Strategies Utilized for Recruitment and

Development of New Players at

Springfield R.F.C.

 

(Colin Jones, Coach, Springfield R.F.C., Springfield, MO)

Club Administrators Conference, Las Vegas

 

     A rugby club lives by its members and in order to remain established and hopefully to grow in size all clubs must continually be thinking of the recruitment of new players. Over the last five years Springfield R.F.C. has had a slight but steady growth in the number of its regular players, that is players who we can rely on to be present again the next season and become involved in all club activities. The senior players and administrators of the club are always trying to find more successful ways of increasing the number of these raw recruits into regular rugby players. However the drop out rate for these potential players remains quite high with many individuals getting a very brief exposure to the game and never being seen again.

     In order to first get new players to make contact with the club all forms of advertising are essential. These should include using the sports section of the local newspaper for recording match results, scorers, when the next game will be, club record and anything else that can possibly be included. Advertise practice nights and times in the newspaper and at any bars, sports clubs and stores etc. wherever it is allowed. Use television and radio whenever possible, it's almost impossible to get on the air waves for the usual weekly game so if there is a touring side from abroad coming through make the most of the occasion. This may well bring out 'retired' players who are new to the area and just never realised that there was a club so near to them or for that matter anyone else curious about the game. Helping with answering the phones for Public Television fund raising drives has been one sure way of getting rugby in Springfield mentioned on television.   

     The ideal new player for any club is someone who is already familiar with the game and even better still a well established star player, however these are rare commodities for most, if not all, clubs. By far the majority of new players are genuine rookies and these are the potential club members who are needed for rugby to grow in the U.S.A. These athletes do need to become familiar with the laws of the game, together with some techniques and strategies involved during the game before being put out onto the field. This is all essential and needs to be done correctly to prevent unneccesary injuries. This initial barrage of information may be overwhelming for some individuals who call it a day so far as rugby goes. This therefore is the first area which should be considered when a new potential member arrives at the club. Additionally, a well disciplined practice with defined goals for that session, no matter how many players are present, gives the potential new, probably slightly intimidated, player a positive view of the game. In order to answer the many questions this person usually has about the game and also about how the club functions Springfield R.F.C. has always assigned a senior member of the club to new players at their first practice. We make sure we introduce this person to club members at practice and encourage them to come along and watch and sometimes play in their first home game for the clubs' second side. It's amazing how many potential new players have only come to practices and never made a game! After doing all we can to show ourselves as an organized, friendly, reasonably normal group of individuals the number of people who attend at least one practice in a season compared to the actual number of regular players in the club remains significantly different (Fig. 1). A regular player is being defined here as someone who has played at least one season and can be relied upon to be at practice at least once a week, travels to away games, pays club dues and generally contributes to club activities. Figure 1 also shows the slow growth of the club as measured by the number of regular players for these years. Alumni and other contributors to the club are not shown but are an important factor in the health of the club.

     Following up on all the individuals who only attend one or two practices, and maybe one or two home games and are never seen again is almost impossible. There probably never will be a reasonable answer to the question of what were they expecting from rugby that the game (or the club?) did not provide. Potential new members usually associate rugby with hitting (i.e. tackling) someone and that no pads are worn and only lateral passes are allowed. What they do not expect is the degree of fitness which rugby demands and it's possible that this is an area where we lose potential players, with only those who are prepared to overcome the initial demanding few weeks of increased physical activity remaining to enjoy the game.

     What has been done at Springfield R.F.C. to try and retain these potential players?

          (1) Maintaining an organised, structured practice is one aspect of making a new player feel at home in a new sport. The coach of a club should always be at all practices and games. This may not always be possible at all clubs but selection of a coach should be based on whether the individual is truly committed to the sport and is prepared to put in a considerable amount of time to the running of the club. The club captain should also be selected on the same basis.

          (2) The preparation of a club Handbook can be very useful for many purposes including recruitment and fund raising. It can be used to give a new member all kinds of information about rugby in general, how it is organized in the U.S., about the clubs' history, about practices, fund raising activities, important club administrative details etc. This may all help in giving the new recruit, who in all probability, will have heard very little about rugby, the idea that this is a thriving worldwide sport. Also it is something which can then be taken home and read at their leisure.

