Community sports teams present challenges, no different to the corporate world. Engagement is a vital tool in growth, satisfaction and reputation. It leads to positive word of mouth and happy members in your community or sports club.
Keeping all of the key stakeholders engaged can draw similar techniques to keeping employees engaged. This includes:
- Players
- Parents
- Coaches
- Volunteers
- Managers
- Sponsors
- And more!
Good engagement depends on your specific circumstances and goals. Want more sign ons? Want more parent involvement? Want more sponsorship or volunteers? Communication, timing and understanding your members are three key success factors.
- Communicate the right things at the right time. Letting members of the community know of any changes, updates, rosters in advance can show a really professional and engaging image.
- Make processes (such as sign on) as easy and friction-less as possible. Automate sign-ons and improve the efficiency. This in turn, creates a better experience and leaves a positive first impression.
- Give as much guidance and information as possible to first timers to make them feel welcome and ease the nerves of a new team.
- Reduce paperwork, admin time and your handling of physical forms. Going digital can really improve engagement in a number of ways.
- Understand your members. The members range from the ‘over engaged’ parents who need to know everything going on, the ‘never shows up’ member who seems to always miss updates and everything in between. Knowing who your members are and what you need to communicate is key.
Community and sports club managers are often volunteers and do this outside of their normal full time job.
If this isn’t the case, the position is usually full-time and very busy. Either way, saving time and utilizing innovative resources can be of great assistance. This time can then be spent better engaging all stakeholders. If you want to access a tool that can save you time and money, talk to Simon today to book a free demo. Simon is a software that can take over your entire sign-up and member management procedure.