Category: Work

Ways to Retain Membership in an Amateur Sports Club

  1. Always remember that it’s a value proposition: your membership’s time is valuable, so the team has to offer at least as much value in return. That value can take many forms.
  2. Some folks just want to play: no amount of social interaction or other stuff will keep them coming back. This may seem obvious, but your team should play, and play competitively.
  3. Some folks want to get in shape: you can show them value with regular, well-run practices and other workout opportunities.
  4. Some folks just want to be a part of something: having a lively social component of your group will go a long way toward keeping them around.
  5. Most people are a mix of 2, 3 and 4. Try to appeal to them in more than one way.
  6. Joining a new organization can be scary; encourage your existing members to greet and get to know any and all newcomers at any events. It may be worth designating someone to take the lead on this.
  7. Get your organization to create value on the internet: create a LinkedIn group and invite every member, even if it’s their first practice. Encourage professional participation through this group.
  8. Create a culture of welcoming newcomers: especially in contact sports, it’s very easy for folks to fall into a culture of toughness and behave in an aloof way toward newcomers. Crossfit does this right: everyone shakes your hand and introduces themselves.
  9. Remember that a successful team has to have far more players than just the starting side: a wide base makes everything easier. This means that there has to be value for those players as well.

Ways to Recruit Athletes for an Amateur Sports Team

  1. Create a well-maintained social media presence: Twitter and Facebook at least, a good web site with contact information and a regularly updated calendar would be good, too.
  2. Create quarter-sheets with a QR Code that leads to the best piece of social media (likely Facebook). Fill sheets with recruiting information, front and back. Supply them to every member of the team for distribution.
  3. Make full-sheet QR Code recruiting posters. Post them at local gyms, sporting goods stores, bars, restaurants, coffee shops, etc. Really carpet bomb the place. Super bright paper is a good idea here.
  4. Print workout shirts in bright colors with recruiting sayings: “(why) DO YOU EVEN LIFT BRO?” “ASK ME ABOUT RUGBY” etc etc – sell/distribute them to the team.
  5. Print shirts or sweatshirts in a similar vein, but for going out rather than working out. Selling these to your team can both work toward recruitment and raise a little money.
  6. Attend local sporting events (both in-person and broadcast) with a mind to recruitment. Bring the pieces from #2 and #3, wear your shirts from #5
  7. Publicize all team events well ahead of time through the social media; practices, social, games, workouts, etc. Put it all out there. Be responsive to folks who ask questions.
  8. Encourage groups of folks to join; having a pair of friends join a team builds in a support system.

Ways to Make an Amateur Sports Team a Part of the Community

  1. Take part in local races (5ks, adventure races, etc), as a team, in team gear. Be polite, friendly & gregarious.
  2. Attend charity events, as a team, in team gear. Be polite and friendly.
  3. Donate time to community projects as a team, visibly.
  4. Create a snow crew that can shovel out their neighbors; make door-tags or something to let folks know who cleared their driveway.
  5. Go to local concerts and shows, making it visible the team’s identity and presence.
  6. Go for team runs through populated areas in matching gear.
  7. Sponsor low-cost charity events (races, dinners, etc)
  8. Put out press releases to build the team’s brand
  9. Use the team’s social media to interact with other local entities
  10. Make well-designed apparel that will appeal to folks not on the team. Sell them!

Ways for an Amateur Sports Team to Raise Money

  1. Charge membership dues
  2. Make use of membership base to hold social events, music shows, etc; charge entry fee
  3. Put together bus trips to sporting events, include food, drink, etc; charge entry fee
  4. Acquire sponsorships from local businesses
  5. Sell apparel to the team, team family and community
  6. Start a bar game tournament (trivia, maybe beer pong), hold weekly sessions, charge either the players or the bar.
  7. Organize charity events (races, banquets, etc), split proceeds between charity and team
  8. Rent a table or booth at games and tournaments; sell food, or apparel, or both
  9. Have “guest bartender” nights at sponsored bar; member of the team tends bar, 10% of the take goes to the team (or something like that)
  10. Rent the team to the community, for a fee, spend a certain number of hours at someone’s disposal – maybe mowing a lawn, maybe weeding a garden, maybe cleaning out a garage, maybe running security at a birthday party of 11-year-olds.

Story Ideas

  1. Man loses his job. Plot follows his existential crisis, but is actually about world-building: he lives in an America that is different than our own in interesting ways. Shown, not told.
  2. Scientist/Artist team sets out to build a map that in fact is the territory; a perfect representation. They succeed, but the metaphysical implications drive them insane.
  3. A young married couple rides the Trans-Siberian Railway. The hours alone in the stark environment cause them to see each other in new ways. Maybe they split?
  4. A hobo in the year 4000. How does a hobo make do in a spacefaring society? Probably dies at the end.
  5. Some kind of thinly-veiled parable that exposes in a subtle, humorous and elegant way the immense bullshit that motivates homophobia.
  6. Mother and son engage corrupt local political machine. Scandals, drama, etc. Eventual victory.