A Wellington football club is desperately seeking about 40 volunteer coaches, just weeks from the start of the season.
Hundreds of young footballers are at risk of not playing this season, as the capital’s biggest sports club scrambles to fill the gaps.
Western Suburbs has put out a plea for help across all grades - from under 4s to under 15s.
It comes as the New Zealand Amateur Sports Association (NZASA) reported volunteers across the country have been sharply declining since the pandemic, and part of the reason is cited as worsening attitudes by young players.
Western Suburbs president Dean Eagar told NZME the club simply did not have the resources to assign enough coaches from within the club each year.
“If parents don’t put their hand up to coach, then unfortunately the kids can’t play the game they love,” Eagar said.
“People pay their money and have expectations, which we certainly understand, but we just don’t have the capacity.”
NZASA’s National Sport Club Survey found many volunteers were having to take on increasing workloads, with some experiencing burnout, as numbers declined across grassroots sports.
“There are so many people who do small but really important tasks for clubs throughout New Zealand, and we rely upon them heavily,” said chairman Gordon Noble-Campbell.
It was typically the same group of older people who showed up every Saturday and Sunday to help, but over time, there didn’t seem to be “the same degree of interest and support” from the younger generation in terms of giving up their time.
It was an issue for Western Suburbs, which is running about 120 junior teams, and still sitting a long way off its target for coaches.
“Probably like most sports, most organisations, the volunteer numbers and hours are dropping off dramatically at the moment,” Eagar said.
He looked ahead to the season each year and said it continued to be a real grind.
He wondered where support was going to come from and “unfortunately, a bigger workload is falling on fewer people, which is taking its toll.”
Western Suburbs is celebrating its 120th birthday this year, and has been operating in Whitby, a suburb about 25km north from Wellington’s CBD, since 1906.
It boasts a prestigious line-up of international representatives, with players including Callum McCowatt, Marko Stamenić, and Elijah Just all set to star for New Zealand at the World Cup later this year.
But looking forward, Eagar did not know how it could be sustainable to run a club off the back of minimal help.
He said some of the good people involved in the club had moved away and on to other things as the workload became too much.
The survey of sports clubs across the country found an increase in poor behaviour might be playing a role in the decrease of grassroot volunteers.
It shows about a third of the clubs that responded to the survey were reporting problems with inappropriate or concerning verbal behaviour during sport activities, with 20% citing issues with physical behaviour.
“If you’re a community coach, clearly that’s going to give you some pause for thought in terms of whether or not you actually want to be as actively involved as you might have been in the past,” said Noble-Campbell.
There was no simple fix in sight for Western Suburbs, but the club has planned information evenings for parents, showing what was on offer and explaining “in those very younger ages, it’s just about the kids getting together and having fun”.
They said parents did not need to be a professional football coach, or even a fanatic of the sport to get involved and help out.
Eagar encouraged people to consider helping their club at any level.
“It can be in the back room on a committee, helping with gear, in the kitchen, whatever it might be. Any of the clubs across the country would be grateful for their help.”