ToolkitT R A I N I N G T H E N E X T G E N E R AT I O N

ToolkitT R A I N I N G T H E N E X T G E N E R AT I O N

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Your Coaching Team Coaching the coaches to ensure they are trained to deliver judo to the highest standards is an essential component of any club. Our aim is to ensure that every judo player is coached in a way that is professional and appropriate to their age and ability.

The BJA have a wide range of courses to develop the knowledge and experience of coaches. There are also a range of modules that contribute towards coach revalidation.

For further revalidation or coaching information please visitwww.britishjudo.org.uk/documents-0 and click on BJA Coach Education Programme (CPD & Reval) July 2014 or speak to your regional Technical Officer.

Coaching young peopleYoung people present a particular challenge when it comes to coaching. They are clearly no longer juniors yet not yet adults. They are also a group that many coaches often don’t have as much experience coaching. However, it is this group that our statistics show are most likely to leave judo.

So the BJA have developed a coaching programme specifically to meet your coaches’ requirements.

During this process your regional Technical Officer will support your coaches’ through three core modules: Coaching young players, Technical grading 1 and Technical grading 2, plus several optional modules and guidance to deliver engaging sessions for this age group.

All the training is delivered by Technical Officers ‘in your club’ over a three month period. At the end of the programme coaches will have completed modules towards their coaching revalidation.

BUILDING ASTRONG TEAM

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Utilising young people in your cluBThere are many benefits to having young volunteers at your club. They provide support to the coach and club officials, and young people in particular can also bring fresh energy and new ideas. There are many roles in which young people can support or lead, for example:

• Advisory groups

• Peer support groups

• Event organisers

• Focus groups

• Coaches, officials or referees

• Mentors for younger players

• Club fundraising

• Club promotion

• Mat laying

• Assist and support with demonstrating technique during sessions

Tips to engage young People

• Ask for volunteers after a session to get involved with new roles

• Invite them to committee meetings but do not make it compulsory

• Consult young volunteers with decision making before deciding to implement changes or new ideas

• Hold a social event for young people, ask them to suggest improvements to the club – from this you will have effectively run a focus group which could then meet once or twice a year

• Ask the young people at your club to be involved in planning the next club fundraiser or presentation night or even just a BBQ

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Engaging ParentsSuccessful clubs know the value of engaging parents even though it’s not always easy to get them involved. Once parents are involved they can make the day to day running of your club and events easier to manage and provide much needed support in organising sessions, events and competitions. Giving them a better understanding of judo also means they are more likely to be supportive of their child’s training.

Resources• Newsletter - useful to send at the

start of each term as a handout or by email to promote upcoming events or activities

• Posters for club notice board - needs to be visible to ensure parents can see what’s on - update on a regular basis

• Flyers to distribute to young people after a session

• Consider getting parents involved by holding a joint kids and parent session or holding social events like BBQs in the summer

Please visit www.britishjudo.org.uk/club-development-toolkit to download a copy of the BJA Parents Welcome Pack

Tips for engaging parents

• Update the parents regularly on their child’s progress, particularly what they are doing well. Always be positive

• Notify parents of any activities or competitions personally or through a newsletter, flyer or poster on the club notice board

• Invite parents to social activities - an event, BBQ, committee meetings, provide parent taster sessions on judo fit, strength and conditioning

• Invite parents to assist in the day to day running - collect mat fees, make hot drinks for other parents, social secretary and or assist in marketing the club

• Encourage them to become part of the club’s committee e.g. treasurer, events secretary

• Educate parents as well as the children on judo. Parents can help with translations for gradings so consider providing information packs to children and include a translation sheet for the parents - located at the back pages of the Mon and Kyu Grade Syllabus, visit www.britishjudo.org.uk/mon-grades for further information

• Introduce parents to activities such as becoming a table official

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edDeveloping

Leadership skillsThere are many reasons why encouraging young players into leadership roles can be beneficial. Judo for young people is all about building character, and this can be a great help. Also, young leaders can become the coaches and helpers of the future, and if your club is to survive in the long term, it will need a succession policy.

There are many local authority schemes to encourage and train young leaders. Once they are over 17 they can qualify as BJA coaches and the qualification process will teach them a great deal. However, the starting point has to be helping on the mat, perhaps with a beginner. It’s worth having a checklist so they know what to cover.

To go even further, get a group of likely helpers together, have a chat with them and ask them how they would like to help.

