Module 3 - Challenges in Sports Governance

The SGA offers a bursary scheme to allow individuals who are successful in the application process to access The Chartered Governance Institute’s Level 4 Certificate in Sports Governance free of charge.

Those who complete the course will receive a recognised certificate from the leading professional body for governance as well the opportunity to become part of a global governance community.

We are also offering the SGA community a limited number of free places on each of the individual modules which comprise the certificate. This will allow successful applicants to undertake one or more modules which are of particular interest to them, without the commitment of completing the entire course and the assessment process.

Available modules

The four modules which comprise the certificate are:

Module 1 - Governance: Common Knowledge and Skills
Module 2 - Introduction to Sports Governance
Module 3 - Challenges in Sports Governance
Module 4 - Risk, Compliance and Finance in Sports

Module 3 - Challenges in Sports Governance

This module introduces students to some of the key challenges facing organisations in the sports sector, covering governance, business and ethical considerations. It also offers an overview of the key legal and regulatory compliance requirements and the role played by training and education in sports organisations.

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Topics covered include:

Governance & business challenges

Governance structures and organisational culture
Sustainability
Technology and innovation

Influence of governing bodies over membership organisations

The role of governing bodies and international federations at national and global level
Grassroots and community sports organisations
Balancing the interests of different sporting bodies

Safe sport

Safeguarding, welfare and wellbeing in sport
ED&I
Training and education

Ethics and culture

Ethics and behaviour
Participant welfare and duty of care
Money laundering, bribery and corruption
Whistleblowing

The module is an online learning component of a larger self-paced programme with e-learning content, self-assessments, knowledge check quizzes, real-world examples (practical case studies) and other online resources. It will also be supported by a schedule of live webinars with a tutor, group discussions and feedback on discussions and assessments.

The programme content is delivered through an online learning platform, where you can interact with other students. The webinars are live events but will also reside as an archived recorded resource.

It is an intensive module. It is estimated that completion of the module will require 40-50 hours of self-study, including webinars.

The application process

Applications are invited from individuals working in governance roles in the UK sport and physical activity sector.

Decisions on requests for the bursary are made on the basis of responses to the questions contained in the online application form. Applications are scored according to the following criteria which has been agreed with our partner Sports Councils:

We can also accept applications in other formats such as verbally over a video call as well as through the form. Please contact us if you would prefer to apply through another means.

Application criteria

Briefly describe your current/intended role and governance responsibilities.

Priority will be given to applicants whose role involves clear governance responsibilities, either as part of an organisation’s governance/compliance team, a member of the board or with responsibility for the board or committee(s).

	Scoring (out of 10)	Role responsibility
Applicant’s role	8+	The applicant’s role contains/will contain clear, direct and sustained governance responsibilities.
	6-8	The applicant’s role contains clear governance responsibilities but they may be either indirect or supplementary to the main role
	4-6	The applicant’s role contains some governance responsibilities, but these do not comprise the majority of the functions of the role.
	<4	The applicant’s role contains little or no governance responsibilities.

Briefly outline the skills and knowledge you hope to develop by completing the Certificate and how you will use these to benefit your organisation’s governance.

	Scoring (out of 10)	Skills and Knowledge developed	Benefit to the organisation
Organisational Benefit	8+	The applicant clearly identifies key skills and knowledge that they want to develop from the course and clearly links them to areas of governance, decision-making or oversight within their organisation that would benefit. They use detailed and relevant examples to support this.	The applicant identifies how the skills and knowledge developed from the course and the implementation of these policies could benefit the wider organisation. They use clear and relevant examples that offer significant benefits without being overstated.
	6-8	The applicant identifies skills and knowledge that they want to develop from the course and areas of governance that they want to improve but their case for the connection of the two lacks some clarity, relevance or specific examples.	The applicant presents reasonable benefits that the course will provide to the wider organisation with relevant and detailed examples supporting this. OR The examples are only relevant and/or detailed enough to support a reasonable benefit even if the benefit claimed is significant.
	4-6	The applicant only identifies either the skills and knowledge that they hope to develop or they only identify areas of governance that they believe will benefit and examples are limited in their clarity and relevance.	The benefits to the organisation are modest and the supporting examples lack detail.
	<4	The applicant has provided insufficient or no examples of how completion will benefit their organisation. The identification of key skills lacks sufficient clarity or relevance.	The applicant has provided insufficient or no examples of the benefit to their organisation

In what ways will completion of the Certificate benefit your governance development as an individual?

