Playing on a changed field: How climate impacts disrupt community sport and why we’re not adapting
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The purpose of this study was to examine manager perceptions of climate impacts, and climate change adaptation, in community-level sport. Existing research gives little guidance about sport’s climate risks or adaptation possibilities. This topic is important because in an era of climate change, community sport is the foundation of sport systems. Yet community sport is inherently vulnerable and existing studies tell us little about how managers perceive climate risks or respond. .
This study is unique because: (a) it sampled manager perspectives across a land mass larger than in any previous study (the state of New South Wales is larger than all of France); (b) the results highlight that at least 20 sports were disrupted by climate hazards, more than in any single previous study.
A two-phase qualitative design was used. Data were collected through six in-depth interviews followed by focus groups involving 39 managers representing 29 organizations at state and local-level delivering community sport. Climate impacts were evident: (1) climate hazards impacted sport infrastructure across all regions; (2) climate hazards disrupted sport participation; (3) safety was impaired; (4) extreme rain and flooding caused financial impacts. Only incremental climate change adaptation was evident. Factors limiting climate change adaptation were more prevalent than factors enabling adaptation.
For managers, these findings suggest climate impacts disrupt community sport and create financial problems. Climate change adaptation literacy is limited; enabling factors for adaption need to be harnessed, and barriers overcome.
CITE: Dingle, G.W., Rickards, L., Amati, M., Hubbard, R., Suarez, M. & Dickson, G. (2026). Climate change impacts on community sport in Australia: Manager perspectives and adaptation, Managing Sport and Leisure. pp. 1-25. DOI: 10.1080/23750472.2026.2651976
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