We have outlined below some ways you can encourage young people to take a more active role in sport and the club, beyond simply playing or competing.

As a new member, making the transition from a complete beginner to understanding the rules of judo can be difficult and many new members may benefit from knowing that support is available through a mentor or leader should they require it.

A player’s initial experience should not discourage them; instead with support and guidance from a young current member, the new player should enjoy the challenges ahead and feel motivated and ready to improve.

It is important to make new members feel welcome and nominating a ‘point of contact’ can do this and also relieve the coach of some of the pressures of running sessions. The ‘point of contact’ could be available for the first 4 months of their membership to assist with the rules, technique, and format of participating in judo.

Leadership and volunteering opportunities for young people in JudoThe BJA provides a range of schemes offering non-competitive pathways to success; Youth officiating scheme, Youth coaching scheme and the Youth refereeing scheme. Each of the schemes offer awards for successful completion.

Refereeing, officiating or coaching judo improves your confidence and keeps you interested in playing the sport. It’s quick and simple to get involved and all streams are administered by the BJA Young Volunteers Coordinator, Terri-Ann Elliott (terri.elliott@britishjudo.org.uk).

Keeping YoungPeople Involved

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Sports Leader uk Courses

Youth coaching scheme (First Steps into Coaching)

A three hour workshop that sports coach UK have produced with those who have no prior experience of coaching in mind. Workshops are currently being run by County Sports Partnerships (CSP - a partnership of local and regional sports organisations)

www.sportscoachuk.org/coaches/i-want-coach/getting-started

Youth officiating scheme (TOCS)

There are three levels within this scheme, bronze, silver and gold. The bronze level covers event volunteering and the weigh-in environment. At bronze level, you can assist at the weigh-in at tournaments. This is an ideal introduction to judo tournaments for those without a judo background.

At silver level you receive the timekeeper/ scorer award. The role is to record the actual time of the judo contest and to record any scores or penalties given by the referee. At all times you will be assisting fully qualified senior officials.

The gold award mirrors the contest recorder award. The role is to record the results of the contests and to prepare the competitors for each of their contests on the mat.

Delivery of schemes

Youth coaching is delivered in clubs by the young players’ coach, following a series of tasks and activities, final assessment is carried out by a BJA Technical Officer. Youth refereeing is delivered regionally by refereeing examiners. Officiating courses are also delivered regionally; and a written question paper needs to be completed. This course is particularly beneficial and recommended to those who have little to no knowledge or experience of judo.

For further information on courses or this section of the toolkit visit:www.britishjudo.org.uk/get-involved-in-judo or speak to your regional Technical Officer.

Youth refereeing scheme (ROCS)

This scheme is an introduction to refereeing. At all three levels, bronze, silver and gold young volunteers are able to referee, always under direct supervision of senior referees and at lower levels of junior competition. Training takes place at courses run on a regional basis. Minimum age is 10 years and minimum grade is 7th Mon (orange belt). Gold level referees are eligible for selection to referee at the National Schools’ Championships.

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Events Inter-CluB Training

We all know that to improve we need to develop our skills and then put them to the test. However, as the numbers of young players in clubs fall there are fewer people of the same age/ability to practice with. This can mean working with juniors, which is no challenge, or with adults, which can be too challenging. They rapidly begin to feel there isn’t a session for them. The most successful clubs have tackled this by running inter-club training sessions for young people. This allows them to train with people who are better matched in ability and age. It is also a great way for them to make new friends - another key factor in keeping people involved.

Once the session is established we would suggest that you use this to introduce regular inter-club competitions. Not only will this provide something for young people to aim for but it will also provide an opportunity for Young People on the Officiating and Refereeing schemes to test their skills.

Inter-CluB Competitions

These can be really beneficial for a club in many ways. They can be the starting point for inexperienced players who can get a taste of competition in a way which makes them want more. They can also be a tool for encouraging club members into refereeing and table work, which can be a great support for the club as well as a way of retaining interest and members, and they can also be a way of raising funds, and creating PR stories.

The BJA Tournament Handbook gives lots of information about how to run an event. The trick is to start small, perhaps just a couple of clubs, and build gradually. As you grow, encourage more of your club members to qualify as officials.

