The Volunteer Crisis Sitting at the Heart of Irish Sport
Every year, across sports clubs throughout Ireland, the same scene plays out.
The AGM arrives. The chairperson asks who is willing to take on a committee role.
The room goes quiet. A few familiar faces, the same ones as last year and the year before, reluctantly raise their hands again.
And the problem gets pushed forward another twelve months.
This Is Not a New Problem. But It Is Getting Worse.
For many clubs, the volunteer base is not just shrinking.
It is ageing. The people carrying the administrative, financial and governance load have been doing so for a long time. Some for five years. Some for fifteen. Many would step back if they could, but there is nobody ready to replace them.
“That is not a coincidence. It is a structural problem that has been building quietly for years.”
The Workload Has Changed. The Volunteer Model Has Not.
When most of today's experienced committee members first got involved, the role was manageable.
It no longer is.
GDPR compliance, safeguarding certifications, online registrations, social media, funding applications, insurance renewals, committee governance. The list of responsibilities attached to even a modest club role has expanded significantly.
People signed up to help run a sports club.
Many of them are now effectively running a small organisation.
“The burnout is real. The isolation is real. And the reluctance of the next generation to step into that environment is entirely understandable.”
Why Younger Members Are Not Stepping Forward
It would be easy to blame disengagement. That would be the wrong conclusion.The reality is more straightforward.
The ask is too vague.
"We need people on the committee" tells a potential volunteer almost nothing. How much time? Doing what? For how long? Without clear answers, most people will say no. Not because they do not care, but because they cannot commit to something undefined.”
The workload looks overwhelming.
When the same two or three people are visibly doing everything, it sends a message. Not an inspiring one.
The culture can feel closed.
Committees where decisions are concentrated in the same small group, where new voices are tolerated rather than sought, where processes are undocumented and informal. These environments do not attract new contributors. They push them away.
Their relationship with the club is different.
Many younger members know the club as a player, or as a parent of a player. The leap from participant to administrator is not automatic. It takes a deliberate invitation and a genuine sense that their involvement will matter.
Eligibility and Willingness Are Not the Same Thing
This is one of the most important distinctions clubs need to understand.
Many members are eligible to contribute more.
Far fewer feel ready or willing to do so.
Willingness is not about recruitment posters or motivational speeches at the AGM.
It is about creating an environment, a structure and a culture where involvement feels accessible, valued and worth the time.
That does not happen by accident.
What Clubs Can Do Right Now
The clubs that are successfully renewing their volunteer base are not doing anything radical.
They are doing a small number of things differently.
Break roles into smaller pieces.
Not everyone can commit to being a secretary or a treasurer. But most people can take on one specific, clearly scoped task: event photography, fixture co-ordination, social media, kit management. A club with twenty small volunteer roles will fill them far more easily than one asking five people to join a committee.
Make specific, time-limited asks.
"Could you manage ticket sales for the club dinner over the next six weeks?" is a very different proposition to "we need a new PRO." The former respects time. The former gets a yes.
Bring new voices into real decisions.
Tokenistic involvement achieves nothing and often makes things worse. If younger members are involved, they need to be genuinely heard. Otherwise they leave. And they tell others.
Plan for succession now, not when it's urgent.
Shadowing arrangements. Documented handover notes. A commitment to bringing someone new into a role over a season rather than overnight. These are not complicated. They are just rarely prioritised until the person holding the role has already burned out.
Recognise contribution visibly.
Volunteers need to feel valued. A mention in the newsletter. A word from the podium. A genuine thank you. Small gestures build a culture where volunteering is the norm, not the exception.
The Question Every Committee Should Be Asking
The biggest risk facing clubs right now is not a shortage of willing people.
It is a failure to create the conditions that make involvement possible.
Before the next AGM, before the next round of vacant roles, before the next committee member quietly decides they cannot continue, every board and committee in Irish sport should be asking the same question:
If our three most experienced volunteers stepped back tomorrow, would our club survive?
Not just keep going.
Survive.
Retain its underage section.
Maintain its governance obligations.
Continue to grow participation.
Function as an organisation.
The clubs that will still be thriving in ten and twenty years are the ones investing in leadership development and organisational sustainability now.
Not when it becomes a crisis.
A Different Conversation
Over the past number of years, Grow Sport has worked with sports clubs, governing bodies and community organisations throughout Ireland on governance, strategic planning, organisational development and volunteer structures.
One thing is consistent across every organisation we work with.
The clubs that navigate this challenge most successfully are the ones willing to have honest conversations about their structure, their culture and their future, before they are in difficulty.
Not after.
If your club is facing challenges around committee succession, volunteer recruitment or organisational sustainability, now is the right time to start that conversation.
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