Good Practices

Recruit

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    Use inclusive language — Language is a powerful tool and can have a massive impact on athletes. Using the correct language, depending on the situation, is hugely important to ensuring everyone is included and respected.
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    Focus on recruiting women matching players to grow your community — Women's sports are shown to grow much faster than established men's ones. So by investing in the recruitment of women matching players, you invest in the quick and sustainable growth of your club or association and contribute to community efforts to make Ultimate more gender-equitable.
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    Have a recruiting strategy — Set a SMART goal, create a plan to achieve it, reserve resources and keep the focus on your primary target.
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    Emphasise and promote what makes your sport special. — Knowing what makes your association unique can help your promotion and recruitment efforts. All associations should strive to have gender equity as one of their key selling points, as this will help develop a gender-equitable ultimate community.
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    Bring role models to beginner sessions — One of the key aspects of recruiting is having potential new players identify with a role model. Age, ethnicity, gender and other aspects play a role in the identification process. A role model plays a central role in showing new players what they could achieve.
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    Show the competitive side of the sport especially for women matching athletes — Presenting how women matching athletes play sports helps break stereotypes and allows young women matching athletes to approach these sports.
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    Recruiter Training: getting the most out of your recruitment efforts — A key objective for many associations is to grow; to grow, you need to recruit. Basic training can equip recruiters with simple skills to encourage new players to join. It also allows potential players to get a glance at the sport and what the community is like.
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    Organise hat tournaments or pick-up leagues where people at all playing levels can participate — Hat Tournaments have various advantages in recruiting new players and retaining existing ones, especially during the off-season.
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    Recruit relatives and get them involved in your association — Volunteers are the backbone of a successful association. Involving parents and retired members in running your association can be beneficial from an administrative and performance perspective. Recruiting and retaining more volunteers can help free up players from juggling administrative roles while playing. Additionally, having less pressure on more people will encourage people to volunteer within the club.
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    Cooperate with schools and PE teachers to showcase your sport — The most efficient way to recruit junior players is during physical education classes or after school programs. Long term collaborations with schools can ensure a continuous flow of recruits into your club or association.
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    Run targeted side programs at your sports event — Including side events about gender equity or small demonstrations for beginners as part of your sporting event can increase participation among spectators, especially those with families and kids.
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    Showcase your sport as part of local public events — Partnerships with public / community sports groups and school events, etc. that attract an audience are excellent opportunities to showcase your sport and increase awareness. Consider partnerships with events that share your association’s same player base, values, and targets.
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    Create partnerships with other sports — Partnerships are hugely beneficial in sports, both from a resource and performance point of view. From a coaching perspective, it is crucial to break the mental patterns athletes might develop from repeating the same patterns during training. For instance, changing these patterns improves cognitive engagement and engages athletes’ muscles by playing a different sport as a warm-up. Partnering with associations that share the same gender equity values for training or events can benefit everyone involved and promote a supportive sporting community.
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    Stand out at sports showcasing events — Using networks of more prominent sports associations allows you to present your sport to a broader audience. Additionally, sport-for-all associations are interested in expanding their portfolio, so they should be eager to have ultimately represented at their event. Having Gender Equity as a core message helps distinguish your sport from others.

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With the support of the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union.