All clubs need to be focusing their attention on recruitment of new members, at the same time as ensuring their existing members remain happy with their club.
1. There is no point in starting any campaign unless the club is prepared to receive new members and have already trained enough Instructors to coach beginners or approached the County Coaching Association for assistance.
2. Equally important the club members who volunteer to help must be the right type. May I suggest a ‘customer care training course ‘would not be amiss in some clubs!
3. ‘Open days’ are a popular way to start any campaign but you need to spend an amazing amount of time and effort in advertising these events to make them cost/time effective. My suggestion is to attach your ‘open day’ to other events taking place in the area and let that organisation, school, fete committee, do a lot of the publicity work for you.
One other point to make is that I would suggest a local personality be invited along to ‘have a go’, a professional footballer, TV personality, someone in the club should know someone who can pull a few strings. I would also suggest that sadly top bowlers would not draw new recruits, the people you are trying to attract would not know them.
4. Your local authority are another point of contact, they are always undertaking new initiatives to attract people to be more active. Volunteer your club to be involved in any of these initiatives. The LA will again do the publicity work for you and your club reap the benefits with very little effort. The hidden bonus of these schemes is that your club has free advertising in the local libraries etc., for some considerable time.
5. Your local schools are another point of reference, especially now with the focus on children becoming more involved in sport and schools are looking for other sports, not just football, for their less active children to become involved in. It took my club 10years to gain access to the local High School. We now have an excellent working relationship, thanks to the change of PE teacher.
The local Primary/Juniors are also looking for different activities for after school and that ‘dead’ period at the end of term when they look for outside activities for the children.
I n preparation for this involvement the bowls club also have to prepare their volunteers and organise Child Protection Courses and appoint Child Protection Officers as well as have a Child Protection Policy for the club. Nothing here to be afraid of, once again the local authority will help, often at nil cost, and our own NGBs will also advise.
6. Does your club have an allocated time and day for new recruits to just turn up and have a go at bowls? Are your club sufficiently relaxed about dress code for beginners or do you still expect new people to dress in grey and whites before allowing them onto your greens. I do hope not.
It would be interesting to know the number of people who have been put off playing bowls by the tactless approach of the ‘dictator type’ of club member who is in some time warp and insisting on correct dress and footwear being worn by those trying out the sport for the first time.
I certainly would never have dreamt of joining my local town bowls club as a youngster with the characters who played there .I ‘ had a go ‘, when I moved to a village in Norfolk and a friendly’ chippy ‘on a building site I visited invited me for a ‘roll up’ and a pint one Saturday night. As it was a Federation Club, dress code never came into it then, the focus was on enjoying a competitive sport and a social drink afterwards. I became hooked from then on. Bowls not drink.
7. Talking of other codes, why not challenge your local Federation , Crown Green or Short Mat club to a game of bowls at your indoor. Some of them may become ‘hooked’ like me.
8. At my indoor club we also play one league to Federation rules on a Saturday evening and this has proved an excellent recruiting ground for us.
9. Another suggestion is to provide bowls oriented prizes at local fetes. We are often requested to donate a prize at these events but instead of providing a basket of fruit we provide ‘a free bowls coaching course’ to the value of £15-00.The winner may well turn out to be a future World Champion.
10. Whilst looking at recruitment we must also remember not to forget our existing members and make sure we retain them. Why not give them a free opening season warm up day, improve the heating, lighting, ventilation, security system,acces to green, new notice boards, scoreboards,totalisers,outings to Christmas events, bowls holidays(EIBA week at Potters)all these things help keep the club alive and retain those oh so important existing members.
I do hope some of the suggestions have helped your Committee members to put even greater effort into recruitment campaigns and I wish you all every success.
If I can be assistance I can be contacted at my club in Acle on 01493 750869 or via the EIBA headquarters at Melton on 01664 481900.
