Canberra District Rugby League Strategic Business Plan 2016-2018
FOREWORD
WeAreRaiders WeAreRugbyLeague in Canberra and the region The Canberra Raiders were born from the collective vision of the Queanbeyan Leagues Club group back in 1981 when it was the first team outside of Sydney to enter the then NSWRL. The Raiders trading group now provides a unique and comprehensive administration and promotion of rugby league from grass roots to elite level in the Capital Region. The Raiders Group is South East NSW/ACT’s highest profile elite National Sporting Organisation, competing in the National Rugby League, National Youth Competition (“NYC”), S.G. Ball U18’s and Harold Matthews U16’s. The Raiders group is unique in that it also oversees the Canberra Region Rugby League competitions which encompass 32 Clubs, 260 teams and 3800 registered players. The group provides the funding, resources and comprehensive administration for rugby league in the Region including referees, first aid courses, judiciary, coaching updates, ground hire, insurances, delivering Leaguesafe training programs, organising volunteers, junior representative teams and School competitions. The Raiders maintain strong links to local and surrounding communities and participate in over 700 hours community service, 290 school/hospital visits, coaching clinics and carnivals. We are very proud of the fact our players and staff live in the Canberra Region and are a part of the community 365 days per year. Recognised as a leading NRL franchise in terms of player development, the Raiders work closely with the surrounding region to promote the game. Our development footprint covers a Region of over 260,000km and almost 1 million people. The Raiders aim to offer country kids the same opportunities to achieve as their big city counterparts by providing them access to expert coaching and better facilities. 2
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Entering a new era with greater resources from the new broadcast deal will allow our sport to grow even more. Rugby League, along with its derivatives, touch football and League Tag allows us to promote “touch, tackle, tag” to children of all shapes, sizes and sexes. This will allow Rugby League and the Raiders to reach new levels of inclusiveness and touch millions of people and positively impact on their lives The Raiders are very excited about our future and we invite you to join us on this journey.
WeWant ‘A REGION OF ENTERTAINED AND ACTIVE SUPPORTERS THAT SEE RUGBY LEAGUE AS THE MOST ENGAGING, MOST RESPECTFUL AND RESPECTED SPORT’
WeAreOne Our supporters include players in our Raiders squad and staff that support them, participants in our local or regional competitions, Raiders fans and club members and our valued corporate and community partners. Every connection encourages us to better use our resources to nurture rugby league activity across our region.
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WeStrive To always be the Region’s premier sporting entity through our ongoing presence in Canberra and our expanding regional footprint.
We provide services and programs that support our players, administrators and fans across the region to realise their potential by being involved in rugby league. We plan, advocate and innovate to make a better rugby league experience for all. Through this activity, we contribute significant economic and social benefits to the ACT and its surrounding region.
WeAreRugbyLeague We take a leadership role to raise the profile of rugby league by administering and promoting the sport and its benefits from grass roots to the elite level.
WeAreHighPerformance
WeAreFamily
Our Raiders squad competes in the national rugby league competition. We strive to attract and retain the best players by providing them with first rate player conditions, access to quality facilities and services and career pathways. Our elite players are supported with training, educational and employment opportunities to develop their football and life skills. In return, they acknowledge their responsibility as a role model.
Recruitment and retention of volunteers and members is important to us. We educate our volunteers to ensure their knowledge and skills are current to better service our participants. We are also committed to growing our membership culture – WE ARE RAIDERS – with improved member servicing, recruitment and retention strategies.
WeAreCommunity We have a record in delivering community outcomes. We deliver a strong local competition for participants and administrators and we resource and support participating clubs to perform, grow and be sustainable. We deliver first contact programs in schools and in the community to engage children as players and lifelong fans. We make local strategic partnerships with recreational forms of our game, including an alliance with Touch Football to grow our participation base and broaden the appeal of rugby league in the community.
