Background

The Sport Industry as a whole is diverse, ever changing, and facing a variety of challenges.  The entire industry has undergone major change with SPARC replacing the Hillary Commission and the Sports Foundation.  This will have impact on the way Sport, Fitness, and Leisure, are delivered and participated in, throughout New Zealand.

Because of the changing nature of the industry it is important that sports organisations are looking carefully at the way they are operating, and planning for their future.  Times have changed, and it is essential for clubs and associations to be aware of this, and for them to change accordingly.

Strategic Planning is a comprehensive process, and is seen as a method for organisations to plan for their future.  Essentially, a strategic plan is a tool that guides organisations towards pre-determined goals and objectives.  Strategic planning enables an organisation to bridge the gap between where they are and where they want to be in the future.  It provides a framework for the direction and development of both the organisation and the sport, particularly given the limitations on financial, human, and physical resources, that many of them are facing.

The (CCLST) have realised their responsibility to their members in terms of looking to the future, and their continued development as a club, and have undertaken to complete a process that will allow them to address issues, and look into their future. Key issues facing many sports organisations today are also issues they have dealt with, including:

• Being dependant on a volunteer base
  
• An increasing reliance on pub charity funding
  
• Decreasing patronage of clubrooms
  
• Wider range of leisure pursuits competing for people’s time
  
• Members being unaware of what the club has to offer

In December 2003 Sport Canterbury were approached by Celebration Centre Lions Sports Trust to discuss the development of a Strategic Plan and to qualify as a club of excellence through carrying the clubmark qualification.  This Strategic Plan is the result of those meetings.