Many sports clubs find it difficult to find and recruit coaches and officials for their clubs. The first place to start would be to look at anyone who has some involvement with the club. Whether they were past players, parents, senior players or friends. The reason for this is that these people have been associated with the club and understand the importance of recruiting new coaches and officials.

Different people coach for different reasons, they may want to support someone in their family who plays sport, they have a passion for the sport, they enjoy helping others and are heavily involved in community activities, they want to keep active or they may see coaching as an avenue to make new friends. Understanding what motivates people can help you in your recruitment campaign.

Younger people are eager to participate in coaching and it may be an idea to direct some effort towards them. They see coaching as an opportunity to learn more about the sport and also as a way of improving their knowledge of the rules of the sport so that they can improve their own performance.

Word of mouth can be very powerful in this situation. If your club looks after their current coaches and officials then these people will be the biggest advocates for the clubs. Use these people to speak to others in the community and encourage them to speak highly of the club and the positions available.

Many TAFE, University students and senior school students studying in the fields of sport, recreation, fitness or physical education are required to do work experience or work placement with a sporting organisation. This is a win-win situation for both the club and the students. Make contact with these institutions and offer students the chance to do their work experience at your club.

Your club may also want to consider implementing a scheme which requires senior players to take on casual coaching role with junior players. For example, each senior player is required to umpire at least one junior game every season. If you choose to do this, it is important that you recognise that these coaches may have less motivation then volunteers and you will probably need to introduce incentives.

People looking for a personal trainer look for more than just someone who can provide them with a good workout. They look for someone who can motivate them, cares about them and sets a good example. As a personal trainer you must have a good knowledge of health and fitness. You will not be able to get away with not knowing what you are talking about when consulting with clients. Not only will you look silly when you are caught out, you might cause an injury. Your focus during your training time with your client must be focused completely on your client. You have to put yourself aside for that time and be the most motivating and inspiring trainer you can be.

You must remember that you have boundaries. You have to remain professional. Your client may turn to you for personal advice but you have to stay professional. You have a job to do. Part of that job involves being prepared. This includes showing up to training sessions on time and having your files and equipment ready to go. Your files should include the programs you have developed for clients. Try to have an area where you can work from such as a home office, this will enable you to keep things in order.

It is important to show your clients that you care. Make sure that you return phone calls straight away, reply to emails straight away, follow up with clients to make sure that the program you designed is working for them and send your clients thank-you cards for doing business with you.

Personal trainers need to stay up to date with medicine, fitness, nutrition and even business. These fields are constantly changing. You can attend short courses or go to conferences or workshops to have accurate information. You should also have subscriptions to industry magazines and make an effort to speak to other personal trainers.

Sportsmart offers personal trainers a customised membership program called ClubPT. Personal trainers who are part of ClubPT will receive a discount for not only themselves but also their clients. They are also able to accrue PT Credits and for every 400 credits you will receive a $20 Sportsmart gift voucher. It is free to join so if you’re a personal trainer sign up today!

Most local sporting clubs have a website or some kind of online presence. It is very important that sports clubs create a website for themselves as a way of further promoting their club and reaching a wider audience. Try not to restrict your club to simply having the free and generic systems that are offered by your league. They are usually dull and your club is likely to be lost amongst all of the information provided.

Your website should be functional, that is allow users to click on a variety of things and be able to gather information in a simple way. Making your website too complicated will discourage users from coming back. It also has to be professional and appealing to potential sponsors. If you contact a potential sponsor, the first thing they will do is look at the club’s website. This will be their first impression of your club and could potentially be the reason why you gain a new sponsor or lose them.

You can also use Google Analytics to see how your website is going. Google Analytics enables you to track your website statistics, such as where people are coming from, what pages people are viewing, plus much more valuable information. From this, you can see where you need to improve your website or where your website is generating lots of interest. This program can be a great tool for support and building your website.You can also use this tool as a way of attracting sponsors. You can provide your sponsors with valuable information about how popular their logo’s or pages are on your website, how many clicks they generate etc.

Having a club website is essential, it is a way to communicate information to members, supporters, sponsors and any other individuals who have an interest in your club. You do not need to be a graphics designer to put together a functioning website and there are many websites out there that can provide you with information on how to get started.

