Shifting gears for club volunteers

The Collaborative Club Capacity Building Program is backed by our Sustainable Volunteer Workforce Program and provides support for cycling club volunteers across 5 Victorian regions; Barwon South West, Gippsland, Hume, Loddon Mallee and Grampians.

Thanks to AusCycling, regional volunteers can now tap into new Foundation Instructor courses, support with event training skills such as competitor registration, road race course management, equipment maintenance, and help with making ‘Come and Try’ opportunities more accessible.

The program has also helped to connect volunteer committee members from several clubs in Victoria’s South West Coast region including Geelong Cycling Club and Camperdown Cycling Club.

The 2 clubs have gone on to create a local network and have since worked on a range of initiatives from helping to stage the Victorian Interschool Cycling Series to providing volunteer support for the recent 2026 Cadel Evans’ Great Ocean Road Race.

Program coordinator Melissa Ward said, ‘It’s been great to consult widely across regional Victoria to develop a Regional Development Plan to better support 34 clubs and upskill their volunteers from Geelong to Beechworth.’

‘Having more skilled volunteers and providing a club network , especially in remote areas provides those communities and their athletes a pathway and vital nearby support they can tap into.’

Camperdown Cycling Club Junior CoordinatorClark said, ‘Thanks to connections made by the program we were able to get 3 of our club junior riders and their family members to join Cadel Evans and lead out the Elite Men’s field as part of this year's Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race.’

Geelong Cycling Club President Kris Hinck said, ‘The skills learnt from marshalling to athlete services gives us an opportunity to pass on those skills to the next generations, giving people of all ages the chance to get involved on race days from competing to time trialling.'

The Collaborative Club Capacity Building Program is one of 12 new initiatives backed by our new Sustainable Volunteer Workforce Program.

The Sustainable Volunteer Workforce Program supports sport and active recreation sector initiatives and partnerships that help attract and retain volunteers and staff, reduce volunteer workload, and ultimately increase participation opportunities for Victorians on and off the field.

It is part of our $60 million Regional Community Sport Development Fund that is delivering infrastructure and programs to support more regional Victorian families and children to become and remain physically active.

Increasing sector capability and supporting the development of a highly skilled sport and active recreation workforce that in turn leads to a strong, sustainable industry is a key objective of Active Victoria 2022-2026 – A strategic framework for sport and active recreation in Victoria.

To find out more visit our Workforce and Volunteers web page.