Why Volunteer?
The Club has grown & grown over the last few seasons but is still being run by a few key members. To keep the momentum going, the club has identified certain roles that would benefit from external volunteers joining & being part of this social but competitive institution.
The club currently runs six senior men’s teams, an occasional vets, two senior ladies XVs, and just over a year ago set up age group rugby from 5 year olds to 16 year olds, and is keen to establish a junior girls team & a colts side. To even maintain this and be in a position to grow the club feels that roles outlined in this document are essential.
Many hands make light work and we need more who are willing to step up and make a difference. Most of the existing committee at Hampstead RFC are fulfilling two, three or even more roles – they do it because they enjoy it, because they want the club to succeed and if only more people got involved we’d all enjoy it even more!
Successful rugby clubs are more than just victorious teams on the pitch. Players and coaches are vitally important but so are the many dedicated volunteers who work hard behind the scenes to help a club function.
You don’t have to be a rugby expert to get involved, just a lover of the game and a realisation that any input would have a beneficial effect.
Benefits of Becoming a Volunteer
- Building self-esteem and confidence
- Learning and developing new skills
- Enhancing work experience and building a CV
- Being active and improving health and wellbeing
- Meeting new people and broadening your social network
- Giving something back to the game you love
- Making a difference in the community
- Having fun!
Enthusiasm is the key, as long as you have some, we’ll count ourselves lucky to have you. You can make a difference.
We will also offer indviduals the chance, through RFU courses, first aid courses, referee courses etc to ‘rubber stamp’ and help fulfil that role and gain a sense of achievement. Plus automatically be part of the club and all that entails, including applying for International tickets.
Roles
Pitch Manager
This is a vital role, saves captains the hassle of setting up the pitch, on top of their other duites (mainly being to warm up their team & prepare for the match). Filling up water bottles, laying out pads & flag poles, match balls etc, and ensuring & reporting back that equipment is stored correctly / needs replacing, & overseeing changing rooms are left in a reasonable state for the Heath authorities to clean up after. Plus the chance to watch the game and go back and enjoy the social part.
Team Administrative Support (all levels)
We have a lot of sides, juniors thru to Vets, and each team captain / manager have tasks they need to fulfil to ensure players know what is happening, where to meet etc. This involves emailing out & from time to time phoning late respondees. Also there is a need to liase with opposition re kick off times, number of permitted subs etc. More hands on the better.
Referees for Ladies, Juniors & lower Mens teams
The higher teams get Society referees appointed, but they only have so many to hand around . More often than not, the Ladies, the juniors & the lower men’s sides rely on the opposition, the injured or ex players to step in. This is a position that will earn you qualifications and the club will send & pay for people to go on courses to achieve these badges.
Mini & Midi Rugby Coaches / Admin
This section is rapidly growing and by nature of it being children, needs most supervising. Again there are positions where you can gain qualifications. We need help with assisting our current crop of coaches and you will get the chance to do Tag courses, a Rugby Ready course and Level One RFU coaching badges.
Admin wise – help getting CRB checks done, chance to go on Child Welfare courses, or simply helping with keeping the various age group databases current; collating parental consent forms, informing club of any parental feedback etc.
School / Community Liason
As the club grows , we have an impact on the local community. We have only just scratched the surface. Having a junior section opens avenues to other clubs (not just rugby), special offers at local retailers and a chance to help & hook up with local schools. This role(s) is very much a ‘make your own’ and would probably be one that really builds self worth.
Recruitment Officers
Stay still and you regress. Even though we continue to grow, we are always on the look out for new members. We need people to help recruitment drives, whether this is press liaison, leaflet dropping, exploring websites that are sport and cost friendly to promote ourseleves on. We also need to monitor this better – e.g. follow up with welcoming emails to new members, find out why recent players may have not found club to their liking etc and report back.
Junior Section Website Manager
The Senior & the Ladies sides of our site are kept up to date and have lots of news, events etc. Currently the Junior side seems to be a token gesture & slightly redundant. This is a chance for people to build a website, run it, & use it and incorporate it as the site it should be – informative, fun, doubling as a recruiting & advertising tool.
Sponsorship Co-ordinator
We have dipped our toe and had a modicum of success on this front. Again though, we haven’t really branched out into the local community. Rugby, compared to most sports, is a relatively cheap hobby, but like most things these days, costs are on the rise. This is an opportunity for businesses to identify themsleves with a growing, successful local club and a way of not passing on the escalating costs to existing members. A real opportunity for someone to enhance their negotiation skills.
Summary
Successful clubs are more than just what happnes on the pitch, it is built off the pitch. By volunteering, the club hopes that it builds the foundations for a club that members, volunteers and the local community can be proud of. By volunteering we hope that…
- You feel you have made a difference and a worthwile contribution
- You get recognised and feel valued for your efforts
- That through communication and understanding your role is respected
- That socially you feel part of the club, working with its people and a feeling of belonging
- Your chance to make roles your own with the knowledge you will always have the support and back up of committee members and others