The Sports Governance Academy (SGA) has launched a new Board Development Fund focused on providing free development training to boost UK sporting organisations’ governance capabilities. Applications are now open, with the window closing on 4 August.
The SGA is a partnership between The Chartered Governance Institute and all the Sports Councils of the UK. Since its launch in February 2020, the SGA has worked to upskill, support and connect those working in a governance capacity in the sport and physical activity sector.
The Fund is aimed at organisations in the UK sport and physical activity sector, who might have gaps in their governance knowledge or skills, or whose development needs are not addressed by the existing SGA training provision. The SGA will help successful applicants to identify where their organisation needs additional training and education. This bespoke training can take the form of either virtual or in-person courses depending on the circumstances.
Applications will be assessed against a specific set of criteria. Since the fund is limited, those organisations which lack the funding to secure their own training will be prioritised. A detailed breakdown of the application questions can be found on the website.
The training available to successful applicants covers:
- building an inclusive environment
- creating your values and defining culture
- board effectiveness
- strategy and the decision-making process
- boardroom dynamics
- succession planning
- in-house delivery of the Essential Sports Governance
- conflicts of interest
- preparing for a board performance review
- risk management
- finance for non-finance managers.
All training must be completed by 30 November 2023. In return for completing the free-of-charge training, the SGA asks that successful organisations acknowledge provision of training through the Board Development Fund on their website, social media channels or other communications. They will also need to contribute to SGA output in a form agreed with the SGA Team. This may include but is not limited to blog posts, testimonials or case studies. See the SGA’s Terms and Conditions for further details.
We expect the Fund to be popular, so apply now to secure your training. Successful applicants will be contacted by the SGA to discuss their needs and to plan for the delivery of the training.
