SUCCESSFUL COME AND TRY DAYS

Part of your annual player recruitment program

Why have a “Come and Try” Day?

With so many sport and recreation options available today, and the costs of playing escalating, potential members are often keen to “try before they buy”.

Offering them the opportunity to see the club facilities meet the personnel and actually have a swing of the bat or a throw of the ball, can convince them to make the commitment we are after pre-season.

An event like this is an opportunity to raise the community’s awareness of your club and sport.

It provides sponsors with an opportunity to gain exposure to the wider community.

When should it be held?

The day/s should be held pre-season, with enough time to allow for uniforms to be ordered and teams to be finalised.

In Brisbane, for example, team nominations for juniors need to be submitted at least three weeks before the competition commences to allow for draw changes etc.

People that attend a “Come and Try” Day sometimes like to go away and think about it before signing up.

Holding the event at least a month before the season starts is a good option.

Communication and activities such as team training or Muster Nights should be planned for within a fortnight of the event to keep new members engaged.

Where should it be held? It’s a great idea to hold your day at your actual club

facility so that potential members can see all that you have to offer.

Showcase all of your facilities…ie..if you have an indoor batting cage, make sure that it’s open and functioning. If you have a PA, make sure you have the music pumping. If you have a pitching machine or a speed gun, use them in the activities.

Alternatively, you could run a “Come and Try” at school grounds or local parks around the district. This may attract more people that would otherwise not make the effort to attend a larger event at the club. This could be achieved in conjunction with an AASC program.

How long should we go for?

Activities or games run on the day should not last longer than half an hour to avoid any boredom.

The day itself should run for at least three hours (four or five would be better), to give people more options of when to attend.

You may run more than one “Come and Try” Day.

Planning

Any event is only ever as good as the amount of planning that took place before and the management of bringing those plans into fruition.

Appoint a sub-committee or planning group to take responsibility for the event.

Make a timeline (an Excel spreadsheet is ideal for this) and work backwards from the start of the season, specifying each job that needs to be done leading into the event.

Planning Allow time for promotion, gathering of equipment,

setting up and the actual event. Seek and allocate volunteers who will be responsible

for each job and times for each job to be achieved by. Communicate the job descriptions to those volunteers so that they are clear about expectations.

The timeline should be referred to regularly and achievements marked off as complete as the time progresses.

Invite sponsors, local politicians, Bandits players at least a month before and send them a reminder in the week prior to the event.

Promotion - newspapersA “Come and Try” Day can be promoted via many media. About a month before the event, contact your local newspaper

with an idea on a “human interest” story at your club. This may be a story about the juniors that have just toured China to play baseball, or it may be on a family that play the sport together, or a long-term volunteer.

Whatever the story is on, the direction it takes should lead to the promotion of the coming season and the upcoming “Come and Try” Day.

Make sure that the person/people that the story is on is available for a photograph/interview if asked by the newspaper.

Ask that the story be published the week before the event if possible. Invite the media to the actual event or at least book a photographer.

Promotion - Radio Many areas have a community radio station

that will be very glad to run a story on your sport or club as a lead-in to your “Come and Try” Day and season proper.

More popular, mainstream radio stations often have a “community announcement / events” segment that can announce a club event.

Try calling a talk-back radio sports program.

Promotion - Social Media Make sure that you publicise the event on your club,

region and BQ Facebook pages. Also post information on other Facebook pages that you

may have liked such as sports stores, council events etc. If your club is on Twitter or other social media, regular

updates of what’s happening with the planning for the event will keep it fresh in everyone’s mind.

Consider placing a paid advertisement on Facebook. It will capture the target market of your choice and statistics say that it will be far more effective than any other type of “paid” advertising.

See the information on Social Media on this website.

Promotion – Banners and Signs

Update banners and signs a few weeks before the event.

Obtain appropriate permission for the erection of banners and signs from the council and land owners before erecting a couple of weeks before the event. Most local by-laws only allow for street signs to be erected the week before the event and they must be collected the day the event ends.

Check your local council website for confirmation of what’s allowed in your community.

Promotion – Banners and Signs

Promotion - Posters Posters can be either created using a desktop publishing

program, or you could approach a printer to help with the artwork.

Getting them professionally printed in colour will give a better impression than photocopies in black and white.

They can be displayed in business windows, noticeboards (schools, libraries, restaurants) and clubhouses.

Think about approaching places where your target member groups are more likely to be. (ie if you are targeting younger members and families, fast food restaurants can’t be missed whereas if you are after Masters players, a pub noticeboard might be the place to be seen.)

Promotion - Brochures / flyers Have a large number of brochures / flyers professionally printed that

tell a little about your club, baseball, what’s on offer and the specific details of the “Come and Try” Day.

Always include your website address and make sure that the details are easy to find on the website that you are directing people to.

Brochures can be handed out at school clinics, to classes by their teachers, shopping centres, left on the counters of willing businesses (sports stores are a great place for this).

The artwork should be colourful, happy and fun! NO photocopies in black and white! Contact a local sporting club that plays the opposite season to you (if

you are a summer season club, try any football code or hockey; winter season clubs should target cricket and swimming clubs). Ask if they will distribute your brochures to their players as something to do in their “off-season” and offer them the same opportunity with your members at the end of your season.

