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How to start a new university clubSummary
In More Detail..1. Start with a keen organiser, preferably on campusYou can have one energetic person, or perhaps 2-3 people. It is best if they regularly attend the campus, as most of the action will happen there. 2. Get in touch with the AFDA National Universities CoordinatorGet in touch with the AFDA National Universities Coordinator early on - s/he can also put you in touch with your State Coordinator, look into AFDA funding for you, and put you on the national contact list for unis. Either the National or State Coordinator can assist with some of the remaining items on this list. 3. Visit your sports unionPay a visit to the Sports Union/Association (SU) early on, and suss them out. Things you want to do/find out are:
Basically things are much easier if you get along well with your SU from the start, even if they're a bit dismissive - don't expect them to love frisbee from the start, but once they see how keen you are hopefully they will warm to it. 4. Get people playingYou need a venue and a regular time, and some way to advertise it - posters, flyers/handouts and a free uni publications are a good way. O-week is obviously a great chance to promote the sport - in addition to the above you may be able to set up a video, and run a demo. It's probably best to start with one session a week, doing some skills first then playing a game, focussing of course on fun and learning. You also want to have a means of communicating with your players - initially you may be able to phone around but probably better from the outset to start a yahoogroup email list (www.yahoogroups.com). 5. Run social eventsOne easy way is to regularly go to the pub after weekly training - e.g. friday afternoons - but can also include BBQs, just meeting up for a throw, general invites to parties etc. Disc golf is another good one. 6. Play tournamentsTournaments are the thing which hooks people, so try to focus on getting people to suitable tournaments, either Hats or as a team. Uni Champs is a good thing to focus on, perhaps initially for the experience and then as a more competitive focus. It is getting to the stage where unis will need to focus on regional championships initially, as teams will need to qualify for AUG. Hopefully you can also go to unofficial Intervarsity tournaments - this is a great way to develop your uni club. 7. Host your own tournamentEventually host your own tournament - four teams of 5 a side is fine as a beginning, or even a Hot Box tourney with fewer - any increase on that is great. Can be one day with a party that night, think of beach tourneys, IVs, Hats tourneys, etc. 8. Affiliate with the sports unionMake sure you continue to liaise with you Sports Union regularly, keep using them as much as you can so they know you're serious, and try to comply with their requirements - this is the surest way to affiliation and funding. Again the better your relationship with them, the easier it will be. Getting affiliated will require an Annual General Meeting (AGM). This may seem a bit of an officious joke at first, but it can be really useful: it's a great chance to make some plans for the upcoming year, and recruit some good people to your Committee to help out - more hands make lighter work, but only if they're actually trying to help you out. Try to make it a fun event too - don't waste time on formalities, and plan to party on afterwards. 9. Keep expandingFurther on - by now your club is probably affiliated (perhaps provisionally) and you have a lot of the above stuff happening. Although it may seem like a pipe dream at first, it is really useful to try to meet with your Committee (i.e. anyone in the Club who's interested in helping out) regularly to plan upcoming events - e.g. training (perhaps more than one a week?), teams for leagues/tournaments, running tournaments yourself, social events, O-week stalls/demos, maybe even tryouts/selections for uni champs, admin stuff (e.g. you may have to submit a budget/annual report). This is a lot of stuff, and you're not going to want to do it alone, so try to build up your committee and meet regularly, keep in touch by email. Keep a record (minutes) of decisions made and jobs allocated, and go through it at the start of the next meeting to encourage people to follow up on their tasks. If you have any budget at this stage it's great if you can say shout a round of drinks - people should get some reward for contributing. Make meetings as fun and short as possible! Try to have a big annual dinner at the end of the year, where you can acknowledge the contribution people have made to the club. 10. Hand over the batonThe Most Important Thing - make sure there is someone to take over from you when you graduate/leave/die. Don't do it all yourself, then leave suddenly, as things are sure to collapse - try to pass on the reins before you leave, so that you're still around to help the new organisers. You've put in all this hard work - the last thing you want is for the Club to fold when you leave. Make sure you pass the new contacts on to the AFDA National Universities Coordinator. 11. ResourcesThere is some good stuff on the AFDA site (www.afda.com), particularly under Tournaments/Resources, Propaganda/Tools, and Skills Clinic/Articles. The second of these has premade handouts and posters, and info on how to run an O-week stall (see also the Jan 03 edition of Australian Ultimate, p10-12, under News/Newsletters). ConclusionDepending on a lot of factors, starting a Club can be time consuming, and can be a slow process. Make sure you're enjoying what you do, and that others are enjoying it too. Try to spread the workload around as much as you can - it's the best way to expand. Above all, have fun! Original by: Updated by: |