As part of our efforts to increase membership, the HSMBA will be holding a Club Forum at 12:00 on Saturday 6th April at Ross Bowling Club. The forum is open to all members and hopes to provide the opportunity for clubs to share ideas and liase with the Association on the topic.
Please see the below letter from HSMBA Acting Chairperson, Joe Loveys:
To: Club Secretaries
As we head towards the latter stages of another season, the HSMBA committee want to put a focus on club development with a view to increasing membership. Whilst some clubs have seen growth since Covid, we are keenly aware that others have seen the opposite and that this is a trend that cannot continue.
The factor that makes club development such a tricky thing to approach is that there is not one solution and that what will work for some clubs will not work for others. Some clubs will put out leaflets or hold an open day and recruit many members whilst others can do the same and find it to be unsuccessful. It is crucial that clubs can develop a multi-pronged approach to club development as opposed to holding one event a year and not building on this. However, we are very much aware that club development can be a daunting prospect that can often see clubs go to a lot of effort for what can feel like little reward.
In order to encourage the sharing of ideas and enable clubs to engage with and discuss not just each other but the HSMBA itself, we will be holding a club development forum on Saturday 6th April in the bar at Ross Bowling Club, starting at 12:00. We hope that this will prove to be beneficial for attendees who want to grow their club membership. A short presentation will be followed by an open discussion where ideas can be shared.
The HSMBA is keen to offer as much help as it can regarding this topic. Following our meeting in January, the HSMBA committee has agreed that an element of financial incentive in relation to club development can be made available, the details of which will be discussed at the forum. In addition to this, HSMBA committee member Sophie Heather-Warner has offered her own design knowledge and experience to help clubs market themselves in a modern and attractive way. The HSMBA Facebook page is also up and running and we truly believe this can be an invaluable tool to promote our clubs at a local level, with rural village “noticeboards” giving access to hundreds of residents for free!
I hope to see at least one representative from all of our affiliated clubs at this meeting. It is in the interest of all members for our clubs to increase our membership and we truly hope that our clubs will engage with us on this.
The forum is open for all members to attend, not just one representative per club but please do RSVP by Monday 1st April so that I can make sure we have enough tea, coffee and biscuits to go round. There is no specific form but please do email hsmbachair@gmail.com to advise of your attendance. Even if you are not interested, please publicise this at your roll ups as there may be club members who are willing to engage on your club’s behalf.
Should you have any questions regarding this, please do not hesitate to contact me and I look forward to seeing you there.
Joe Loveys
Acting Chairperson
Herefordshire Short Mat Bowling Association