The BJA has a system for juniors to become referees as well as adults. For a competitor, being a referee gives you an edge; because you understand the rules and can avoid falling foul of them. For a non-competitor, refereeing or tabling can be a reason for staying in the sport. And, since you can be a table official without having done judo, it’s a perfect vehicle for involving parents more in the club.

Eventually, your club could be running a series of competitions, and if you have your own officials these events can raise money for the club as well as providing a perfect introduction to competition for your players.

Our BJA team have lots of experience of running these types of events and are happy to provide guidance and support.

For further information on Events visit www.britishjudo.org.uk/events or contact your regional Service Manager

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Awards and RewardsIt is easy to focus on the competition medals. But most people who play judo do not enter main stream competitions. If you are not on the competitive pathway it is difficult to judge your progress. We have talked about specific skills, like refereeing, that can provide a route to rewards, however, many clubs have created other ways to reward and award their (young) players.

These focus on effort, exemplifying some aspect of judo, helping other players or in the club. This type of recognition can be serious, for example, coach’s player of the month, or fun, for example, best throw. They can also be conferred by coaches or players. As a suggestion, why not introduce a ‘Star of the week’ award, certificates and posters are available on the Club Marketing Portal to download and can be catered to your club. Some clubs use the posters to reward the star of the week by putting the player’s photo on it.

There is no limit to how creative you can get. But remember less is more - work on having a few really good ones. It is always good to make recognition visible and is certainly not about monetary reward. For further information please speak to your regional Service Manager.

Why not consider… Social Events

Some of the most successful and thriving clubs are just that - clubs. They have worked to create a community beyond sessional judo. They create opportunities for players, coaches, their families and friends to get to know each and share in the experiences.

Many clubs add a social element to the end of an inter-club competition. Others use Christmas as a time to hold an awards meal - remembering to honour effort and behaviour that capture the spirit of judo, as well as the ‘best’ player.

However, social events can be a lot of work and coaches are already giving significant amounts of time. This is where engaging parents plays an important part - see Section 1: Building your Team.

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Understanding your customerGet to know your current members, understand what they want/need from the club and try and cater for these requirements in activities (sporting and social) you provide. Find out what might prevent the members attending judo sessions so you can start to address these barriers and make your club more appealing:

What are their motivations?

Fitness and strength, reward, black belt, competition, social activity. Every member is different. Try to do activities which cater for all.

What are their barriers?

From our research, we identified that potential barriers to participation in judo include; other sports, school work, injury.

How can you improve your club sessions to overcome these?

Speak to your BJA Technical Officer or Service Manager, speak to other coaches, research on the internet.

How to reach them?

Find the best ways to communicate and get their attention - this could be a club notice board, informing the students (pre and post session), informing the parents, newsletters (handouts and online) to parents or emails to parents etc.

Get them to do more.

Give the older juniors more responsibility within the club - leadership opportunities, help with events, ask them to help organise a social activity, for example.

There are many different reasons why someone takes part in sport/physical activity. Once you understand these motivations you can start to provide sessions catered towards these and create an atmosphere at your club.

Marketing Your CLuB

Key motivations for young people:• Socialising with friends - introduce

a ‘bring a friend free’ deal/if you bring a friend you will get a session free.

• Fitness and strength - highlight the importance of fitness in Judo. This may mean that members join to take part recreationally, provide sessions specifically focused on improving fitness (Judo Fit, Strength and Conditioning sessions, SAQ).

• Enjoyment - provide fun and engaging sessions and not too serious. Provide drop-in randori sessions for your club and local clubs.

• Friendship - Sport is a useful way of making new friends particularly for those that have moved to a new area. Consider different types of social opportunity that you can provide throughout the year (BBQs in the summer, fun days, community demonstrations in schools and festivals).

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Overcoming the Barriers

It is important that your club understands the barriers when looking to attract more members. Once you understand them your club can put actions in place to overcome them and make joining easier. Consider:

Financial constraints - can the individual commit to annual membership or afford kit?

Speak to your Service Manager about local initiatives or contact the Judo Trust at info@britishjudotrust.org.uk for financial assistance. A possible alternative could be discounted club fees or monthly standing orders so the parents/individual can budget easier.

Transport - can the individual get to your club or competitions?

Don’t promote too far away from your facility. Could you introduce a car share scheme? Does the club have good public transport access that you could promote or contact for discounts?

Time - can the individual balance their time to attend sessions?

Adjust session times, make sessions longer or provide more sessions (where possible).

