Trying to Start School Club, looking for advice

[somerbuch]

I am attempting to start up a Disc Golf Club at my school, University of Michigan-Flint campus. Apparently someone else had tried to start one up but something happened and they weren't able to do it. However I have an opportunity to do so and I would like to get the best ideas on how to start a club from anyone who has done this, or seen it done themselves. I've been playing for about 4 years and participated in many of my local club events as well as other clubs in the surrounding areas.

I know how to run leagues because so that's not an issue, but i would like any advice you're willing to offer as well as any tips on what to do or what to avoid when starting a new club. As well as how to go about setting up tournaments, or getting sponsors for tournaments and such. Any and all advice is appreciated, thanks in advance guys.

-Josh

 

[codyroberts18]

It really depends on how the Campus Rec department operates. At Ole Miss, they have a very strenuous process to become a sports club. It basically takes 2 years in order to become official. Contact your Campus Rec director and they should have some info on how to start an official club.

Another important part is getting players to join. Make signs, tell everyone you see, and just show your love for disc golf around campus and you should be successful. Good luck to you!

 

[somerbuch]

I did already email the Club Sports Director, the club was listed under the Club sports directory and had a bulletin stating to contact him if interested in getting it started. Hopefully i will at least hear back from him tomorrow, if not i may just stop into his office. I would like to get some information on how exactly the schools clubs work which i could probably pick up in that office.

And for the part of getting players to join would be somewhat of a hassle however i play at almost all of the courses around schoool and know a lot of people that go to school with me, as well as plenty of my friends that play and have already committed to joining if we can get this started. Also i was thinking for advertising the club i would put flyers up around campus as well as talk to many of my friends that are a part of the Greek Life on campus to get some of them involved in it.

Or at least these are just some of my own ideas, like i said i'll take all advice.

 

[DavidSauls]

Random thoughts.

You may not need sponsors, as you'll have very little expenses.

What would being part of the club benefit people, over just playing casually? The answer to that question will have a big impact on your recruitment.

Check into what collegiate competitions are available. I think the University of South Carolina club got going once there were competitions they could enter. That was the benefit that mattered in recruiting.

If there's a disc store or seller around, see if they'll give a discount to club members. Our store does. That's a recruiting tool for the club, and brings new customers to the store, some who try a lot of different discs.

It's helpful to any club to do some activities other than disc golf competitions. Our local club has a summer party and a Christmas party. We used to have road trips to courses within 100 miles. Not sure how this translates to a college club, but some social activities help.

Once you're going, get shirts printed, or custom-stamped discs, or something.

 

[duckychucky]

I think having access to a large gym for winter putting practice and clinics would be the best part of having a college club. It also could be easier to get noobs to come check it out right on campus, than traveling to a course. Heck a large gym should be long enough for drives, set up two baskets, one on each end, and some obstacles in between and you got a great practice course.

 

[ElementZ]

I was incredibly close to doing this at Illinois State (my college) this year, but stopped because of all the work it required. Make sure that you're going into this thing with a "board" of 5+ people, essentially a committee you can delegate tasks to. You don't want to get stuck having to do all the training by yourself, like financial training, safety training, officer training...etc.

On top of that, first year clubs at my school only give $500 to their club tops, which I thought we could just as easily fundraise at a tournament, and it'd be more fun.

 

[DavidSauls]

My question would be, does a club need to be an official school club? What are the drawbacks of starting a club among school students, without any formal connection with the school itself?

 

[psudgc17]

After running the Penn State Club for two years and watching it spawn in 2009, I learned one big thing. Always come to your governing body with more organization and information than they can handle. For us, we have to have a constitution, an adviser, waiver release forms, medical insurance cards, trip forms, driver forms, other forms, form forms, etc. You get the picture. It's paperwork. We needed 10 people to be an active club. Make sure you find out that number, meet it, and then exceed your school's expectation with paperwork. Then, show them what you can do for their name. Regional tournaments to represent your school are a good idea (NECDGC, for example). Community involvement, fundraising, self-run tournaments, etc. are all good ideas, too.

 

[codyroberts18]

Then it would really not be worth anything. You really asked the key question in your previous post, what is the benefit of being in said club. If the club isn't an official school sports club, or at least in our case, we cannot represent them at an collegiate tournaments. That is a big benefit to me, and even people who we have met this year who have never played tournaments, they are pumped to compete against other schools.

I think the hardest thing, although there are your friends and what not, will be recruitment. That is what we have had the most trouble because a lot of people are just out playing in their spare time and don't really want to get better. They are just having fun.

I hope you get a good club started, and definitely try for sponsors and the utilization of school funds. Every little bit of money helps, so becoming an official club may land you $400-$500 a year depending on your schools budget for sports clubs. At the school I attend, you can get a lot of money per year for you club sport depending on how well your club does a number of things throughout the year.

Again, good luck, and feel free to PM me if you need some help with anything. I'm the president of the Ole Miss Disc Golf club and although it's hard, it's spreading the sport on our campus!

