GRASSROOTS sporting clubs across the Bayside warn volunteers are being pushed to breaking point, as growing compliance demands, rising costs and escalating expectations place unprecedented pressure on community sport.
Volunteers remain the backbone of Bayside sporting clubs, filling essential roles from running canteens and coaching juniors to officiating matches and serving on committees that keep weekend sport alive.
But as grassroots participation continues to grow, the pool of volunteers is shrinking, increasing pressure on clubs already stretched thin.
Redlands United Football Club president Mark Thiganoff said volunteer fatigue stems from the growing gap between what clubs collect in fees and what it costs to deliver quality sporting programs
“Registration fees only cover a proportion of a club’s operating costs,” Mr Thiganoff said.
“If you want to deliver a good football program, you have to find the answers elsewhere — sponsorship, canteen and bar operations, and volunteers.”
Mr Thiganoff said committee members paid the same fees as other members while contributing anywhere from five to more than 50 hours a week.
“And if something goes wrong, volunteers are the ones who get judged,” he said.
“All we’re doing is trying to keep the club running.”
He said that while clubs such as Redlands United could have more than 1000 members, the workload fell on a small core of volunteers.
“You might have a handful of people who are all-in, another five to 10 who are semi-regular, and maybe 50 who help here and there when they can, plus the team managers and community mum and dad coaches, which will be another 75 plus people,” he said.
“The rest are essentially consumers, wanting value for money — which is fair — but it puts enormous pressure on a very small group.”
Wynnum Wolves Football Club, one of the region’s largest football clubs, depends on hundreds of volunteers each season just to operate.
Club president Rabieh Krayem said volunteering had been “on a downhill slide for at least the past decade”, a decline that accelerated sharply after COVID.
“Time is precious, but the biggest issue is that we’re making it hard for volunteers to volunteer,” Mr Krayem said.
“To be a volunteer at a football club now, the bureaucracy, paperwork and reporting requirements are enormous.
“There’s a lot more being pushed down to clubs than there ever used to be.”
Mr Krayem said the Wolves relied on an estimated 400 volunteers across coaching, management and operational roles.
“The only alternative is to start employing more people, but once you employ people, fees have to go up,” he said.
“You try to keep sport affordable, but the skill set required of volunteers keeps increasing.”
Mr Thiganoff agreed, saying necessary compliance obligations were discouraging people from stepping forward.
“You’ve got Blue Cards, child safety requirements and a lot of other compliance on top,” he said.
“It creates frustration and reduces the number of people who are able or willing to contribute.”
He said clubs also needed better systems to recruit and support volunteers, rather than relying on goodwill alone.
“We need to be showing volunteers the love — real acknowledgement — and properly harnessing what they have to offer,” he said.
“That means breaking down what makes the club run and allocating those tasks sensibly, instead of everything falling on the same people.”
Similar pressures are being felt at smaller clubs, including Neon Boxing Academy, which relies heavily on volunteers to operate and develop young athletes.
Neon Boxing Academy manager and co-founder Karina Lay said reliance on volunteers had grown as compliance and governance requirements expanded.
“Our volunteer coaches are absolutely critical to us,” Ms Lay said.
“Neon covers the cost of their Boxing Australia Bronze accreditation and First Aid, provides uniforms, and helps organise Blue Cards so they can meet all the requirements.”
She said volunteers staffed competition corners, helped run development camps, and kept classes going when the head coach was away with the state team or at national events.
“Without them, it would be very hard for a small club like ours to operate and provide real pathways for our athletes,” she said.
Neon also relies on volunteers through its not-for-profit arm, Punch with Purpose, with athletes and parents contributing countless hours to fundraising so teams can travel to competitions and access wellbeing workshops.
“If there’s one thing that would make the biggest difference for clubs like ours, it would be genuine, practical support for volunteers,” Ms Lay said.
“Support from local council and government — not just in principle, but in real, tangible ways — is what helps keep clubs sustainable and ensures young athletes in the Bayside can continue to train and thrive locally.”
The pressures being felt locally mirror evidence presented to a recent parliamentary inquiry into volunteering, which received 571 submissions and held 15 public hearings across Queensland.
Sporting organisations told the inquiry volunteers were increasingly stretched well beyond traditional roles.
Little Athletics Queensland said volunteers were now responsible for marketing, grant writing, legal compliance, insurance, conflict resolution and sponsorship, in addition to on-field duties.
The Queensland Rugby League told the committee it had 20,596 registered volunteers in 2024, describing them as essential to sustaining competitions and grassroots participation statewide.
Lytton MP Joan Pease, who was a committee member on the Volunteering in Queensland inquiry, said the inquiry had exposed a growing and unsustainable burden on unpaid committee members.
“Volunteers are the lifeblood of our community — but goodwill alone cannot keep the lights on,” Ms Pease said.
“There is growing compliance burden placed on small volunteer-run organisations, effectively requiring unpaid committee members to operate at near-professional governance standards.
“We are expecting unpaid mums, dads and the elderly to meet governance standards that resemble those of small corporations.
“That’s not sustainable.”
Ms Pease said burnout, rising insurance premiums and red tape were pushing long-serving volunteers to breaking point.
“Burnout is real,” she said.
“I’ve spoken to volunteers who are effectively doing multiple jobs because no one else can step up.”
Volunteering Queensland CEO Jane Hedger said the inquiry confirmed what community organisations had been warning for years.
“Volunteering Queensland has been advocating for long-term volunteer support for some time,” Ms Hedger said.
“The Government’s commitment to a 10-year plan will ensure the volunteering ecosystem can support volunteering up to and well beyond the Games — provided sufficient resourcing is delivered.”
Under the Government’s response, all eight inquiry recommendations have been supported in principle, with a 10-year volunteering plan to be developed for release in 2026.
But Ms Pease warned volunteers needed action now.
“A 10-year plan sounds good on paper, but volunteers need practical change now — simpler compliance, affordable insurance and genuine support,” she said.
“If we value our communities, then we must value our volunteers.
“They’re the glue that binds us together.”
