour at all times”. To achieve this high standard of ethical behaviours, Sport Canada has five principles that sport organizations can follow:
- Commitment to mission and guided by a strategic plan
- Clarity of roles and responsibilities
- Effective financial control
- Focused on human resources
- Transparent and accountable for outcomes and results
For more information about these principles click here.
Organizations often still use good governance as a popular term or “goal” to which they aspire. However, organizations like SIRC believe this phrasing can reinforce the idea of “good” versus “bad” governance. This idea can cause an organization to become complacent if they believe they have already achieved good governance. Therefore, it is recommended that sport organizations aim for effective or improved governance, which acknowledges that there is always room for improvement!
It is no question that improving the governance of an organization can be a challenging task. There are countless effective governance principles and guidelines that are available for sport organizations to incorporate into their practices. However, that does not mean that organizations will automatically see an improvement in their organizational performance; creating effective governance is not a cookie-cutter process. This makes it essential that all stakeholders in an organization, not only the board of directors, play a role in improving an organization’s governance. Here are some tools and resources to support effective organizational governance.
- Sport Information Resource Centre (SIRC) – SIRC is an organization that has hundreds of different resources for many different topics. SIRC has a portal related to governance which contains many different educational programs, webinars, tools, and resources.
- Governance Essentials – a comprehensive and interactive online course offered by Sport Law and the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport, the Governance Essentials course aims to help volunteer directors. The course offers directors a chance to improve leadership skills, and get advice from experts.
- Governing Good – this resource offers several guides on governance for free! With over 20 guides, this resource provides great information for all types of positions in community sport organizations.
- Board Voice – this organization provides a diverse collection of resources that are helpful for board members in the Canadian non-profit sector. Topics include strategic planning, financial statements, advocacy, diversity, equity, and inclusion and much more!
- Purpose-Driven Board Leadership – Board Source offers resources that focus around 4 main principles to strengthen a board of directors. The principles are purpose before organization, respect for ecosystem, equity mindset, and authorized voice and power. This resource provides an understanding regarding why governance in the social sector is different from traditional ideas regarding governance and how a changed perspective can benefit your organization.
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