For Australian Sports Club Presidents, Boards, and CEOs
How Australian Sports Clubs Win Championships, Grow Membership, and Keep Their Best People
Steal the governance system that took the Bulldogs back to the top of the NRL, the JackJumpers to a title in three seasons, and grew one Aussie club’s membership 15%
🏉 Canterbury Bulldogs – once ridiculed and bleeding players, now stormed back to the top of the NRL ladder with six straight wins.
🏉 Queensland Reds – broke a 12-year losing streak and fought their way back to the top of the Super Rugby table.
⚽Melbourne Victory – after fines and bans, rebuilt trust, fans, and made it all the way to the A-League Grand Final.
🏀 Tasmania JackJumpers –went from zero fanbase to NBL Champions in just 3
seasons.
1 in 5 Australian sports clubs are on the brink of collapse
That’s straight from the Australian Sports Foundation.
Every Australian sports club that’s turned itself around in the last five years did the same thing. They stopped using corporate governance and switched to a system built for sport.
When the governance fits, the results follow:
👉 Board meetings finish on time, with real decisions made
👉 Membership grows year on year
👉 Sponsorship comes from multiple partners, not one or two
👉 Your best staff and volunteers stay
👉 The team wins more games
You can see it in the news every week of the season:
🏉 Canterbury Bulldogs. Back to the top of the NRL after years of being written off, with their best start since 1938.
🏀 Tasmania JackJumpers. From zero fanbase to NBL champions in three seasons.
🏉 Queensland Reds. Broke a 12-year losing streak.
⚽ Melbourne Victory. Back to the A-League Grand Final after fines and supporter bans.
⚽ Kilburn FC. A tiny Adelaide club that went from near extinction to centenary premiers.
Different sports, different sizes. The same governance model underneath.
What Sports Leaders Do WRONG When Managing Organisations
The biggest mistake boards make is running a sports club like a business.
They’ve spent their careers in corporate roles, installing KPIs and running strategy days, and they wonder why nothing sticks at the club.
But sport isn’t business. Applying business logic without adapting it is the fastest way to burn people out, stall progress, and kill the culture that keeps the club alive.
Instead of setting direction and letting the CEO lead, boards meddle in day-to-day decisions. Staff freeze without approval. Volunteers feel micromanaged. The line between governance and operations disappears.
Meetings drag on. Same issues repeat. Nothing gets finalised.
Responsibility disappears. Everyone waits for someone else to act.
The CEO turns into a messenger. Staff drown in board politics instead of serving members.
Big ideas die in endless debates and follow-ups.
Eventually, the people who care the most walk away. And doubt creeps in.
You lie awake at night, asking yourself: Am I helping… or making it worse?
If the club collapses, will it be your name people remember?
That’s the cost of the old model.
And unless the structure changes, the symptoms will never stop.
What the SMART System Does to Help Aussie Sport Clubs Win, and Win More Often
I’m Bill Kostandas. I’ve spent 20 years working with presidents, CEOs, and boards across Australian sport.
From small clubs in trouble to top-tier teams under national pressure.
I built SMART Sports System because nothing else worked.
Corporate manuals were written for office towers, and strategy days produce a binder nobody opens.
What sports clubs need is a system that handles members, volunteers, sponsors, media, and history together.
The SMART Sports System focuses on five core areas, as practical working parts of your organisation.
Each one solves a specific problem that most clubs face, and together they create the structure, alignment, and momentum you need to lead effectively. Here’s how that works:
Strategic Planning & Governance
The first step is separating governance from operations.
Boards govern. Staff lead.
Everyone knows who does what, and what they don’t.
We install a clear, sport-specific decision-making framework so meetings stop dragging, direction becomes unified, and the board speaks with one voice.
We anchor strategy in your club’s identity, so you grow without losing what makes you who you are.
Revenue & Sustainability
Most clubs rely too heavily on one or two sponsors, annual grants, or a single major fundraiser.
We help you build a diversified revenue model that actually fits your club’s values and capabilities.
That might mean unlocking new funding streams, rethinking your sponsorship structure, or restructuring fees in a way that’s sustainable and fair.
Whether you’re carrying debt or trying to break through a growth ceiling, this is where you stop treading water and start building financial stability.
Organisational Development
Good people leave when roles aren’t clear, leadership is shaky, and accountability is vague.
We fix that.