          (3) The initial costs of becoming involved with rugby may seem either prohibitive or a possible waste of money  to a new player who is unsure of what the game involves. Therefore helping new club members financially maybe an important aspect of keeping these players. At Springfield R.F.C. we have tried several ways of reducing this financial burden. We have supplied rookie players with club socks free - sometimes before they have paid anything into the club - and we have also reduced club fees for these players for their first season. This was really too much of a drain on club finances and did not improve retention of these players . Now we obtain the full club membership fee and only after the new player has actually played in a number of home and away games does he get credit for the socks. Rugby jerseys are provided by the club and we have a club store for buying shorts, club pins, T-shirts etc.

     The club also runs Casino nights during the winter which provide a major source of the club's income. For nights when only a few people are required to run the tables we take a part of the fee and split that among the players helping that night, which can then only be applied to the club membership fees and for their equipment. For some people this has completely paid for their rugby playing expenses for the year but in general it is still difficult to ensure that we have sufficient numbers to run the casino night.

          (4) For several years now we have had a Rookie Day, which has occurred on a Saturday just before the regular season starts. We have encouraged as many recruits as possible to come along and the club has supplied food and drink. Having been provided with a reasonably suitable environment the rookies can meet with club members and find out about the game. This has had a mixed success but in general this is a function which should be continued provided enough effort is put out by everyone to get potential players to enter into this activity. The most successful Rookie Day to date was the one in which they were taken off into the night scene of Springfield with the added benefit of many stories which still arise about that night. We were also able to retain more rookies from that season than possibly any other - is this merely a coincidence?

     Over the years we have also tried to improve our level of communication of the clubs activities, finances etc. through the production of a club newsletter. This requires that someone takes on this task about four times a year and has generally proven to be a success. This is yet another way of ensuring that new members quickly learn of club activities and hopefully observe some structure to the clubs organization.

     So far as recruitment of future club members is concerned one very important area is the introduction of rugby into both high and middle schools. This has been handled in a variety of ways by a number of clubs in different areas and success appears to depend on the pure effort of the individuals involved. In Springfield we have just this year started on trying to get this age group introduced to the game. Initial contact with students was undertaken by a recent high school graduate who was able to use his contacts and friends to spread the word. This resulted in one high school match being played against a similar age group from the Kansas University club. Even though we were able to arrange a game so quickly for them interest apparently waned and we will essentially have to start again. What lessons can we learn from this first attempt? In the first place we should introduce them to the game in the summer when the weather is more amenable for playing and for standing around when explanation is necessary to go through the laws of the game. Also it may be more beneficial to first introduce rugby through the seven-a-side game for which there are regular practices being held by the Springfield club throughout this time. Lastly, if any club players are recent high school graduates these should definitly be encouraged to use their network of friends to promote a high school team.   

     For the development of any new rugby players they must obviously play the game as often as possible and this should ideally occur at a level at which they are going to be able to contribute and show their ability. This is by no means always possible particularly for those clubs running one side each week. In order to show new recruits into these smaller clubs a larger picture of the game it might be very beneficial to try and get these players into any local union training camps that are occurring whenever possible. At Springfield we encourage all players to try out at some stage for representative rugby either at collegiate or men's club rugby level. Attending these functions again increases the cost of the sport for the players and the club is examining ways of being able to contribute to some of the travel expenses. However these meetings are usually very beneficial due to these players experiencing some different coaching techniques with a large number of players present.          

     Compared to other major rugby playing nations most players in the U.S. learn the game at an older age. This means that a lot of practice time is spent introducing and consolidatating fundamental aspects of the game such as passing, rucking and mauling. These are generally the most important features of the game and need to be practised at each session. Coaches should be aware that a variety of drills should be used for these skills and that they or a senior player should spend time explaining to new players how this all fits into the game as a whole. It should be recognized that the recruitment of new players into a rugby club is a concern for all established club members. Buzz McClain in a useful article in RUGBY magazine (June, 1993) suggested a number of ways of aiding club recruitment. With very few high schools playing the game, rugby is dependent on finding athletes from other sports or rejuvenating the competitive spirit in someone who thought their sports playing days were over. Having got them to a practice or perhaps to watch a game then what needs to be avoided is it being the last time they ever see the game. They need to see the game as something they want to be involved with and to come back again. That first meeting is therefore crucial and clubs need to be sure they are prepared to answer the many questions these individuals may have.