Membership Retention

Scottish Swimming Participation and Performance Conference 2014

RetentionPaul Donald / Gillian Hepburn / Walter Scott & Alyshia McCracken

Concept • Help retention rates • Committees are maxed out • Young people can identify their needs

best• Give young people the confidence and

basic skills to make things happen in there club

• Previous Job there was a branch with a similar program called Active East

• Active East is a legacy for young people in the East of Glasgow. Aims to increase levels of physical activity and building skills through volunteering.

Clubs in Pilot

Limited number of clubs due to limited funding and size of

the available location

Content of Weekend • Intro to dynamic youth achievement • Dynamic Youth• Goal Setting ETC Module & write up

challenge• Communication ETC module• Team Building• Fitness Fun • Benefits of physical activity • Working with Young People in sport • Programme Planning with focus on

how to keep swimmers engaged• Dynamic Youth Achievement/Work

on event planning• Event and evaluation

• Split into local regions• Given objective to work

together to create a joint day out

• Potential prize of £200 for project

• We gave surprise £100 for all other groups

• Follow up session to drill down the detail

• There isn’t a squad that suits ie. non- competitive• Studying/exams mean it is hard to keep up training or get back into it after a break. Studying/exams mean it is hard to keep up training or get back into it after a break.

You end up not back in the same lane as your friendsYou end up not back in the same lane as your friends• You can’t have a social life – too busy swimmingYou can’t have a social life – too busy swimming• Money – it is very expensive• Coaching – you maybe don’t like your coach• Other commitments – the choice to do other activities• Pressure – too much from parents/coaches• Not hitting personal bests – plateauing/getting fed up/frustrated• No time to do other sports• Can’t be bothered – only keep going for social reasons/to keep fitCan’t be bothered – only keep going for social reasons/to keep fit• Too repetitive – gets boring

Feedback SessionWhy Do Swimmers Drop Out?

Feedback SessionWhy Do Swimmers Drop Out? (Page 2)

• Sometimes coaches care too much and don’t always include ‘fun’ element• Schools don’t support time away for swimming• Injuries• Worry about weight/what you look like• Morning training!• Parents lose interestParents lose interest• Late pool time ie. training till 10pm on school nights• Would like more training – some clubs have limited pool access• Coaches have favourites or different priorities – others don’t get much attention• Travel – too difficult to get to training• Too many in same age group – therefore not succeeding so why bother?• Unfair playing field – other clubs train more• Facility access – some clubs get priority access

Feedback Session Suggested Changes/ Ideas for the Future

• Duel in the Pool type local event – 3-4 teams compete/points system

• Based on club size/pro-rata? Some clubs are much stronger so would need to be fair.

• Regional Competition – Mixing teams? Selection?

• Competition for Clubs – Mixing up clubs/inter-club?

• Social Aspects• National Relay Event –

fun/participation

Please select the most appropriate reasons regarding why you think people stop attending your club

Answer Options Strongly Agree Agree Neither Agree nor Disagree Disagree Strongly Disagree Response Count

They don't not enjoy it anymore, it became boring 15 10 3 3 0 31

They do not have enough time 13 12 5 1 0 31

Training not flexible to work/school schedule 13 12 3 2 1 31

Didn't feel they was progressing 11 14 5 1 0 31

Multiple training sessions a week is too much of a commitment 10 13 3 4 1 31

Didn't like the coach 10 11 7 1 2 31

Chose to take part in another activity 9 17 3 2 0 31

None of there friends were involved in swimming 9 12 6 2 2 31

Training sessions too intense 7 15 7 1 1 31

Swimming is too competitive 6 10 9 4 0 29

Being involved in swimming is too expensive 4 17 6 3 1 31

There are no facilities nearby 4 5 7 11 4 31

Not enough competition at there level 3 5 15 6 2 31

Health reasons restrict them 2 12 14 2 0 30

Other (please specify)Other (please specify)

Other (please specify)

Other (please specify)

Other (please specify)

2 2

31 31

change of coach meant a lot of people dropped out cos they were no longer familer and close

Not enough social activities in the club

more fun More training sessions because we only

train for 2 and a half hours less pressure to do well Maybe more older meets because it's

usually for younger. more social activities Do more social events together. Have more fun days out with the swim

team & more gatherings with other clubs More trips away Make it more interesting Be better at being a team

Arrange something for when you reach a certain age to attend. E.g lifeguard course

The sessions are repetitive and their are little rewards if you dont compete.

I would like a better variety of sessions and sets

Improve the size of the club as we are quite a small team which may put people off.

keep the maybe not so great swimmers still involved and not push them to the one side because of their lack of skill

More time for more squads at different levels

Can you tell us anything that you would like to change in your discipline that you think would help keep people in your club?

Next Steps • Work with Young leaders • Arrange a follow up

meeting • Work With Partners if

additional training needed• Support and encourage

young leaders to do more in there clubs.

Long Term Sustainability • Support from Scottish

Swimming • Alternative funding streams inc

sportscotland. • Both ETC and Youth Scotland

plan to apply for funding to do more similar programs with Governing Bodies

• Ask clubs to pay for places if. All have been extremely positive so far.

• Already activity happening and more in the pipeline

Group Discussion1. Have you heard anything today that you

would now do differently in you club (top 3)

2. Do you have any other ideas or has your club tried anything that has proven successful?