 

[codyroberts18]

After running the Penn State Club for two years and watching it spawn in 2009, I learned one big thing. Always come to your governing body with more organization and information than they can handle. For us, we have to have a constitution, an adviser, waiver release forms, medical insurance cards, trip forms, driver forms, other forms, form forms, etc. You get the picture. It's paperwork. We needed 10 people to be an active club. Make sure you find out that number, meet it, and then exceed your school's expectation with paperwork. Then, show them what you can do for their name. Regional tournaments to represent your school are a good idea (NECDGC, for example). Community involvement, fundraising, self-run tournaments, etc. are all good ideas, too.

Sounds like you guys run off the same system we do at Ole Miss. Crazy paperwork for sure :wall: As a matter of fact, I have about 10 pages to go turn in here in the next couple hours lol.

 

[psudgc17]

My question would be, does a club need to be an official school club? What are the drawbacks of starting a club among school students, without any formal connection with the school itself?

Bottom line is money. I had to push all the paper to the right people to "cover my bases" so to speak. If I did, the school would pay for all expenses and insure us. We could only "travel under the PSU banner" if I had all the right paperwork covered.

If I wanted to get 4 guys together and go to Nationals calling ourselves the PSU Disc Golf club, I'm not sure what the school could/would do, if anything. But being a poor college student motivated me to have PSU pay for it. After all, I was giving them enough tuition and activity fee dollars!

One more thing--licensing. If you want to "publish" the school's logo, be very formal about that process. It was an extreme PITA to get PSU to allow any logo design because of their legal department. Don't try to get around this. If I did, and was caught, the club could have been immediately disbanded.

 

[Steve West]

For any kind of club, a service aspect keeps it alive. Whether you volunteer as spotters at tournaments, help maintain or install courses, or host educational sessions for kids, it's the service to others that will keep the club together.

 

[codyroberts18]

psudgc17, I am going through the same thing as you did! Does it get better with time or is it always this busy lol?

 

[DavidSauls]

Thanks for the insights from you guys who have done it.

I asked about it being official because I'm familiar with standard (citywide) disc golf clubs. I was thinking in terms of forming the same thing among students on campus, outside of the school's administration.

I hadn't considered whether you would need to be a sanctioned club to compete in tourneys, or restrictions on use of the school name and logo (among other things).

 

[somerbuch]

Thanks for all of the help guys, i just talked to the club sports director at school and he told me that the club had actually been started before but was on the inactive list because the person in charge had apparently joined a fraternity and then just stopped running the club and no one else wanted to be in charge, however he did say that they had a decent amount of people in attendance.

 

[Howie17]

Hey Somerbuch,

I'm the BGSU - Club Disc Golf president here at Bowling Green State University. This is our first semester getting started, so I can definitely offer some assistance and share ideas for what we're looking to do.

Bulletted Highlights:

-Develop a Player's Pack like you would find at a tournament
--Disc, Shirt(competition jersey), bag tag, microfiber towel, etc. (not necessarily all of this)
---DynamicDiscs can assist with getting some of this reasonablly priced as can Paragon (IL)
---InnovaDiscs has a CFR Program, I'm going to seek approval to get a 50 disc run of our custom stamped logo for fund raising purposes.

Emphasize the benefit of "traveling on the university's dime" to tournaments and the fun road trips to be had. Also, the enjoyment of playing at the competitive level with your peers from across the nation.

Host a local tournament, inviting surrounding schools, locals etc. and have them play in their respective divisions.
-We're looking to do this, and as you're not far, I'll keep you in the loop if you want to bring your club. I've already spoke with UM, OSU, and Ohio Northern about coming, but our plate is rather full, so a Springtime tournament may be better.

Fund raise: We're lucky to have a school that is very supportive of student organizations. We are going to ask for funding for two discraft chainstar mobile baskets to use on campus for fund raising competitions (longest putt, CTP, etc.)

We'll also use said baskets in weekly doubles, hosted tournaments, and indoor practices in the harshest points of winter.

If you have a solid group of four guys that have flexible weekend schedules, check out the www.ncdgc.com schedule for upcomming collegiate disc golf tournaments. We are looking to compete at the Kalamazoo, MI tournament and potentially the Lafayette, IN one.

The biggest hurdle right now is getting people interested in really developing their skill at the sport. Many people are perfectly content with very casual rounds. Facilitate these individuals as well, if they play enough they may catch the competitve bug and be huge for your team in their later collegiate careers.

I have to run, but am excited that a nearby college is looking to start a club as well! Feel free to get a hold of me via email at [email protected]

Good luck!

 

[Howie17]

Oh, also if you can host a skills workshop and train people that can attract new members. We're hosting one this Saturday and getting local pros to run the clinic. So, get to know the locals and see how they can help or get to local pros that can draw a crowd.

 

[DiscChainBasket18]

Send a message to 'DSCJNKY' here on DGCR. He has started up many school clubs in the area & will be a wealth of information!