Things to consider when starting a junior basketball club…
Starting a junior basketball club can be an exciting and rewarding experience for all involved. Here are a few things to consider before getting started:
#1 - Location, location, location! When choosing your club's location there are several factors that you should consider; availability of court space, cost, proximity to other clubs, number of players, etc. You should also consider factors such as local demographics and gender balance when setting up your junior basketball club. All of these factors will help determine where you should set up your home court.
#2 - Once you have decided on a location, it's time to choose a name and a brand for your club. Creating a logo and a slogan will help you promote your club and help you to stand out from your competitors. When creating your logo be sure to keep it simple and avoid using too many colours or complicated graphics. When it comes to choosing a name for your club, there are some important things to keep in mind. For example, your name should relate to the sport of basketball. Also, make sure that it is bold, bright and easy to pronounce for new players. This is brand, and it needs to be right.
#3 - What age groups are you going to serve? Junior basketball clubs typically serve players from ages 4-18 years old. Before setting up the club you will need to decide on which age groups you will serve and then gather a coaching staff that will be able to work with those age groups. You will also need to consider how often you will be training and when practice time conflicts will occur. You can find great resources on the BE website or speak to one of the team here at Grassroots Basketball.
#4 - What's your budget? Setting up a junior basketball club can be expensive but there are numerous grants and other funding sources available that will help you with funding your new club. Grants and other resources should be used to supplement the revenue generated from your registration fees and fundraising efforts rather than be the sole source of funding for your club. It is also important to ensure that you have sufficient funds available to pay for equipment rentals and uniforms at the beginning stages of the club until you are able to become self-sustaining.
#5 - Become affiliated with Basketball England & link with Grassroots Basketball. They will ask you to complete a club constitution document and give you a clear pathway of tasks you need to complete in order to get going as quickly as possible. They will then check for other local clubs and make sure there are no conflicts. Once you have established your club you should have it registered with Basketball England and The Solent Area Basketball Association. These organisations will provide you with additional tools and resources to help you run a successful club and provide you with league competition opportunities once you are ready. Coaches and club leads will need to be DBS checked through the sports council and be trained in the safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults policy.
#6 - Get a customer relationship management system. A CRM is a system that helps you keep track of all your club members' contact information including names, email addresses, phone numbers, and other information that you collect when you meet with parents, players, and referees for the first time. The information stored in a CRM can be a critical resource when you need to communicate with all of your members. There are many CRM options that are available including free options like Spond which has everything you will need to set up a great communication, payment, and events planning tool.
#7 - Social media presence. Having an active social media presence for your club can both help grow your club's membership base and help recruit new players into your program. To start building your social media presence we recommend creating an official Facebook page for your club and creating accounts for you and all of the members of your coaching staff on Twitter and Instagram. There are some very important things to consider when sharing pictures on social media, so please contact someone from safeguarding as soon as possible before you start posting pictures of your team to social media. This will help to keep you, your players, and their parents safe online and prevent any issues from happening in the future. Our team at Grassroots Basketball has people who can advise you in this matter. You can find our contact details on our website www.grassrootsbasketball.co.uk
#8 - Advertise your club. You can advertise your club in a number of ways depending on your budget. Free options include setting up posters in local gyms and posting in family groups on Facebook or Instagram. If you are looking for a more permanent way to advertise your club we would recommend looking into creating a custom website for your club where you can include more information about your club as well as details regarding upcoming training sessions and special events that you are having. Local schools and community centers are often willing to display flyers about your club for local children to see.
#9 - You're nearly ready! When starting a new basketball club can be very exciting but it can also be challenging especially if you are not used to running a club. The most important thing to remember is that your new club is a reflection of you and your passion for the game so always put the needs of your players and coaches first.
Start slowly with a couple of age groups, get a good foundation going, and then expand the program to more age groups once you have built up a following of players from these first few age groups. Dont be afraid to ask for help from other local club leads, and go and meet people. Networking is a great way of seeing other people and asking them how they started, and what problems they faced then and now.
#10 - Ask parents for help. Your club can only succeed if parents and players have a positive experience with the club. Encouraging parents to volunteer at the club is a great way to get more people on board with the sport and keep your team thriving. You will be surprised how much parents will help if you just ask! They may have local businesses that they are friends with who would be interested in sponsoring the club or even be willing to provide you with free equipment to use in the gym. Build a family club, and you will always have people rooting for you and believing in what you are trying to do.
#The next bit is up to you!!
Dream BIG!
Please get in touch if you need any help or advice www.grassrootsbasketball.co.uk