Family commitments

Provide parent and child sessions at the same time (if you have the space). Engage parents to come and watch or assist in the running of the club. Educate the parents on judo so they understand it more.

Getting their attention• Leaflet drops or handouts

• Local papers and radio

• Social media – Facebook and Twitter

• Go in to schools and provide flyers

• Provide demonstrations at festivals/fun days/schools

• Host fun days and social activities for the community

You can use marketing to:• Increase your members or players

• Ask for help and support from the community

• Promote a big event or a fixture (regardless of whether or not it costs anything to attend)

• Generate income from inside your club

• Raise funds for your club to help with a major project

• Gain sponsorship or commercial backing

Planning your marketingAnalyse your current situation:

• Where is the club in terms of projects or issues?

• How many members do you have?

• Where are you located?

• Anything specific you need? More members, funding

• What type of member do you currently have? Age groups, seniors/juniors

• Who is your Target Market?

Agree your objectives

• What do you want to achieve? More members, awareness of an event, selling merchandise, greater retention

• Make your objectives and goals specific

• What specific details do you need to achieve your objectives? - generate a 10% increase in members, retain 5 members this month

Consider your brand values

• Is the club competitive or non-competitive

• Juniors only, seniors only or both

• Your personality as a club

• Club behaviours

• What club views do your members agree with?

• Ensure any marketing or promotional activity is in keeping with your values

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Marketing Best PractiCesWhat tools you use to achieve your objectives/reach your customer base

• How are you planning to allocate your budget?

• Will you use social media (free), local papers (cost) to advertise?

• Will you use a website?

• Will you promote yourself locally or nationally?

• It could be a mix of everything.

Targeting the right people

• To recruit students to your club do not send flyers to just anywhere, try the student union.

• To get entries for an event start with the club notice board. If it is a large event ask the BJA to put it on the website.

• To get people to join your club distribute posters around shops, set up a Facebook or Twitter page and advertise your club.

4 P’s: Product, Place, Price, Promotion

Product

• What do you offer as a club?

• Is it right for your target market?

Place

• How to reach your potential customers/members? This could be direct or through a 3rd party

• Do you advertise in a local leisure centre, school or send something in the post?

Price

• Is it free (taster session) or are you selling something (Gi’s, belts, courses, events)?

• Is it affordable for your members?

• Are other clubs offering the same ‘product’ for less money?

Promotion

• Do you use; posters, flyers, ads, videos, facebook, twitter or a website?

• What is your budget for the above?

• Consider your local authority for free promotion, they provide a summer booklet of activities each year which goes out to every junior in the post and to sport clubs that are on the mailing list

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Why not consider market research?Use research to find out and understand the reasons behind the challenges your club may face. Use the information to improve your targets and the effectiveness of the club.

Tips:• Use online surveys like

www.surveymonkey.com - A user friendly system which can send the survey to your target by email, Facebook or put a link to it on your website

• Find out what you want to gather from the survey?

• How will you use the information gained?

• Keep sentences short and to the point

• Avoid using open questions that can be ignored

• Use ratings, such as marks out of 5

• Test the survey on a small scale before it goes live.

Find out what your memBers want from your cluB

Consider a simple feedback form to get suggestions for improvement, constructive criticism on your sessions/events or to find out what you are doing right at the club.

Introduce why you are doing this and consider the question examples below:

• What is your favourite aspect of the club or sessions?

• For new members, will you be returning to EXAMPLE Judo Club to participate in judo in the future?

• Do you have any suggestions, comments or criticisms that you wish to share with us?

• Would you be interested in any of the following? (use tick boxes with suggestions to improve your club session).

• Make sure to thank your survey participants to ensure they feel their opinion is valued.

Monitoring ProgressThe best way to successfully market is to agree and set out who will be responsible for which activity, when and the budget or resources you have? Ask members how they heard about your club? This will show which types of marketing work.

Measure the success by:

• Asking: did it work?

• Did you reach your goals/objectives?

• Have you increased your membership/attendance?

If the answer is no to any of the above:

• Why not?

• Were the tactics right?

• Were there any external factors?

• What can you do to improve in the future?

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Promotional Material - CLuB MarketingBritish Judo has invested in a new Club Marketing Portal where all British Judo member clubs are able to download a range of personalised professional marketing materials completely free of charge. In this guide we’ll take you through the process from signing up for the portal to downloading your first personalised poster. We’ll also tell you what’s on offer and where you can use it to best promote your club.

