9 September 2026
The Parks Recreation & Sports Centre in 2025-26
The largest centre we run, and the one that does the most different jobs.
The Parks recorded 369,764 visits in 2025-26, up on each of the last two years.
Nearly one visit in ten here is for the theatre, a share no other centre we run comes close to. Add a stadium, allied health, the largest swim school we operate and one of the largest group fitness programs, and it is a building doing several jobs at once.
369,764
visits to the centre
56.6
Net Promoter Score, against a YMCA benchmark of 50
$3,128,543
estimated community benefit
Three years of growth
The Parks now records 78,001 more visits a year than it did in 2023-24, an increase of 27%. Most of that came in the first of the two years. Last year held at a level the centre had not reached before, which for a building already running near capacity at peak times is a reasonable place to be.
Who trains at The Parks
The Parks is the working age centre. Just over four in ten members are between 26 and 45, and under a third are over 55 against nearly four in ten across the state.
Share of each age band, The Parks against the state
Four in ten Parks members are aged between 26 and 45.
Under a third of Parks members are over 55. Across our centres it is four in ten, and at two centres it is more than six.
What members said
We ask our members how likely they are to recommend us. The Parks scored 56.6, against a YMCA benchmark of 50.
56.6
Net Promoter Score
Everything is in one place, gym, pool, sauna, allied health professionals. The price is reasonable for being able to use all the facilities.
Member, The Parks
As a disabled client I really appreciate how accessible it is. It's a great supportive atmosphere.
Member, The Parks
Everything under one roof
Nearly one visit in ten to The Parks is for the theatre, more than ten times the share that theatre and events take at our other pool centres. Add a stadium, allied health and one of the largest group fitness programs we run, and you get a building doing more different jobs than any other in the network.
Share of total participation, 2024-25
Comparison here is against the average of our other pool centres, with The Parks left out of its own benchmark.
What the activity is worth
$3,128,543
Estimated community benefit created at The Parks 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.
$1,649,203 of that is teaching people to swim
Reduced risk of drowning is 53% of the community benefit generated at The Parks. Across our nine recreation centres it is 55%, and it is the single largest component of the model. A swimming lesson is the one thing a centre does that changes whether a child is safe in water for the rest of their life.
How much of the centre the model sees
Roughly 61% of what happens at The Parks is visible to the model. The figure above is real, and it is also an understatement.
1.39
average visits per week per member, against 1.29 across the state
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 and participations recorded through our membership and point of sale systems. Casual customers, user groups and social stadium sport are not counted, so the figure understates activity at The Parks. 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.