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WeAreHereAlwaysWorking • To unify, develop and actively promote the game of rugby league to attract and engage with more supporters; and • To improve the health, wellbeing and social connections of our supporters through a lifelong involvement within our Raiders community At a glance • We have had a local presence since 1921 • We have competed in the National Rugby League Competition since 1982 achieving premiership success in 1989, 1990 and 1994 • Our membership base (including subscribed followers of the Canberra Raiders) is nearly 15,000 members, ranging from ages of 0-70+ years and this membership is growing • We manage 29 rugby league clubs directly; host 21 junior competitions + 2 senior competitions; support 267 regional teams in our competitions – 35 senior teams, 232 junior teams and provide referees for all games in the region through our referee affiliation • Our players, development staff & club ambassadors have face to face contact with over 25,000 kids a year through our sport leadership and motor skill development programs in schools
• We contribute to Close the Gap initiatives, Women in League activities, Community Carnival, Rugby League Reads programs and other NRL One Community projects that encourage diversity and growth through our sport • We maintain four playing venues in Canberra to offer better access to our sport • We align to charity programs that expose our supporters to knowledge about important social issues such as mental health, domestic violence, health and wellbeing education campaigns and social inclusion • We directly support defined charities through funding, services and collaborative program delivery, generally concentrated in the Capital Region due to the large number of requests on an annual basis
WeWorkHard And Are Determined We always put our participant needs and member choices at the centre of everything we do. Every aspect of our work is underpinned by improving the rugby league experience for our elite players, participants, members and other supporters. We do this by making sure they have access to appropriate services, information and activities and that
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we provide opportunities for them to tell us what is important to them. Recent development of Club Values and underpinning behaviours, which were consolidated in consultation with Australian Defence Force personnel, ensures that we positively portray COURAGE-RESPECTINTEGRITY-PROFESSIONAL in everything we do for our community.
We are innovative and offer holistic support to our participants.
We are collaborators by nature, seeking out partnerships.
We proactively seek solutions to meet the holistic needs of our participants. We actively seek to overcome barriers that may prevent some participants gaining access to our activities, services, information and resources. If we don’t have services that meet participants’ needs, we do our best to find alternative service providers.
We initiate and collaborate with other peak bodies, corporate groups, service providers and government to achieve our vision. As a partner, we act with professional integrity, remain results focused, and are accountable and transparent.
We are family friendly and inclusive.
We embrace common values in the Raiders community. We exhibit them in our business behaviour and promote them publicly through our Raiders NRL team.
We understand that the wellbeing of our supporters is inextricably linked to feeling welcomed, informed, engaged and connected to others within the Raiders community. We also respect and celebrate diversity, recognising that our supporters come from all walks of life and have different needs.
• Engage others to feel welcome in our game and community activities • Be respectful to all people at all times - treat all without bias
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• Remain dedicated and self controlled, even when challenged • Always take responsibility and accept the consequence for actions • Show resilience, seize opportunities to improve
• Motivate others to challenge themselves
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• Stand up for our beliefs, empowering others to also do so • Be open to change, lead with innovative practices • Be selfless in decision making
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We are value focused and behaviour driven.
• Always lead by example • Prepare the right way every time • Set clear goals to measure success • Always work hard for our community - not in service of our ego
WeDriveGrowthInOurSport In 1962, we commenced life as the administrative body to conduct junior and senior rugby league competitions in the ACT and surrounding district and we started to grow. We had a vision of entering a team into the NSW Rugby League competition and in 1981, it was realised. We became pioneers in the expansion of the game of rugby league – with the Raiders being the first team from ‘outside’ the Sydney Metropolitan region to be admitted into the NSWRL competition, representing the ACT and South East NSW country areas.
We connect to deliver. From these early days, people have believed we can deliver and we have never promised what we can’t. That’s how we have developed successful partnerships with publicly listed companies, Federal, State and local government entities, charities and community organisations, universities and schools, hospitals, other sporting groups and their governing bodies.
We see potential and develop it. We have grown to become recognised as a leading NRL franchise in terms of junior development with pathways to success second to none. These pathways of participation and development are delivered through an unrivalled network of primary and secondary school competitions, Australian school representative competitions, state and national junior representative competitions across the region.
We reach beyond borders. Our reach now extends from the ACT, west to the Riverina, east to Batemans Bay, south to Albury and Bega and north through to Bathurst and Orange. Making our business sustainable is support from the Queanbeyan Leagues Club – which has been trading in the region since 1963 and has expanded to operate a further seven licensed Clubs across ACT, NSW and Queensland.
WeAreBoldAndFocused We want to be innovative sport leaders in our region, delivering quality sport participation and sport entertainment experiences for all. Our targets are simple • improve the reach and profile of our sport; • contribute greater social value to our community through our activities; and • be financially sustainable to continually invest in rugby league activities into the future. To succeed, we will maintain our long established robust governance practices. And always seek out innovative practices and programs to keep up with the changing times. 7
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WeSeekOutOpportunities We are innovators. So creative thinking is central to our planning.