Step 1: Sign up on the BJA WeBsite

To set up your access to the portal, we need to know a little bit about who is going to be using it. Simply visit www.britishjudo.org.uk/clubmarketing and enter your details. Once verified, we’ll create an account and send you a link with a password to access the portal. Occasionally this email gets delivered into your spam folder, so if you’ve not received it within 48 hours, please check there.

Step 2: Accessing the marketing portal

Once you have your login details, you can access the marketing portal through the Judo Store website at www.judostore.co.uk. On the homepage, click the Sign in button at the top of the page and enter your email address and password when prompted.

Once logged in, a ‘Club Marketing’ tab will appear on the menu bar with a number of different sub-categories including posters, flyers, certificates and social media graphics.

Step 3: Selecting and personalising your marketing materials

Browse through categories and products available on the site. Click the item you want and you will be given more details. You can now choose whether you want to download and print the item yourself or get our printers to produce them for you and deliver to your home or club - simply select the best option from the dropdown menu. You are now ready to tailor the item to your club, please click ‘personalise’ to launch the editor.

We have set up every item so that you can change areas of text and images, add your club logo and much more. Some areas of the item are fixed whilst other items, like club names and contact details, can be edited.

To change the text in an item just click the text, choose edit and type in what you want it to say. No changing of fonts or colours, it just slots into the template. You can even add additional text of your own by clicking the ‘Add text’ button.

Adding your own images is just as easy. To change an existing image, simply click the image, choose ‘edit’ and then choose ‘change image’. You can then choose to upload an image from your computer or even select an image from your Facebook profile. Adding your club logo is just as easy - choose ‘add image’ and you’ll get the same options as above.

You can choose to preview your item and see how the finished article will look and when you are done just hit ‘finished’.

This service is free of charge. Find out more at: www.britishjudo.org.uk/clubmarketing

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Social Media72% of all internet users are now active on social media. There are many social media sites you can join but the two key ones are social networks, Facebook and Twitter:

• Facebook - Create a personal profile, add friends and exchange messages. Receive automatic notifications when your profile gets updated - a useful tool to advertise your club and network.

• Twitter - Send short messages to update your followers on club activity and events - an ideal platform to market your club. Also a good opportunity to follow other clubs and judoka, message them and get your messages shared to a wider audience by others.

Who in judo uses social media well? Ashley McKenzie has seen a steady growth of twitter followers to over 36,000 by:

• Building an image and brand through twitter

• Posting lots of images

• Knowing his audience and engages fans

• Selling of merchandise

• Use of celebrity status

• Keeping very positive

Setting up a FaceBook Account1. If you do not have a current account register at www.facebook.com - Even if you do

not need a personal profile you will be required to set one up to open up a club page. 2. Once logged in visit www.facebook.com/pages/create.php select the categories

which best suit your club by clicking on the appropriate box. 3. Name your club - always use the club name, don’t include personal details. Select the

box next to the ‘I agree to Facebook pages Terms’ and click get started.4. Add your profile picture. The profile picture is the image that appears next to every

post that goes into your news feed. Upload an image, preferably your logo or dojo.5. About information. This is the sell part of the club page. You have 155 characters

that will show in this field. Add a link to your club’s website in this field. This can also be added to the club’s website field. Any additional information can be added to the about page, include session times and any other information to this.

6. Get networking. Any updates for the club, photos and events can now be added to the group. Don’t forget to add friends and invite them to join your group.

7. Share your news on our Facebook page www.facebook.com/britishjudoassociation

Setting up a twitter account1. Visit www.twitter.com and create an account. Choose your own username but link it

to your club name.2. Biography - link this to the club. History, session times, venue etc3. Upload an image and cover photo - use the club’s logo and a photo of the venue4. Tweet (message). You are allowed 140 characters, the message option is found in the

top right of your screen (phone app) or under the question ‘what are you doing?’ on your computer.

5. Network. Look for friends, colleagues who are already using the site by clicking ‘Find people’ at the top of the page. Friends will ‘follow’ you in return.

6. Communicating. You can respond to a message on your feed by putting @ before their username and then type the message.

7. Trending. By adding a # and then a keyword, this connects people who can also join a conversation and read your tweets. A popular example would be #judo.

