9 September 2026
Whyalla Recreation Centre in 2025-26
More visits, more members, more swimmers, and the second largest rise in satisfaction of any centre we run.
Whyalla recorded 141,839 visits in 2025-26, up 8%, with memberships up 15% and satisfaction up 9.5 points to 69.5.
In a city of around 21,000 people that is close to seven visits for every resident. Every measure we track moved in the same direction this year.
141,839
visits to the centre
69.5
Net Promoter Score, against a YMCA benchmark of 50
$790,080
estimated community benefit
Visits over three years
Whyalla recorded 141,839 visits in 2025-26, an increase of 8% on the year before. Memberships grew 15% and swimming lesson enrolments grew 4%.
The 2023-24 figure reflects a three month pool closure over that summer.
Who trains at Whyalla
Whyalla has the youngest membership of any centre we run. Just under a quarter of members are over 55, against nearly four in ten across South Australia.
Share of each age band, Whyalla against the state
One in five Whyalla members is under 26. Across the state it is one in seven.
Whyalla’s members write about group fitness more than anything else. A timetable that a twenty five year old and a sixty five year old both turn up to is a difficult thing to build.
What members said
We ask our members how likely they are to recommend us. Whyalla scored 69.5, against a YMCA benchmark of 50.
69.5
Net Promoter Score
My favourite part of the centre is the group fitness classes and the friendly environment that comes with it. Such a buzz to be part of this centre.
Member, Whyalla
The facilities, the program and the teachers are all amazing.
Swimming lesson parent, Whyalla
Built on regulars
More of Whyalla’s activity comes from members than at almost any other centre we run, and its health and fitness program is roughly double the share of its peers. This is a centre that lives on people who come every week rather than on casual traffic.
Share of total participation, 2024-25
Comparison here is against the average of our other pool centres, with Whyalla left out of its own benchmark.
What the activity is worth
$790,080
Estimated community benefit created at Whyalla 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.
$280,177 of that is teaching people to swim
Reduced risk of drowning is 35% of the community benefit generated at Whyalla. 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 63% of what happens at Whyalla is visible to the model. The figure above is real, and it is also an understatement.
1.12
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 Whyalla. 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.