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. Retaining club members should not solely focus on athletes; it should also focus on volunteers, supporters and organisers. For an organisation to grow, it needs capable and willing people to volunteer to do administrative work. In other words, a new training group cannot be created if there is no trainer, trainer assistant, and someone doing the administration.
Various studies show that there is a significant dropout from organised sports activities among young women aged between 16 and 20. If parents are engaged in an association or at least support its values and see the beneficial effects, they are more likely to encourage their children to keep attending training and participating in sports. This type of support from the home can significantly improve the retention of young women matching players in sports.
When targeting junior athletes younger than 15 in your recruiting, it is advisable to have close contact with the parents, at least from an organisational point of view. Once this contact is established, it is quite easy to maintain the relationship and keep them involved in the club.
Practical steps to achieve this
- Having a "parents day" with a kids tournament and some throwing activities, as well as a way to present the values of your association to the parents. This will engage them in the club and could lead to them being more receptive to volunteering in the club.
- Invite volunteers/supporters to tournaments and make it a day out for the club. It's always helpful to have extra hands at tournaments, which can help with scoring, timekeeping, etc. Volunteers can easily do these tasks with no special knowledge of the sport.
- Keep an open line of communication between the club and non-playing supporters. This can be done on social media or by inviting them to spectate at games etc. This open communication will make volunteers, and supporters feel valued and wanted as part of the club.