Sportsview, Issue 12- 2 April 2026

12 - 2 April 2026

Announcing the Community Sport Parent Masterclass

As part of the True Sport Initiative, SportWest, in partnership with the WA Government, is proud to announce the first Sport Parent Masterclass, scheduled for the beginning of Term 2 - perfectly timed ahead of the winter season.

The Sport Parent Masterclass promises to be an engaging, practical session designed to empower parents as they facilitate the journey of sport with their children and young people. Discover the keys to navigate the moments that matter with greater understanding around holistic youth development factors.

Leave with tools to help you create enriched sport experiences, foster healthy motivation and wellbeing in junior sport, while building habits that encourage lifelong participation.

The content of this event is relevant for parents with children aged 11-17 years, however parents with children from all age groups are welcome to attend. There will be opportunities to attend with your teen in the future.

Purchase Tickets

Changes to Surcharges by RBA

We wanted to make you aware of an important development announced by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), which may have implications for sport organisations, particularly in relation to registration fees and other payments.

The RBA has published its Conclusions Paper following its Review of Merchant Card Payment Costs and Surcharging. As part of this, the Payments System Board has confirmed a package of reforms that includes the removal of surcharging on debit, prepaid and credit cards on the designated eftpos, Mastercard and Visa card networks, alongside measures to reduce interchange fees and improve transparency in the payments system.

The RBA’s view is that the current surcharging framework is no longer operating as intended. With many businesses now applying the same surcharge across all card types, and with consumers increasingly expecting simple, all-inclusive pricing, the Board has determined that removing surcharging is in the public interest.

For sport, this could have a direct impact on the way registration fees, membership payments, ticketing, equipment and catering purchases and other transactions are charged. Many sporting organisations have used card surcharges as a way of recovering merchant fees at the point of payment. When surcharging is removed, those costs may need to be absorbed by the organisation or built into overall pricing structures.

At the same time, the RBA has indicated that the broader reform package is also intended to reduce interchange fees and increase transparency. To the extent that these changes lower overall merchant costs, they may help offset some of the impact on organisations. However, the effect will likely vary depending on the size of the organisation, the payment platforms used, and the volume of card transactions processed.

Most of these changes will come into effect on 1 October 2026, including the removal of surcharging and reductions in the interchange caps for domestic card transactions.

We encourage members to keep a close eye on these changes and consider what they may mean for your fee structures, online payment systems and budgeting for future seasons. For many organisations, this will be an important issue to review well ahead of the next registration cycle.

We will continue to monitor the detail of these reforms and their implications for the sector.

Find out more

Women of Sport | Developing Women Session

Networking isn’t about small talk or collecting contacts, it’s about building meaningful relationships that accelerate your growth. In this practical workshop, leaders and emerging leaders will learn how to move beyond transactional interactions and create authentic connections that open doors, spark ideas, and expand influence. Whether you're building your confidence or refining your approach, this session will equip you to network with clarity, purpose, and impact.

What you’ll gain:

Steps to creating a clear strategy for building and activating a powerful professional network
Practical tools to start meaningful conversations
Techniques to network with confidence in any setting (in-person or virtual)
How to articulate your value and personal brand in a compelling way
A simple follow-up framework to turn connections into opportunities
Ways to leverage your network for career growth, insight, and sponsorship

Walk away with actionable tools, renewed confidence, and a network mindset that works for you.

Date: Thursday 23 April 2026
Venue: Sport HQ | 203 Underwood Ave, Floreat WA 6014
Time: 9:30am-12:00pm
Details: Includes light refreshments
Registration: Limited tickets available! Registration closes at 12:00pm Friday 17 April
Cost: SportWest Members $25. Non-members $38.

Shaping the Future of Coaching and Officiating

Creating safe, inclusive and positive sporting experiences takes a collective effort. Coaches and officials play a central role in shaping how sport is experienced, from building confidence to creating environments where people feel welcome and connected.

The Australian Sports Commission (ASC), in partnership with the sport sector, is inviting input to help shape a Coaching Action Plan and an Officiating Action Plan. These will define a clear direction for a coherent system to attract and support Coaches and Officials with a strong focus on community sport.

Consultation will run from 7 April to mid-June 2026.

Your input will help inform practical actions to better support coaches and officials and the environments they help shape in sport. Feedback will be used to co-design national direction, with a focus on what works in local contexts.

Find out more or register your interest

Local Sporting Stars Volunteer Recognition Program

Volunteers across WA's sporting community will be recognised through the new WA Local Sporting Stars Volunteer Recognition Program.

