Healthy sports clubs

This area involves providing equal opportunity to people from diverse backgrounds to participate in physical, recreational and social activities at the club. Steps are taken to ensure that people from diverse backgrounds feel safe and valued to access, join or visit sports clubs.

Mental wellness includes emotional, psychological and social wellbeing. Mental wellness is an important part of overall wellbeing for both individuals and communities.

Feeling connected to others, being productive and involved, coping with normal life stresses, and having the opportunity and capacity to contribute to the local community are critical to a person’s mental wellness.

The Mental Wellness health area involves providing opportunities to ensure the club is a friendly, inviting and engaging space for the entire community and has zero tolerance for bullying or discrimination.

This area involves using resources from QUIT Victoria to protect club members and the wider community from the harms of smoking, vaping and secondhand smoke.

Clubs will be supported to create a physical club environment that supports and promotes smoke and vape free behaviour, including implementing signage, policies and other legislative requirements. Support to connect members with relevant information and skills to quit is also included.

In settings, such as sports clubs, the food environment plays an important role in supporting people to make healthy food and beverage choices. The food environment includes spaces like club canteens and vending machines, as well as food and drink provided during club events and training. By making small change, clubs can support members and visitors to access and choose nutritious food and drink options to fuel their performance and enhance their wellbeing.

This area supports clubs to ensure any legislative requirements around alcohol are adhered to, prevent risky behaviour, promote a family-friendly environment, improve club culture and role modelling, and ensure safety.

In this area, physical activity and active recreation refers to unstructured or less competitive activities outside the competition sport that the club holds.

Examples include ‘come and try’ sessions and social or modified sport offerings, active transport options or fundraising challenges. Introducing activities such as these at your club can support the whole community, not just the players, to get involved in enjoyable and accessible forms of movement.

This health area draws on and aligns with the VicHealth Doing Sport Differently principles.

This area involves reviewing the injury prevention and management practices and systems and improving these so everyone is supported to return to play safely.

Clubs will be supported to create a physical club environment that supports and promotes injury prevention, form connections and partnerships with local injury prevention organisations to support with skill development and rehab and create a supportive culture that role models injury prevention behaviours.

Sports clubs have a duty of care and legal responsibility to ensure a safe environment for all involved. Providing a safe environment includes protecting club members from the sun’s UV radiation and ensuring they are aware of the need to protect their skin wherever possible.

The sun protection health area aims to limit sun exposure at clubs through practical strategies and resources from SunSmart Victoria.