8. Tweet the BJA on @BritishJudo

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Social media considerationsAlthough there are many advantages to social media sites there are a few things to consider:

Do not give out any personal information without permission and under no circumstances any contact information for players under 18.

Dos Don’tsDo make sure you engage with your followers

Don’t violate privacy

Do post your club experiences

Don’t defame people

Do post pictures from the club and events (make sure you get permission)

Do not post photos without permission (get this in writing if you can)

Do link your club website to your posts

Don’t be obscene

Do look to promote events

Don’t use bad grammar

Do follow your clubs principles

Do not give out any personal information without permission and under no circumstances any contact information for players Under 18.

Always respond to your questions

Follow trends/news

Considerations:

Social networking services allow users to create their own content and share it with a vast network of individuals sometimes referred to as online communities.

For guidelines and frequently asked questions please visit: www.en-gb.facebook.com/help/ (Facebook) and www.support.twitter.com (Twitter).

It is important for clubs to give careful consideration to the use of social media in sport and balance the benefits of creativity, spontaneity and immediacy of the communication with the potential risks, including the risks to children. Consider the following areas when developing your club’s online presence.

Club contact informationAdd information about how to contact your club including a website address, if available. Also include offline contact details for your club and any information on membership of a sports association or national governing body. This allows users to contact your club directly and verify you offline.

Promote your club web page/profileFeature details of your club’s social networking webpage/profile on your club website. This helps users to easily locate your club’s presence online and reduce the risk of locating the wrong webpage/profile including any fake profiles.

Promote safe and responsible usePromote safe and responsible use of social networking to your clubs audience online. This could include uploading safety videos, messages or links onto the clubs webpage/profile.

Links to safety and help organisationsProvide links to safety and support organisations on the profile, or, better still, accept these organisations as ‘Friends’ so that they appear on the club’s webpage/profile in the ‘Friends’ section.

Sports events and competitionsConsider the integration of offline events with your club’s presence online. Extra care should be taken when advertising these events online and where information about users, including children and young people is collected. In these circumstances you will need to follow the legal requirements concerning the collection of personal information, as set out in the Data Protection Act 1998.

Register your pageOnce you have set up the club webpage/profile it may be useful to contact the service provider. Some service providers ‘register’ a range of charitable organisations. This can ensure that a profile is not deleted as potentially fake or in breach of their own safety policies e.g. an ‘adult’ profile with a number of children and young people linked as ‘friends’ may raise concerns on the part of the service provider about online grooming activity.

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WeBsitesA website can be a hugely powerful and helpful tool for your club and it’s worth reminding yourselves of some of the specific benefits:

• Promotion of your club in the local community, including good news stories and directions to find you.

• Efficient communication with players and members

• Attractive prospect for potential sponsors

• Support funding applications

• Generation of revenue with club merchandise

• Focal point for all club-related online content such as your Twitter, Facebook and YouTube channels

• Promotion of your Clubmark status

It is important to get the content of your website to the point and precise. Consider:

Fixtures/CompetitionsList your activities/competitions/events for the coming week, the next month or the whole year

Training times

Keep your players and coaches informed about when the weekly sessions take place

Results Update your results from the latest competition

Reports of competitions and matches

This could help the local media give your club some publicity but it’s also a way of keeping everybody up to date with current events and giving credit to players, coaches and volunteers

NewsLet everybody know what is happening at your club

Images and Pictures Most people have a digital camera or a camera on their mobile phone. Upload the pictures and show the world how your club looks

InformationSimply list all the information that you think people should know and think about things people might want to know. How you were formed, what you do, what sort of opportunities are there to be involved? What level you compete at? Do you welcome new members?

Directions/MapsYou want people to know where to find you. You can add an interactive Google Map (www.maps.google.co.uk) to your website for free

Video and Audio Content By using applications like YouTube, Vimeo, Audioboo and Soundcloud you can add videos and audio to a website

Enquiriesyou can create a standard form which makes it easier for people to submit enquiries

Merchandise by using services such as eBay and PayPal you can sell any club merchandise you have to both members and non-members

Tips:

It is advisable that every club has a website to promote itself. Here are some tips to make it more engaging:

• Make it easy to find by having a clear URL, for example: www.britishjudo.org.uk

• Make it easy to navigate

• Promote your club

• Encourage interaction

• Easy to find contact details

• Always display your logo

• Make it informative and regularly update the site

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Using Local PressHow to write a press release that gets noticed:

1. Introduce the story - no longer than 2-3 sentences long. Make it engaging, interesting and draw the reader in.

2. Content is key - make sure you include all the relevant information that the reader will need. Who? Why? What? Where? How? When? Avoid using Japanese terms, make sure it is judo you are promoting (newspapers have assumed it is karate you are promoting). Keep the first paragraph short and grab your audience.