Having the right foods, drinks and proper rest before playing sport will help you to become a better athlete. Exercising and getting enough rest as well as eating a balanced diet will help to keep your muscles healthy.

You should avoid eating and drinking right before you begin exercising. Food consumed before exercise is only useful if it has been digested and absorbed. You need to time your food intake so that you will have fuel for exercising. The time needed for digestion varies depending on the type of food you eat. Generally, foods which have a higher fat content, are high in protein and fibre tend to take longer to digest. Try to have a meal about 3-4 hours before exercise or a light snack 1-2 hours before. You will probably need to experiment to find a time that will suit you.

If you plan on eating before exercising, you should eat carbohydrates. The food should also be low in fat and moderate in fibre to make digestion easier and avoid discomfort. Sometimes it may not be practical to eat 3-4 hours before exercise, especially if you plan on exercising early in the morning. If you plan on exercising in the morning you should try and have a light snack about an hour beforehand. You could have some fruit or cereal with some fluids such as a glass of milk or juice.

It is important to rest and recover after exercising or playing sport. Rest is important, it allows your muscles to repair and strengthen themselves. Sleep is one of the most important forms of rest as it provides your body with time to adapt to the physical and mental demands of exercise. Ensure that your sleep is of a good quality i.e. dark and quiet room.

Before participating in any kind of sport or exercise it is important to stretch and warm up. If you don’t stretch and warm up properly before playing sport, you will find that playing sport will lead to soreness, strains and possibly injuries. You should spend a good 20 minutes stretching, especially if you will be playing a lot of sport.

Stretching and warming up is done so that you can practice using muscles which may not be used that often and help them become more flexible. They also help to get your blood flowing especially if it is a cold day and can help you mentally before the game i.e. relax and calm you down.

Before you start any exercise or sport, be sure to warm up first. This could include a light jog or walking around the room. Once you are warmed up, you can move on to stretches. Stretching should be steady and done slowly. Each stretch should last about five seconds. The type of stretches you do will vary according to the type of activity you will be participating in. Try to target your main muscle areas i.e. legs, arms, back and shoulders.

Stretching before playing can also help to prevent injuries. Muscles need to be flexible so that when you play sport and extreme movement is needed, the muscle will be able to perform. Stretching does not guarantee that you will not get injured during the game; it can help prevent injuries in the long term. By increasing your flexibility over time you will definitely help to prevent yourself from getting seriously hurt as you can prevent imbalances in your muscles occurring.

You should also remember to do a small stretch after you have finished playing as muscles tend to tighten up after being worked. This will help cool you down and relax your body.

Attracting sponsors for your local sporting club can be a difficult task. It requires having the right approach to demonstrate to the potential sponsor that the partnership will be mutual and beneficial for both of you.

You might want to begin by preparing a list of friends, associates and supporters. This might include people who run a business, fans who have a strong attachment to the club or suppliers to the club i.e. caterers, sports shops etc. and other businesses in the area which are known for having strong links with the community.

Before approaching a potential sponsor, you must prepare a proposal. This will enable you to highlight the opportunities that a partnership with your club will bring. When putting together the proposal, think about the types of businesses that would match well with your club and if they will help the club’s image within the community. Try not to spend too much time talking simply about benefits of sponsoring; businesses want to know if there are any opportunities for growth.

Also, try not to waffle on. Be straight to the point in your proposal and give the reader enough information to make a decision. Spelling and grammar is also important, ensure there are no errors as it will look very unprofessional.

You have to remember that most sponsors are looking for advertising and promotion for their business. This might mean seeing their logo displayed on team strips, trophies, equipment, club website etc. Your sponsor will also appreciate being mentioned in marketing materials that your club may supply.

The Sportsmart Club Advantage program is designed to help local sporting clubs by offering them a tool to help fund the cost of sporting equipment. It is free to join and offers many benefits to sporting clubs including a 5% discount for club members and the ability to accrue credits and receive a rebate twice yearly in the form of gift cards. Visit the Club Advantage website for more details and how to sign up your local club.