Promotional Displays Contact local shopping centres and get permission to set

up a display stand. Posters, photos, news clippings, video clips and equipment can all be added. Manned displays are much more effective than a static display.

Hand out brochures and have registration forms at the ready. Giveaways such as stickers, balloons, baseball cards or wristbands promoting the club are popular.

Banner stands look very professional and are surprisingly affordable.

Preparing your facility

Make sure that any of those little maintenance jobs around the club that need to be done are attended to before the event.

You want people’s impressions of the club to be positive….it might be the only time they ever come to your grounds / clubhouse.

Make sure all grassed areas are mowed, edges neat and weeds gone. You may need to organise a working bee the weekend before.

If things are looking a bit tired, give them a lick of paint and a clean.

Make sure the toilets are spotless and there is plenty of toilet paper and handtowels for the whole day. Appoint a “toilet monitor” to check this at various times.

Tidy up!

Preparation - Club Signage Ensure that the location of your club is clearly

signed. Is there a large sign on the clubhouse, or at the

entrance to the facility that states what you may think is the obvious?

Many of our clubs are not signed very well and this can be an ongoing promotional tool.

Check with local government for by-laws regarding sign sizes, locations etc.

Preparation - food Stock the canteen or BBQ area in

readiness. You may want to offer food and drinks on

the day, maybe a free sausage sizzle, but make sure that all of your volunteers are fed and provided with drinks.

Remember, they are selling your club to potential members so they need to be happy not hungry!

Preparation - equipment Order any extra equipment needed (ie MLB blow

up batting cages, shade marquees etc) at least three weeks before the event.

Make sure there is plenty of shade and sunscreen. Flags, bunting and balloons all make a festive

atmosphere. Order registration forms and other paperwork

three weeks before. Organise pens, photocopier, folders, bulldog clips,

cash tin and other equipment the week before the event.

On the day - Rosters

Organise a roster for volunteers and allocate jobs for each according to their skills and available time.

Coaches and players should be running on-field activities whilst administrators take care of the paperwork.

Do not just put out a general “call for help” and presume everyone will be there early and stay all day.

People are far more likely to volunteer again if they are given a specific job, time and place. When their time is up and their replacement arrives, thank them and let them go.

Record all volunteers who help in any way on the day and send out individual thank-yous afterwards.

On the day – Setting Up Volunteers need to arrive at least an hour and a

half before the start of the event as people will arrive earlier than you have advertised.

Erect all marquees, promotional banners, flags and other temporary structures.

Do a risk assessment to ensure that everything is as safe as possible.

On the day – setting up Padres Baseball Club Come and Try Day 2012-13

The Registration process… Set up your registration area with a clear system. You

may like to have new registrations at one table and returning at another.

New members will probably have lots of questions. The volunteers manning this area need to be knowledgeable about the club and the programs that are offered.

These people need to be welcoming, friendly, and take time with people.

You are trying to sell them something that may continue for life!

Have some laminated sheets with age groups and the associated fees printed clearly on display.

On the day – Money Matters Be very clear at the point of registration

about any discounts that the club is offering.

If your club has a fee-based volunteer reward scheme, advertise the different discounts for each level of volunteering along with the jobs available.

Have a table set up for your volunteer co-ordinator with job descriptions, task sheets and nomination forms at the ready.

On the day – Money Matters It is a good idea to have the point of payment at

a separate location so that people are not standing in the same line for a long time….they may just decide to walk away!

If you are going to combine the registration and payment process together, have plenty of people doing this at once to avoid congestion.

Make sure all cash is secure and cleared regularly.

Offer electronic payments either by direct bank deposits, credit cards or EFTPOS.

On the day - Uniforms Uniform fittings should be in another

area with a volunteer that has a good knowledge of what each grade wears and how much the cost is.

Knowledge of any second hand alternative is also an advantage. Ensure there is plenty of privacy for people to try things on.

On the field …Have lots of activities planned for the whole day on the field. Here are some suggestions…. Supervised hitting off tees. Balloons tied to the fence to see who can throw

and bust one. Longest throw competition with prizes for

everyone. Longest hitter. Speed gun in the cages or bullpen for the older

kids. Fly ball catching with a Zooka machine.

On the field …

On the field … MLB batting and pitching cages. Celebrity or novelty tee-ball game. A Grade training session. Buster or one of the Bandits in uniform makes a

guest appearance. Autographs baseball cards. Check your Aussie T-Ball manual for lots of

ideas for smaller children. Continuous T-Ball / Rookie Ball game with new

children filtering in and out. Pitching practice at a target.

What you are aiming to achieve You want to show all potential new members and their

families that your club is well organised, fun, safe, friendly and welcoming.

You want to show them that they will get value for the fees that they pay and that they have a choice of paying less if they opt to volunteer in some capacity.

They will see that it is a great club to volunteer at because everyone is enthusiastic and well looked after.

You want them to want to come back. It should be positively overwhelming!

This is a big occasion for the club….all the most fantastic marketing in the world will mean nothing if the Come and Try Day is a flop.

Afterwards Have a meeting of your sub-committee after the

event for a “debrief”. Record how many people attended the event and

how many new members actually joined on the day. Discuss what worked and what didn’t. Record relevant data (right down to how many

drinks did we sell?, how many sausages did we use?, “the batting cage was a hit but the generator broke down”, etc.

This will assist the organiser to make a “manual” for the following year and adjust to improve.

Good Luck!