3. Include a quote - this could be a coach, parent or player. This makes the story personal.

4. Contact details - leave information for the public or journalist to contact you. A name, email address and phone number.

Tips:

Email reports It saves journalists re-typing it

Keep it short It saves the journalist editing it and losing the key content

If you include a photo Make sure you can see people’s faces, make sure the players are happy

Use Google Alertsto see what people are saying about your club and what news coverage you are getting online

Newspapers will naturally want to focus on successful players but try to give others a mention and above all be positive.

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Promotions in schoolsThere are many benefits to promoting your club in schools:

• More young people joining the club

• Increased participation and income

• Identify potential talent

• Potential access to school facilities and possible reduced costs

• Raising your profile within the community

• Potential to recruit new volunteers

What the schools will look for from your club:

• Improved student achievement

• Improved behaviour

• Improved attendance

• New skills such as leadership

• Confidence

What your club has to offer a school:

• Resources

• Knowledge and information

• Run a festival/open day/fun day at the school every year

• Provide coaches to assist with extra-curricular activities

• Run a satellite club at the school

• Inform the school about pupils’ achievements

• Advise the school on events and activities in the community and at your club

• Present in school assemblies or classrooms

• Share funding

• Give opportunities to students to gain leadership skills

• Provide teacher training (where possible)

School club links:

• Agree a shared vision and approach and build on this

• Agree goals and expectations

• Communicate with parents, young people and schools

• Use the school notice board to share sessions, events and activities

• Reward in assemblies, share achievements

• Share facilities, equipment and resources

• Revenue generation and sponsorship

CluBmark Award

Produced in line with Sport England’s Clubmark criteria that provides a framework for clubs within the community that are providing opportunities for children and young people. The BJA Clubmark award focuses on key areas of development which are fundamental to creating and maintain quality, safe, effective and child friendly environments for young people in judo.

Some of the many benefits of Clubmark:

• Free Recreational License (or £15 off full year) for the appointed Club Welfare Officer

• Exclusive use of the Clubmark logo

• Clubmark Award Certificate valid for 3 years

• Listed as a quality approved club on the BJA and National Clubmark websites

• Exclusive access to the School 2Dojo programme and free resources

• Raised profile in the local community

• BJA Service Manager support and grant and funding applications

For further information please visit: www.britishjudo.org.uk/clubmark

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Revenue Generation and Sponsorship

Funding tips

Any voluntary, not for profit organisations can apply for funding to help develop their club.

• Check that your club fits the funding criteria

• Make sure your club objectives fit

• Keep the aims of the organisation funding you at the heart of the application i.e if you aim to increase participation, demonstrate how you are going to do this

• Enlist the support of your BJA Service Manager - preferably at the start of the process

• Projects need to be sustainable and usually completed within 12 months so describe how you will do this

• Focus on what the grant will enable you to do, not what you are doing already

• Make your application stand out, be innovative

• Demonstrate the need for your project; is there a demand for this? Consider doing some research

• Find a grant to fit your project aim, not the other way round

• Visit www.easyfundraising.org.uk for alternative ways to raise money for your club

Sponsorship

Letters can be used to write to a local businesses, do some research to find out what is in your local area and which businesses have sponsored sport clubs in the past.

To download a template of the Sponsorship letter please visit www.britishjudo.org.uk/club-development-toolkit

Useful funding weBsites:

http://www.britishjudotrust.org.uk/ - Judo charity funded by its members for the members

http://www.sportengland.org/funding.aspx

http://www.lotterygoodcauses.org.uk/funding

http://www.idoxgrantfinder.co.uk/

http://www.grantaid.com/ - contact your county counsellor (£10,000 budget from Grant Aid for Sport)

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case study: Samurai Judo CLuB, KidderminsterThis case study is based on a club that has built a member base of 170 members from nothing, 100 of which are under 16 with mixed grade ability. They are a great example of how, when you build a great team, encourage young and parents to get involved and build the club based on sound business principles, it can grow and thrive.

www.samurai.org.uk

Building the Team

EthosThe club has a team approach and is not reliant or driven by a single coach. The club is member focused. They have an ethos based on:

• Welcoming and inclusiveness

• A members’ club - not coach centric

• Vision to grow - attract like-minded people that share the same vision

CoachesThere is a strong coaching team of 10-12 who have a range of experience and skills to train juniors, young people and seniors. Male and female coaches encourage male and female members.

