9 September 2026
St Clair Recreation Centre in 2025-26
The busiest centre in South Australia, and the one the Social Value model sees least of.
St Clair recorded 470,728 visits last year, more than any other YMCA South Australia centre by over 100,000.
Stadium sport carries the volume. Close to three quarters of everything here is basketball, netball, futsal, school carnivals and competition nights that run most evenings of the week.
The gym and group fitness program works differently. It accounts for a smaller share of visits and it holds its members longer than any other centre we run, which is the harder thing to do and the thing that keeps a centre viable.
470,728
visits to the centre
731
memberships at the year’s peak
67.1
Net Promoter Score, against a YMCA benchmark of 50
33.2%
of members are over 55
Busiest in the state
St Clair recorded 470,728 visits last year, up 5.0% on the year before. The three year line dips and recovers. Stadium bookings and competition calendars move a centre like this more than membership does, so its participation is less smooth than a gym centre’s.
The centre reached 731 memberships at its peak, and members stay an average of 41 weeks against a state average of 30, which is the figure that tends to matter more.
+5.0%
growth in visits year on year
41 weeks
average length of a membership, against 30 across the state
Who trains at St Clair
Two things run at St Clair and they work in different ways. The stadium delivers volume. The membership delivers depth. Members here stay longer than at any other centre we run and visit more often than the state average.
Members by age
Share of memberships with a recorded date of birth. St Clair: 674 members, 331 women and 354 men.
St Clair members stay 41 weeks on average, the longest of any centre we run.
A fixture brings somebody in once a week and then they go home again. A membership is a relationship that runs for months, and St Clair holds onto its members better than anywhere else in the state. That is worth more than the share of visits it represents.
What members said
We ask our members how likely they are to recommend us. At St Clair, 143 people answered out of 676 asked. That is a response rate of 21%, against a state average of 20%.
The score was 67.1, against a YMCA benchmark of 50.
Love the group fitness classes, wonderful trainers keep you challenged, safe and inspired.
Member, St Clair
Customer service, very friendly staff, they took time to explain everything.
Member, St Clair
67.1
Net Promoter Score
143
members responded
21%
response rate, against 20% across the state
What the building is used for
Basketball, netball, futsal and school sport fill St Clair most evenings and most weekends, and that is what the visit count reflects. Counting visits is only one way to measure a building though. A stadium fixture is one visit by one player. A membership is a relationship that runs for the best part of a year.
Share of total participation, 2024-25
That is why St Clair matters to the City of Charles Sturt in a way a visit count does not capture. 406 sporting teams used the centre in 2024-25 and the stadium ran at 96% occupancy at peak times. Every one of those teams is a club, a school or a competition that would otherwise need somewhere else to go.
406
sporting teams using the centre in 2024-25
96%
peak stadium occupancy in 2024-25
1.33
average visits per week per member, against 1.29 across the state
What the activity is worth
$537,038
Estimated community benefit created at St Clair in 2025-26.
Social Value puts a dollar figure on the community benefit created when people are physically active. It is an estimate, built from real participation data at this centre, and it covers health, education and employment outcomes where there is an agreed, evidence-based method for converting activity into monetary terms.
What the estimate covers
Select any indicator to read what it covers.
Value only accrues above a threshold
Turning up does not automatically create measurable value. A participant has to be active often enough to reach a physical activity threshold before anything is counted.
Across our centres, 43,735 people took part in an activity last year and 12,162 reached a threshold. Around 28 in every 100. That is normal for a community recreation centre, and the threshold is an invitation rather than a test.
How much of the centre the model sees
Roughly 11% of what happens at St Clair is visible to the model. The figure above is real, and it is also an understatement.
The methodology comes from a 2018 study by KPMG, commissioned by the Australian Sports Commission, which put the value of Australia’s community sport infrastructure at more than $16.2 billion a year, including $4.9 billion in health benefit. ActiveXchange applies that framework to real participation records at each facility. Each participant is placed in a demographic segment with known health risks and associated costs, and their activity, covering how often they attend, for how long and doing what, produces dollar values against specific outcomes. More than 200 councils and venues across Australia use the same model. We do not produce the methodology and we cannot adjust it.
Turning up does not automatically create measurable value. A participant has to be active often enough to reach a physical activity threshold. Acute benefits are assessed monthly, in any month where activity averages out to the weekly physical activity guidelines. Chronic benefits are assessed annually and also require the participant to meet the monthly threshold in at least six separate months. Across our centres, 43,735 people took part in an activity last year and 12,162 reached a threshold, around 28 in every 100. That is normal for a community recreation centre. The threshold is an invitation, not a test.
ActiveXchange recalibrated its model during 2025. The practical effect is that the threshold for generating value went up. Activity is now measured on the actual length and intensity of a session, and a participant has to sustain it across the year rather than have one strong month. Figures we published before 2025 sit on the earlier model and are not directly comparable with the figure above.
Social Value counts visits recorded through our membership and point of sale systems. Casual customers, user groups and social stadium sport are not counted. At St Clair, stadium and user group programs account for a large share of total participation, so the figure represents only part of what this centre delivers. Some benefits cannot sensibly be priced and are left out altogether. Recreation centres build social connection and inclusion, strengthen community pride and identity, raise levels of trust and reduce anti-social behaviour. None of that appears in the figure.
Social Value indicates the scale of community benefit generated by activity at this centre. It does not count individual health outcomes for any person, and it does not measure how well the centre is run. A centre can improve while its Social Value falls, and the reverse is also true.
Social Value figures are produced using the ActiveXchange Social Value model, developed in partnership with KPMG and based on the Value of Community Sport Infrastructure framework commissioned by the Australian Sports Commission. The model is used by more than 200 councils and venues across Australia. Figures are estimates. YMCA South Australia does not produce the methodology.
Reporting period 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026. Participation composition figures are from 2024-25. Written with AI assistance and reviewed by YMCA South Australia, in line with our AI Safe Use Policy.