In this day and age, local sporting clubs need to be active on social networking websites. There are many reasons why local sporting clubs should have an active Facebook presence. For example, there are more than 500 million Facebook members, 8 million of those members are Australian. In fact, these days people expect clubs and businesses alike to have Facebook pages and have a prominent online presence.

A Facebook page is a great opportunity to create conversation about your club, promote events, update fans with news and run competitions. You should also create a Twitter page for your club. It may not have as much merit as a Facebook page, but it still has its advantages.

By having a Twitter, you can ‘follow’ local news outlets, other sporting clubs, sponsors; supporters etc. and watch your fan base grow. You might even catch the attention of local media and new sponsors. You can also tweet club news, what teams will be playing on the weekend and links to the club website and Facebook page.

Another benefit for using both Facebook and Twitter is that you can even post videos of games, events and interviews to further engage with your audience. Supporters and members want to be involved with their club and have a say.

Using social media is also a great way of communicating information to members of the club i.e. cancelled training, presentation nights etc. on a timely basis. Social networking is available on most phones and tablets therefore communicated messages will be received almost immediately after being sent.

Starting and maintaining Facebook and Twitter pages is made easy due to their easy accessibility through phones. With free sign up and the ability to reach thousands if not millions of people, you can’t afford to be an inactive member of the social networking community.

Sportsmart has both a Facebook and Twitter page which reaches thousands of fans and followers. We run competitions and post interesting information frequently and they are a great way for us to engage directly with our valued customers. ‘Follow’ or ‘like’ us today!

Organising and running a fundraiser for your local sporting club can be difficult. It takes time and proper organisation to ensure that the event is a success. Here is a simple guide you can follow on how to organise a fundraiser for your club.

Firstly, it is essential that you develop a plan and a schedule on how the event will run on the day. Figure out what needs to be done prior to the event and who needs to be involved in this process. You must start the planning process early. If you need to book a venue, facilities, and a guest speaker or apply for permits it is important to make sure these are the first things to be taken care of on your list as they may take time.

Don’t try to plan an entire event on your own, ask for help. Members of the committee, parents of sporting club members or even the members themselves can help to plan the event.

It is important to promote the event. Use a variety of methods i.e. making posters and displaying them around the club, word of mouth, mentioning the event in your clubs newsletter, putting the event on the club website, putting posters up in local businesses etc. Without promotion, you will miss opportunities in which to target people both within and outside of the club.

Complying with regulations also needs to be taken into consideration. Make sure you have all the necessary permissions for the event. For example, if the event is not at the club i.e. a local park, you will need to check with the local council as to whether or not you have permission to use a public area.

Lastly, remember to thank those involved in the planning process and who helped contribute to the event. This includes any local businesses who have supplied donations as well as volunteers. It might be an idea to develop certificates of appreciation to hand out as a more formal way of saying thank-you.

The Sportsmart Club Advantage program is designed to help local sporting clubs by offering them a tool to help fund the cost of sporting equipment. It is free to join and offers many benefits to sporting clubs including a 5% discount for club members and the ability to accrue credits and receive a rebate twice yearly in the form of gift cards. These gift cards can be useful as prizes or giveaways for club events and fundraisers.

When coaching young players, it is important to understand that all players have different skills and strengths. They all learn differently and patience is very important. Some have a natural ability when it comes to playing sport and some need more time to find their feet during a game.

During training sessions it is important to go over basic skills and continue to do so every week. This enables every player at every skill level to improve their knowledge of the sport and practice important drills which can be used on game day. Basic drills such as passing or kicking should be an emphasis in every training session for every sport.

Drills that work especially well are those that require the team as a whole to work together to reach a goal. For example, in basketball training having the team rebound 30 shots without letting the ball hit the ground. Not only do drills like these bring the players together as a team but also encourage stronger players to help others on the team.

As the players get used to training and playing together, their confidence will increase. The players will get used to each other and their coach and you will see many improvements in the way they play the game.

In every team, support is needed from everyone players, coaches, parents etc. The Sportsmart Club Advantage program is designed to help local sporting clubs by offering them a tool to help fund the cost of sporting equipment. It is free to join and offers many benefits to sporting clubs including a 5% discount for club members and the ability to accrue credits and receive a rebate twice yearly in the form of gift card. Visit the Club Advantage website to sign your club up today.