We are developing a culture that fosters new ideas. One where, • all our staff, players and volunteers can easily identify how their work contributes to the outcomes of our organisation • all our business processes are becoming better integrated and easier to use
• a safe and inclusive work environment is on offer to all and • accountability for the safe stewardship of our resources is carried by all staff, players and volunteers as part of the Raiders business team
We will prioritise our investments into core, evolving and exploratory aspects of our business to grow our place in the market
SET TARGETS Reach and profile; financial sustainability; social value
INNOVATIVE CULTURE
IDENTIFIED STRATEGIC PILLARS High performance; Pathways and competitions; Community programs; Commercial operations; Facilities and infrastructure; People and culture
LONG ESTABLISHED ROBUST GOVERNANCE PRACTICES
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CORE INNOVATION PROJECTS We will extend and defend our strategic pillars and then push for continued excellence in our core business: • High Performance • Pathways and Competitions • Community programs • Commercial Operations • Facilities and infrastructure • Our People and Culture
EXPLORATORY INNOVATION PROJECTS. We will explore new opportunities to ensure our long term growth • Construction of the Canberra Region Rugby League and Community Hub at Northbourne Oval • Partnerships with other sports • Hosting of major events in Canberra - ie ANZAC Day test, national capital 9s • Influencing stadium enhancements
EVOLVING INNOVATION PROJECTS We will aim to build emerging activities, as we know these are drivers for medium term growth: • Advanced High Performance servicing • Player and participant wellbeing and education opportunities • Expanding our Digital Footprint • Effective school programming • More targeted base of aligned community partners
WeAreAlwaysAmbitious and have set our sights on • NRL success • Being the Capital Region’s most respected and influential team • Record membership levels • More participants than ever before • Meaningful female engagement in our sport • Developing the best sporting infrastructure for participation
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• Instilling club values into the wider community for better outcomes • Improving the region through rugby league programs, participatory and educational
WE ARE HIGH PERFORMANCE. Our goal is Top 4 NRL competition finishes through: • our high performance culture being further refined • continued recruitment of talented players that embody our club values • providing a contemporary football program that develops, produces and sustains high performance
WE ARE OUR PATHWAYS AND COMPETITIONS.
• expanding our regional membership base to 20,000 by 2018 • increasing our revenue to over $20m by 2018 through new and diverse revenue streams • targeted engagement programs to create new corporate and government relationships • improvements to member servicing to increase membership and merchandise income • streamlining our activities for improved efficiencies and reduced costs
Our goal is growing sustainable, inclusive participation pathways through:
WE ARE OUR FACILITIES AND INFRASTRUCTURE.
• increased competition and activity offerings, for all skills levels and gender groups • increased coaching clinics, carnivals,school based activities for junior participation • better and more accessible places to play • community programs and activities being offered at affordable rates
Our goal is to foster an environment of improved facillities by:
WE ARE OUR COMMUNITY PROGRAMS. Our goal is to enrich our community through the Raiders network by: • using our community standing to elevate the profile of social programs of others to better their outcomes • activities being designed and delivered that expose our community to healthy lifestyle choices • expanding our annual school based face to face contact to 85,000 kids by 2018 • targeting partnerships with other sports so as to use our resources more effectively
WE ARE OUR COMMERCIAL OPERATIONS. Our goal is growth and sustainability through:
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• developing a world class regional rugby league and community hub in Canberra • club facilities across the region always being accessible to host competitions • increased Free to Air coverage and increased Facebook, Twitter and instagram content to offer better sporting entertainment to our region • venue/ amenity improvements sought to enhance the fan experience at NRL games
WE ARE OUR PEOPLE AND CULTURE. Our goal is to strengthen and deepen our Raiders culture by: • our core values and expected behaviours being profiled to all our supporters • raising our corporate social responsibilities (CSR) annual target to 800 hours of player/ staff engagement in charitable activity • continually developing the skills and knowledge of our board, staff, players and volunteers • co-operating with others to encourage robust debate of ideas/ stronger decision making
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2 Eade Street Bruce ACT 2617 • PO Box 3315 Belconnen Business Centre ACT 2617 P 02 6253 3515 F 02 6253 3546 W raiders.com.au ABN 31 068 819 152