Understanding Your Community

Overview

New Zealand is becoming more diverse, and our communities are changing. Understanding those within our communities can help us plan for the future. Clubs play an important role in communities. They not only provide a place for those who enjoy Cricket to gather and participate in the sport, but it also provides a space for social interaction, development of community pride, and provide health benefits! Ultimately, knowing your community allows you to adapt your club environment to ensure it creates an inclusive and welcoming environment for current and prospective members.

Tools to understand your community

Every community is made up of people from all walks of life. But how do we really know who is in our community? There are many ways we can measure and define our community, however, below are three ways you could start to understand your community better.

Observation – Many people still do their grocery shopping in person. Observe those that frequent your supermarket at the busiest times. According to a recent article weekday after work or weekends are your best times![JA1] This will give you an indication of some basic demographics like age, gender, and perceived ethnicities of your community. While this is no science, it gives you a starting point.

Sport NZ Insights Tool – This tool brings together multiple data sources including the New Zealand Census to visualise data. You can understand the makeup of your community by census area, city, local board area (Auckland only) and by your Regional Sports Trusts area. The Demographics and Demographic Trends tabs will be the most use for you. These tabs will show you deprivation, ethnicity, gender, and life stage of those who usually reside in those areas. To learn more about the tool and how to use it see their guidelines.

Stats NZ – If data visualisations are not quite your thing you can go directly to the source, Stats NZ. Stats NZ are responsible for the Census we complete every four years. On their website they have a number of one pagers on a variety of topics, they also make available data tables for you to make your own graphs. Check out their data explorer

Where to next?

Once you have a grasp of who resides in your community, explore which community groups or organisations exist near you. These groups or places are significant to these communities and are a great starting point to build a relationship and learn more about them. As you build these relationships it is important to go to the community rather than inviting them to your club. Their spaces are familiar and will ensure they feel safe when you engage with them. Secondly, give before taking. Be willing to invest resource (time, equipment etc.) into the relationship. It is more than likely they will reciprocate when they see the value and benefits of what you are offering. Finally, be curious. Listen, ask questions, and understand what is important to them and how might you adapt your environment to make them feel welcomed when they are ready.