You’ll have a structure where staff know what they’re responsible for, feel supported in their roles, and actually want to stay and grow with you.
The goal is to build a culture where people thrive, volunteers included.
Stakeholder Engagement
You can’t lead a club if your members and supporters aren’t with you.
We show you how to bring them into the mission, communicate clearly, and rebuild trust where it’s been lost.
People start showing up not because they’re told to, but because they believe in where you’re going.
Performance & Culture
Too many clubs think they have to choose between performance and culture.
That’s false. You can have both.
We help you design systems that attract talent, develop it, and retain it, across all levels, not just the elite end.
Your club can win on the field and still feel like home.
That balance is what sets strong organisations apart.
Five parts. Together, they change how the whole organisation runs.
What The SMART System Has Produced in Aussie Sports Clubs
Case Study 1
Problem: Membership for a public golf club in Western Australia was in decline.
In addition, the Club’s green fee player numbers were dwindling fast.
Solution: We ran a critical analysis of the club’s revenue generation and business models looking for blind spots. Four main areas needed addressing:
➤ Marketing planning
➤ Communications
➤ Membership
➤ Golf
Success: Creating a strategic plan and implementing changes in each of these areas lead to:
➞ Membership increasing by 15%
➞ Interest from junior and female players increasing by 20%
➞ Sale of food and beverage profits increasing by 8%
➞ Hosting of a PGA Pro-Am event
➞ Winning the PGA Pro-Am Event of the year.
Case Study 2
Case Study 2
Problem: Board members overreaching and undermining the CEO
While the board members’ intentions from Football Club X weren’t malicious, their meddling in the operational procedures began impacting the bottom line and undermining the CEO’s authority.
Solution: We revisited the organisation’s governance framework, defining job descriptions for each Board member and the CEO. Plus, we introduced clear decision-making pathways for all levels.
Success: By listening to various points of view and mediating solutions, Bill was able to:
➞ Boost the CEO’s authority
➞ Curb disruptive internal politics
➞ Give all stakeholders a sense of purpose and achievement
➞ Streamline operational processes
➞ Enable decision making for the good of the organisation.
Case Study 3
Problem: Fantastic CEO but lacking sports industry experience
Shortly after being appointed to a prominent professional sporting club, CEO James (not his real name) discovered his corporate experience hadn’t prepared him for the intricacies and nuances of running a sports organisation. James found himself struggling with:
➞ Staff and volunteer management
➞ Negotiating with emotionally involved Board members
➞ Overseeing multiple bottom lines
➞ Competing for the sports entertainment wallet
➞ Managing multidisciplinary stakeholders and constituents
➞ Defusing irate supporters.
Solution: We fast-tracked James’s learning to bring his sports management skills up to speed. Next, taking a collaborative approach, we conducted an independent examination of the business for James.
Success: By supporting James as the CEO and fast-tracking his sports management skill set, we:
➞ Reaffirmed James as a good hire
➞ Improved on-field results, thereby increasing spectators by 10%
➞ Boosted membership by 16%
➞ Raised sponsorship by 11%
➞ Implemented a strategic plan to grow profits.
What Club Owners and Sport Managers Say About the SMART System
“Being involved as a Board Chairman to General Committee has taught me many lessons about life, people and the business of sports.
Bill has been a positive influence and a friend, someone that I’ve learnt from a lot from in a relatively short period. Experience is irreplaceable in any field, and it’s something Bill has in bucket loads. His willingness to teach and help, along with his appealing nature, makes the journey a pleasure, not a chore.”
“I was incredibly impressed with his [Bill’s] vision and thought behind strategic ideas and his dedication to delivering outcomes that benefited both the clubs and the State Body. These strategic initiatives resulted in great returns on investment for the business from a profitability and membership perspective.”
“Bill has been involved in sport for many years and has a great insight into sports administration and sport generally. He is a genuine guy with a talented ability to share his wealth of knowledge and experience.”
Want to Experience the Same Results?
Book a Free 45-minute Sports Organisation Health Check
A one-on-one call where I look at how your club is operating and tell you exactly what’s slowing you down.
You’ll leave the call with:
- The biggest issues costing you members, money, or staff
- Three changes you can make this season for the highest return
- How SMART would apply to your specific sport, structure, and stage
It isn’t a sales call. The advice is yours to use whether we work together or not.
I keep it to five sessions a month. Each one takes real preparation.
If you’re serious about changing how your club runs, book your session below.
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