'It's a beast': The grim reality facing ACT community sport funding

That's why there's so many mixed feelings around capital sporting fields. Yes, they can train in groups of 10 and yes, the NRL is back on next week, but the coronavirus "beast" is giving everyone from volleyball to rugby league headaches about the future.

The revenue from licensed clubs, sponsorship deals, sausage sizzles, pie drives, gate takings and registrations have dried up, leaving teams to contemplate the cost of playing if restrictions are lifted.

The Australian Sports Foundation has launched an online survey on Wednesday to quantify the impact of no sport and no revenue to community organisations, seeking answers before searching for potential philanthropic or government investment.

"Somehow we've got to come up with a formula that will keep players in Canberra and not break us," said Belconnen Magpies president Scott Reid.

"None of us [in AFL Canberra] will get whatever our grants were because the licensed clubs haven't been trading. So how do we move forward? We've got to come up with something we all agree to. Maybe that's playing for fun this year and we don't pay players."

The ACT government announced an easing of restrictions last week to allow sports to start training in groups of 10. It was initially seen as a glimmer of hope for eventually getting back on to the field.

But the grim reality of the coronavirus impact is that funds have disappeared. Licensed clubs have long been the major contributor to individual teams. The Vikings Group, Ainslie and Eastlake clubs, the Belconnen Magpies and two Queanbeyan leagues clubs among the biggest backers. Capital Football teams also have strong ties to clubs, including Belconnen Soccer Club.

All of those have had there doors closed for two months, slashing the money available for the sports team they partner with. The cost of running an amateur sporting team? Anywhere between $100,000 to $500,000 in Canberra's premier football competitions.

Canberra's rugby league teams will have to cover insurance and some other fees this year, which have previously been covered via a Raiders Group grant.

Some are unsure if they can find the funds or cope with the loss of sponsor revenue. West Belconnen Warriors president Steve Kirby said: "If we play this year and the cost is the club's not here next year, that's an easy decision to make. We want the club to exist in the future.

"You want sports to be back playing and I understand that. But if it's at the detriment of the club surviving, it's an easy decision for all sports to make. It's not just playing. It's the health and safety of volunteers ... and there's no money coming through the door. It's a massive beast."

Even powerful clubs are feeling the pain. The Queanbeyan Blues have won 26 premierships since the 1930s and are backed by the Queanbeyan Leagues Club.

Blues secretary and Canberra rugby league life member Tom Ebsworth said: "We're aware the money won't be there for a couple of years now, not like we've had in the past. And we don't know how long it's going to last. I've never seen anything like this. Everyone's unsure about what's going to happen. If we have a competition now, it will be amateur. But we're all in the same boat, everyone's going to be affected financially.

"People are rightfully holding on to the hope we'll get a competition going ... but financially for a lot of our clubs, it might be better if we didn't play. Even for our financially strong clubs because there's no money."

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Player payments will either be slashed altogether or drastically reduced for at least this year. It may become the norm in 2021 and beyond, with teams being forced to rethink their models.

Even those not backed by big licensed clubs will take a hit. For example, rugby union's the Uni-Norths Owls rely on sponsorships, raffles, gate takings and canteen sales to fund their operation.

Some sponsors have already been forced to withdraw their commitment because of their own financial constraints, and even if play does resume it's unlike sausage sizzles or canteen sales will be permitted.

"Maybe we've got to do some sidestepping," said Owls president Michael Axelson. "Financially I think we'll be OK, it's just the outlays that come will be concerning because we may not have any income until next season.

"We've got quite a number of smaller sponsors ... some have indicated they're not in a position to carry on this year which is understandable.

"I am a bit concerned [about the competition] because we rely on university students and we don't know how many of them will be here this year. We've already flagged that will be a problem for us. The thing is once you stop the season, how do you invigorate it?

"All players come from grassroots beginnings. If those clubs wither ... are we going to lose a generation?"

Clubs like the Belconnen Magpies have 1000 players across junior and senior competitions. Rugby league teams can have up to 40 teams.

The ACT government announced a $3.3 million funding package for the sports sector to help sports stay afloat during the shutdown. Ground hire fees have also been waived, with teams free to resume training if given the all clear by individual code administrators and if they follow the coronavirus guidelines.

The Sports Foundation conducted a pilot survey of 500 clubs two weeks ago, and is now seeking responses from a bigger base to understand the problems clubs are facing.

"The first results were shocking. Clubs were saying they lost 80 per cent of their sponsors and traditional fundraising had stopped," said foundation chief executive Patrick Walker.

"The financial model of community sport has suddenly been broken. The big danger is people will think because you can get back to training, it's all over. But the real problem for community sport is just starting.

"The survey is about quantifying the impact, then our role is to raise money to channel into community sports. We're here to look after the little guys. I really do think it's a crisis in the making. I think it's forgotten about, and we want to change that."

Reid, however, says it's not all bad news. He sees the virus-forced hiatus as a chance to reset everything in community sport, including player contracts and investment in juniors.

AFL Canberra introduced a $100,000 salary cap last year to close the gap between the haves and the have-nots in terms of financial resources.

"We made a rod for our own back in the NEAFL days. We set payments far too high ... in my vintage money wasn't the issue. So hopefully this reset button we've hit makes a permanent change," Reid said.

"There are so many positives we can take out of this. We probably just need some of the governing bodies to work with us. It's pretty obvious without the licensed club backing, we've got to take a breath.

"We've done a good job with equalisation. The money side is the last bastion we need to address, and maybe this is the opportunity."