Hello all!
I've done a significant amount of stalking of most of your teams, but I'd love to hear any advice you guys have. We're really working on getting NAU's team going this year, and so far I'd say we're doing pretty well. If you have any words of wisdom on how to get/retain members, help new people get into the sport, or find sponsors, let me know! Has your team had any awesome socials or great fundraisers or anything else you'd like to share? How do you set up group workouts? How do you motivate people to go to races? How does your team allocate its funds?
Thanks!
Janee
your team
14 September 2009 - 6:36pm
your team
16 September 2009 - 8:59pm
#1
It won't all happen at once.
It won't all happen at once. We've had a team since 2002, and each year we've grown in numbers. This was mainly due to gaining visiblity around school, which happens by attending races. A few years ago we were only doing two or three races per season (Fall and Spring). Last year we kicked it up to 8. Then this year we had an explosion of interest because people started talking and telling their friends how much fun it is. I also think that doing more races with other MCTC schools really helps, because it adds to the college sports feel.
17 September 2009 - 12:00pm
#2
Retention: You have to take
Retention: You have to take care of your new people. It can be a pain in the @$$ at first but it pays off eventually. We would offer rides to workouts for kids who don't have cars, which is a great way to get to know people.
Make everything fun! Meetings should be exciting! Get the fun kids to go to things. We usually have one guy on our team that everyone likes because he is soo nice and soo funny, if you can get that guy to go to stuff and talk about how excited he is about doing things with the team you will get A LOT of participation. SOOOOO, if you are going to hype your team's events to anyone, make it that person, and call on him at meetings asking why he is so excited about said event. Sounds dumb, but it works like a charm.
Team pride! Get people excited about wearing your team kit, and talk about how ridiculous all the things triathletes do can be. It's ok to joke about yourself.
Encourage your members to learn each other's names and talk to one another this can not be done enough. Parties and socials early in the year are a great way for people to get to know one another too. On our team, almost everyone's best friends are on the team, this is not an accident.
For the most part, the more fun your team has, the more retention your team will have.
