Make Sport Fun

Secrets of getting people swimming

I had the chance to meet Nicola Polley from the Amateur Swimming Association at a sports marketing workshop recently. She told me all about the Everyday Swim DVD. I've watched it online and been very impressed by how many good lessons there are in there.

The Everyday Swim project has been a fantastic learning experience into how to get more people swimming. The 10-minute DVD they made was such a success that they've now put the video online. You can watch this, and access other resources at www.everydayswim.org. You'll need to register first though.

Lessons featured on the DVD include:

• the most successful forms of marketing to get people into the pool
• how best to programme pool hours to maximise the use of the pool
• how to develop staff so they can best meet the needs of customers

Footage for the DVD was filmed at the Everyday Swim projects in the Wirral, Easington, Telford, Suffolk, Woking and Lewisham.

Olympic gold medallist Duncan Goodhew Goodhew, who is also the ASA’s Everyday Swim Ambassador, said: “This is a great resource that gives many real examples of the areas pool providers can work on to get more people active through swimming."

Running a sports event

One way to recruit new members for sport is to host an event. This type of event is an opportunity for people to come and try equipment, classes, or other aspects of your sports organisation without the financial commitment typically associated with joining a club. It is therefore great for recruiting new members.

To learn how best to do this I interviewed sports events experts Global Games. Global Games design, build, operate and manage participation sports events and provide an opportunity for fans of sports to come and have a go themselves. Their clients include McDonalds, the Get Fit Foundation and Saracens Rugby Football club.

Global Games top ten tips

1. Promotion. You have two options. Firstly choose somewhere with high footfall, but in areas where people are after fun (e.g. not a Tesco supermarket car park). Secondly get started early with your promotion. Good ways are flyering local schools and businesses.I recommend the areas with high footfall.
2. Cater for all groups. Make sure there's enough to do for all age groups attending, not just one group. It ruins everyone’s time if some people are bored.
3. Food. Catering is very important, so make sure this is taken care of. It tends to be a burger van, so look into some healthier options – maybe even organic or vegetarian.Tailor your refreshments to suit your event. Look into getting either a retaining fee or promo rates if it’s a local company/ vegetarian company.
4. Transport. If there are a large number of people and cars then you’ll need to manage the traffic flow. It might be worth setting up shuttle buses.
5. Health and Safety. First aid, you’ll need food and water if there might be diabetics. If you have more than 180 people then you’ll need a paramedic
6. Backup plan. Many facilities tend to have indoor/ outdoor options so take advantage of that in your planning. You can’t cover everything, but make plans for how to cover what you can. And if you have to cancel then make sure you are able to let everyone know!
7. Target market. Assess your target market and then go after them.
8. Branding. Brand up what’s there. Use banners to give everything a cohesive look and make it look good.
9. Follow up. Capture the contact details of people who come, get either their email or their mobile number. Get their business card. Then do something with it - let them know how about any special offers for joining up.
10. Learn. Make sure to learn from what happened. Ask what people thought, and use this information to make it better next time.

To download the full report, including the steps you need to go through when planning an event go to http://www.makesportfun.com/Howtoguides/tabid/249/language/en-GB/Default.aspx and scroll down to the bottom.

To get a quote from Global Games to come and run an event for you email enq@globalgames.co.uk, call 07789 278 043 or go to www.globalgames.co.uk and click on contacts.