How to start a sports club

Step 1: Check whether there are existing clubs in your area.  There's little point in duplicating something that already exists.  So, no matter how good your ideas are for a new club, please do first check around to see whether anything similar already exists in your town or neighbourhood.  Some places to start include:

• Local library and other information centres who are likely to maintain directories of local clubs
• Local newspapers, to see if there are any reports from established clubs
• Your Local Sports Council, who help and support sports activities in localities throughout Scotland
• Your Sports Governing Body who will have a list of all the member clubs in your area.

Step 2: Make sure there is a reasonable demand for a new club.  There is a minimum number of people required to make any club viable.  This number very much depends on the nature of your sport.  You can probably start a table tennis club with just five or six people, but if you want to start a cricket or rugby club and field a realistic team each week, you'll need at least 15 or 20 members to get going.

You probably know two or three other people who share your interest in forming a new club.  Now is the time to build a list of potential members.  At this stage you're not asking people for subscriptions or playing commitments; you're want to build a potential membership list of people who might join any new club.  There are many ways of doing this:

• Organise an open meeting and publicise it well through the local papers, sports centres and other outlets
• For a junior club, talk to the Active Schools coordinators in your local schools
• Publish your ideas in local papers and ask people to get in touch
• Arrange a leaflet distribution around the estate or community and ask people to get in touch with you.

Step 3:  Ask for help from your sport's Governing Body and your Local Council.  There are three organisations that should be able to help you as each of them is committed to helping develop sport throughout the community.  You should make contact with each of them, and find out what practical help they can offer.  They are:

• The Governing Body for your sport; most governing bodies employ development officers whose role is to help local clubs
• The Local Council which is likely to have a sports or leisure department; they can help with the hiring or letting of sports facilities; they may have small grants for new clubs; and their officers may be able to give you practical advice.
• The Local Sports Council brings together many local sports clubs; there is a wealth of expertise that you can draw on here to help you get off to the best start.
• Make sure you speak to each of these groups in the early stages of forming your new club.

Step 4: Put the basics in place.  Whilst some very small clubs can along with just one person running the show, it's usually a good idea to recruit a few people to form a small club committee.  This helps to spread the load by dividing out the tasks, and also brings different ideas and skills into your club.  Once you give your club a name and form a committee, you have effectively become what is known as an 'unincorporated association'.  With a simple constitution and some club officers you can then open a bank account to manage your club's money.  We've published several help pages and templates to assist you with this basic administration:

• The section of Club Structures explains more about becoming an unincorporated association and whether you might also consider becoming a charity or a recognised 'Community Amateur Sports Club'.
• The section on Constitutions gives you some downloadable templates that you can edit to suit your needs
• The section on Meetings explains more about running committee meetings
• And the section on Office-bearers tells you all you need to know about the roles of chair, secretary, treasurer and other posts.
• As your club grows, you may need to consider other legal structures but you can return to these in due course.

Step 5: Secure the initial funding and facilities.  This can be one of the hardest parts of getting started.  Most clubs begin with some initial funds subscribed by the members and then realise that they need additional monies and resources if they are to become successful.  There are probably more sources of help than you have imagined.

The range of Funding options includes club-based fund-raising activities, local authority support, Awards for All, sponsorship, other Lottery funds, and collaborative agreements with other sports bodies.  Finding the right premises or facilities can sometimes be difficult: it's best to hire facilities first before thinking about obtaining your own.  Finally, don't forget to contact your Local Sports Council as they will have invaluable advice to help you get started.

Step 6: Get an attractive sports programme going.  What brings people into clubs and an interesting and enjoyable programme of sport.  So the first thing you need to focus on is getting the sports programme together.  Depending on your members, you'll need to decide whether to pitch your activities at novices, juniors, seniors, experienced players or elite players.  With only a small number of members you probably need to focus on a more limited number of levels; if members are always playing against people of very different skills and abilities, it can be hard to sustain motivation.  As your club grows, you will probably want to develop a more coherent 'player pathway' to encourage progression from recreational or novice players to more competitive and experienced levels of play.  Don't forget that many members also enjoy the social side of any club and the opportunity to make new friends; your programme may include social activities as well as playing activities Check out:

Step 7: Join local competitions and leagues.  Many of the more experienced players will want to have some competitive activities and for this you're likely to have to look outside your own club.  With sufficient members, you can organise your own internal club leagues, ladders and competitions.  In many sports and localities there are also inter-club leagues and competitions where you can play against other teams and individuals.

Step 8: Develop policies and procedures that will support your club.  Whilst most members don't want to spend too much time on club administration, there is a certain level of procedural work that you will need to do if the club is to keep running along smoothly.  Some of the questions that you may be faced with include:

• Who do we want to encourage to join us as members?
• Are we going to involve juniors in our club?
• If we do have children and young people, how do we protect them?
• What are the health and safety considerations that affect our sport, our use of equipment, and our premises and facilities?
• How do we support the volunteers that are contributing to our club?
• Many other clubs have already tackled these issues, so to save you 'reinventing the wheel' we've brought together several useful guides and help pages:

Step 9: Start to plan for the longer term success of the club
If your club just keeps the same members and doesn't review its activities, it runs the risk of becoming static and eventually withering away as members drift off.  A healthy club is one that has a regular influx of new members and a periodic change in office-bearers on the committee.  It has a mix of recreational, competitive and social activities.  And it's regularly thinking about the future.  You don't have to be ambitious, provided you keep reviewing whether your club is doing with the current and potential future members actually want.  If you look around at other clubs, you'll find that they may be recruiting more younger members (the full members of the future), looking to expand their facilities, starting new competitions or joining new leagues, or providing more training and coaching for their members.  There are many options for developing your club - you just need to decide which is the most appropriate.

For guides to help those running a clubs click here

For further ideas and information click here