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In the first of a regular insights column, Gurpreet Dulay and Max Armstrong from BDO share their thoughts on risk and risk management in the sports sector, drawing on the work they routinely engage in with bodies, large and small. 

This series of essays aims to provide a deeper dive into topics of interest and relevance to the Sports Governance Academy community. Authored by experts in particular disciplines and by practitioners in sports governance and management, they will give the reader a closer look at current themes, best practice and initiatives in the sector.

By inviting authors to present their topics in essay form, we want to give them the scope and freedom to explore more deeply areas of governance affecting sports organisations, predominantly in the UK but drawing on comparative international examples where appropriate. The approach taken will vary from essay to essay. Some will provide a case study to help the community get to grips with developments in the sports governance landscape. Others will present the results of original ongoing research. Others still will offer intriguing perspectives on governance debates, approaching familiar topics from a different angle.

We hope that you find plenty in the series to get you thinking and to help you and your organisations in your approach to governance and in facing the challenges ahead of us.

Sports organisations face an increasingly complex range of challenges, adversities, and changes which manifest themselves at a pace which can leave those dealing with them reeling. How individuals and teams working within sports organisations can equip themselves to deal with these rapidly shifting environments is a question that can be addressed by the study of organisational resilience.

Organisational resilience seeks to understand and explain how and why organisations adapt and thrive in environments which are complex and uncertain.

In this essay, the first in the series, Dr Alan Watkins shares his thoughts on decision making drawn from his experience both as a physician and neuroscientist and as a leadership development consultant.

In this essay, Chris Pringle from The Football Association provides an in-depth account of the implementation of the Code of Governance for County Football Associations. This presents to the SGA community an example of how a major NGB is addressing the principle of ‘cascading’ good governance which became a requirement under the revised Code for Sports Governance.

This essay presents the findings of research which focused on three grassroots sports organisations and takes a fresh, in-depth look at the governance practices of voluntary sports clubs.

It looks at some of the ways in which grassroots sport is responding to the challenges it faces, the extent to which the improved governance practices are manifested further down the sector’s ecosystem, and what this looks like in practice for clubs with little resource and which rely so heavily on volunteers to function.

Register to benefit from SGA resources, learning opportunities and be part of our sports governance community. You will be able to access a wide range of governance support and be the first to hear about new resources and events.

Our learning opportunities, resource base and The Huddle community platform are open to everyone with an interest in sports governance. While places on training courses are reserved for UK organisations, we welcome the contributions of those active or interested in sports governance from around the world.

We offer a range of opportunities to help build capability in your organisation by equipping you with the knowledge, skills and confidence to tackle your governance responsibilities.

Our sports governance training courses will build the knowledge, skills and confidence to understand your governance responsibilities.

Courses are provided to help support boards, employees and volunteers working in the sport and physical activity sector in the UK.