Support teamThe club has worked hard to encourage and develop people to become

• Referees

• First Aiders

• Table Officials

• Events team

This provides a huge benefit to the coaches who can focus on delivering great coaching.

The club is particularly proud of their young members and parents who are getting involved and becoming highly successful in these areas which are crucial to the development of the sport.

ParentsGetting parents engaged and socialising as part of the club is important. They get to understand about all aspects of judo and what is required to perform well. Some enjoy helping with events, others get so hooked that they become Table officials. The team at Samurai would be the first to admit getting parents involved is hard work but persistence, and giving people a chance to try things, pays off.

Governance and FinancialsTo become a club the size of Samurai, and to be able to build their own Dojo, has needed sound governance and financial management. They have put in place a Committee and developed a robust financial model.

The club is not reliant on session by session mat fees. Membership is by subscription through standing order.

Benefits:

• A blanket fee - attend as much as you like - helps people budget

• A guaranteed income for the club - including during bad weather or holidays when you may still have fixed outgoings

• The money comes at a set time so the club can plan their cash flow (the best time is at the start of the month)

• Reduces the amount of cash to be handled and banked

• Considerably increases club revenue

Other Revenue Streams include:

• Regular social events

• Competitions

• Courses (e.g. refereeing)

• Subletting (may or may not be appropriate for your club)

• Sponsorship through local businesses

Putting itall together

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Keeping (young) people involvedActivitiesObviously, at the end of the day it is about whether people feel the club offers something ‘for them’. Samurai offer:

Competitive and non competitive pathways:

• Grading, junior star awards (5-8 years old), Kata, competitions

• Junior refereeing is a particular success area

Sessions focus on age and ability:

• Regular open randori

• Provides more opportunity to match ability

• Facilitated by having the right coaches and sufficient players

Create squads to motivate and create a sense of belonging

Regular trips - national and international:

• Creates club spirit

• Camaraderie

Personal Development:

• Set young people goals and targets

• Gives them a sense of purpose

Competitions and events

The club has been pro-active in providing opportunities to gain experience and test skills by working with other clubs:

• Host events/open randori to bring clubs together

• Attempt to fill the gap in mid-range competitions

Awards and RewardsEveryone needs to know they are moving in the right direction. They like to receive praise. Samurai ensure that they are many ways for people to be recognised not just by winning medals at competitions. There are regular non competition awards for things like effort, conduct, contribution to club, player of the week. These are often accompanied by photographs on notice boards, etc.

Each Christmas, the end of year event provides an opportunity to deliver awards both serious and funny.

Growing the Club Samurai have been able to successfully grow the club by good internal member relations and marketing the club to the wider community.

Communication (with club members):

Every new member receives a welcome letter or booklet giving details about the club and the sport and contact information of the coach, head coach and the CWO.

Every new member should fill out a membership form giving their contact information. Include an email address as well as a phone number

The club has three ways of communicating with members:

1. Announcements at start and end of sessions - try to keep them short

2. Email circulars

3. Notice board. This needs to be kept up to date with some colour. Include a membership list and recent achievements of players (not just competition results). Also include thank yous for work done, a diary of forthcoming events and entry forms to forthcoming events

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Marketing and PromotionSamurai work hard at marketing their club using a range of approaches:

• Use of local press

• Website - regular updates

• Encourage club members to bring friends along - the biggest source of new members at the club

• Hosting competitions, events and training courses all build the profile of the club

• Outreach

• Club coaches attend junior school taster sessions but quickly bring them into the club

SummaryThe team at Samurai would be the first to tell you it’s not been easy and there is no right way to do things. But having put the three elements together - build the team, involve people and grow the club - they have built a successful club that people, both younger and older, want to be a part of.

AcknowledgementThe BJA would like to thank Andrew Haffner for telling us the Samurai story and allowing us to share some of the knowledge and experience he and his team have gained over the years.

To find out more about Samurai Judo Club, visit www.samurai.org.uk