Please refer both to your current role and future career development and use clear examples of how it would benefit both. Please concentrate on your responsibilities, roles and future career development and refrain from mentioning the wider benefits that your improved governance knowledge will have on the organisation as these will not be credited in this question.

	Scoring (out of 10)	Benefit in current role	Future Career Development
Individual benefit to applicant	8+	The applicant identifies skills they want to develop for their current role and considers how the course will improve these. They provide clear examples which touch on their current knowledge gaps and how filling these would significantly improve their effectiveness in their current role(s).	The applicant demonstrates how the development of their skills will improve their career progression. They provide examples of how the course will prepare them for future responsibilities that they may not currently have.
	6-8	The applicant presents reasonable benefits that the course will provide in their current role with detailed and relevant examples supporting this OR The examples are only either relevant and/or detailed enough to support a reasonable benefit even if the benefit claimed is significant.	The applicant presents reasonable improvements for their career progression and has carefully considered how the course will prepare them for their future responsibilities OR The response lacks sufficient consideration of future responsibilities to fully support the claimed benefit to the applicant’s career progression.
	4-6	The benefits to the applicant in their current role are modest and the supporting examples are limited.	The applicant’s consideration of future responsibilities and the benefit to their career benefit are limited
	<4	The applicant has provided insufficient or no examples of how completion will benefit them in their current role	The applicant has provided insufficient or no examples of the benefit to their career progression or the responsibilities they will have.

Are other sources of funding available to either you or your organisation that will allow you complete this Certificate?

	Response	Explanation	Criteria
Financial need/limited funding	Yes	The applicant and/or their organisation could access other forms of funding for this a place on the Certificate.	Access to the bursary is prioritised for those applications that would otherwise be unable to undertake the Certificate due to lack of financial resources.
Financial need/limited funding	No	The applicant and/or their organisation could not fund a place on the Certificate if unsuccessful in this application.

Did you use AI to support your application?

We allow the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in your application, but it must fit with our guidelines which includes stating that you have used AI. If you have any queries around the guidelines, please contact us.

Applicants should be mindful when using AI platforms not to disclose personally or commercially sensitive information where this would not be protected by user license from being incorporated for future AI model training.

	Response	Explanation	Criteria
AI Usage	Yes	The applicant must explain how they have used AI to support them. This must be within our guidelines. Any usage outside the guidelines will be rejected.	All answers that don’t use AI or are confirmed as using AI within our guidelines are acceptable and will be viewed equally. If an applicant claims to have not used AI when they evidently have, this answer will be rejected along with any answers that breach our guidelines.
AI Usage	No	No explanation required

Scoring against these criteria will be made on a sliding scale. Key points on this scale are identified in the tables above.

Conditions

Decisions on applications are final.

Successful applicants will be contacted by the SGA Team to make arrangements for registration on the course.

In return for bursary support, successful applicants are expected to:

acknowledge the support through their organisation’s website, social media channels or other communications.
agree to contribute to SGA output in consultation with the SGA Team. This may include but is not limited to blog posts, testimonials and/or case studies, acting as an ambassador for the bursary scheme, the Certificate in Sports Governance or its component modules and the SGA more generally.

While we understand that career trajectories change, applicants are reminded that the bursary scheme applies public money for the benefit of the sport and physical activity sector. The SGA is keen to retain for the sector the knowledge and learning that completion of the module will provide. Those whose long-term aspirations lie outside the sector are invited to consider the limited availability of funded places.

Terms and conditions apply.

Timetable

Date	Milestone
21 October 2024	Application window opens
12 December 2024 (16:30)	Application window closes
8 January 2025	Successful applicants notified
16 January 2025	Deadline for acceptance of places
4 February 2025	Course begins