The program celebrates the vital role volunteers play in keeping community sport thriving across the State.
Around 320,000 Western Australians volunteered in sport over the past year, supporting local clubs, coaching junior teams, organising competitions and helping bring communities together.

Supported by a $294,000 investment from the WA Government and delivered in partnership with SportWest, Seven West Media and Spudshed, the Local Sporting Stars program will highlight the incredible contributions volunteers make to grassroots sport.

Recognise your Volunteers

WA Hall of Champions | Call for Nominations

As part of SportWest’s stewardship of the WA Hall of Champions, we are inviting State and National Sporting Organisations, Peak Bodies or Professional Sporting Clubs to nominate individuals they believe are worthy of consideration for future induction into the WA Hall of Champions.

This process ensures that outstanding athletes from across the WA sporting system are appropriately recognised and brought forward for consideration by the Selection Committee. While nomination does not guarantee induction, it ensures individuals are formally included in the Committee’s deliberations. For sports that maintain their own Hall of Fame, it is expected that any individual nominated has already been inducted into your sport’s Hall of Fame.

The Selection Committee will assess nominees against the following criteria:

Outstanding sporting achievement at the highest level.
Demonstrated impact on their sport through performance and achievement.
Recognised as a product of the WA sporting system or having established their reputation while resident in WA.
Retired from the highest level of competition for a minimum of five (5) years.

The closing date for this round of nominations is Friday 24 April 2026, with additional calls for nominations in the future.

We encourage you to consider individuals within your sport whose achievements and impact warrant recognition at the highest level.

This is an important initiative to celebrate and preserve the legacy of Western Australian sport, and we value your role in ensuring the most deserving individuals are brought forward for consideration.

Start your Nomination

Calling for Contributions | Sport Parent Playbook - Winter Season

If you have ever thought, "I wish sport parents... knew... did... could...." it's time to join us. SportWest is developing an industry-wide resource to support community sport parents as they facilitate junior sport participation for their children and young people.

The Sport Parent Playbook will bring together a snapshot of information across our sporting network to create a snapshot of useful information for parents and engage them as partners in creating enriched sport experiences across the WA community.
We have already been speaking with partner organisations including Sport Integrity Australia, Sports Medicine Australia, eSafety Commission, Fuel to Go and Play, and the Embrace Collective.
Just some of the content themes we're exploring for this issue and beyond include:

Get into sport - Ways to play and participate - format options across the age groups (5-17 years) as well logistical considerations of equipment required and game day/season scheduling
Advice and opportunities for volunteering in your sport
Getting started in Coaching and Officiating (and potential pathways)
Benefits of sport for life - activation of mental fitness as well as development of character and preparing for wins in the long game
Fundamental Movement Skills and physical literacy for a world beyond sport
Supporting the emotional journey of sport (for both parent and participant)
Translation of research into practice - what it is, why we need it, here's how to get started
Coach conversations - Tips from coaches
Hydration, fuel for growing people and managing rest/recovery
Creating safe environments that promote growth and enjoyment
Key dates across the season calendar

To find out more about key themes and opportunities to contribute on behalf of your SSA, email beth@sportwest.com.au.

Reach out to our Team

Mental Health Champions Network Workshop | Managing Stress & Burnout in Sport

Community and high-performance sport environments are demanding. Coaches, volunteers, and leaders often operate under sustained pressure, including performance expectations, limited resources, time strain, travel, selection decisions and stakeholder scrutiny. Over time, unmanaged stress can lead to burnout, conflict, disengagement and reduced performance.

This practical workshop focuses on recognising early warning signs of stress and burnout in sporting environments and building proactive strategies to sustain performance, wellbeing and a healthy culture.

Event Details

Facilitator: Kellie Lewis - The Mental Health Project
Date: Wednesday, 8 April 2026
Venue: Multifunction Room, SportHQ | 203 Underwood Ave, Floreat
Time: 9:00am-12:00pm
Details: Morning tea and light refreshments included
Registration: Closes at 11:59pm, Monday 6 April 2026

Sport Integrity Australia | 2026 Webinars

Sport Integrity Australia's education team provides resources for all levels of athletes, their parents, teachers, coaches and support personnel.

Their free webinar series dives into key integrity topics designed to inform, empower and strengthen sporting organisations across Western Australia. Delivered online via Microsoft Teams by subject‑matter experts, each session offers practical guidance and thought‑provoking insights you can apply within your club or organisation.

If you’re looking to build safer environments, enhance your integrity frameworks or simply stay up‑to‑date with best practice, these webinars are an accessible and impactful way to deepen your knowledge.

All webinars are free, easy to join online, and open to the entire sporting community.
Explore the upcoming sessions and take the next step in safeguarding the future of our sector.