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Launch Your Judo Club
Starting a new judo club can be an exciting and rewarding endeavour, and British Judo welcome applications from across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Here are our top tips for setting up your own judo club:
Top Tips
Before embarking on the journey to establish your own judo club it is vital that you carry out some research. This will give you a better understanding of the demand for a new judo club in your area.
You can use our Club Finder to find other judo clubs nearby. Use social media channels to identify judo and other sports clubs in the area. It will be challenging to set up a new club if there are other successful and well attended clubs locally. Equally, you can speak to our Club Support Team and they will be able to advise you using their local knowledge.
Decide why you want to start the club. Is it for competitive training, community fitness, or youth development? Running a club requires time and commitment and having a well thought out plan will help you put in place everything that you need to attract members and secure your clubs future.
Sport England have developed a club development template which can be used to document your clubs vision which can then be shared across other volunteers that play a part in helping to manage and run your club. Visit the ClubMatters website to access this along with many other useful club tools.
Where can you get advice and support?
There are several organisations that should be able to help you start a judo club. You should make contact with each of them in the early stages of setting up your judo club to find out what practical help they can offer. They are:
- British Judo Association – We have a number of Club Support Officers based around the country who can offer support to clubs to help them grow and develop. Contact Nick Shepherd (Head of Club Support) who will be able to support you through the process.
- Local Authority – The Local Authority are likely to have a sports or leisure department who can assist you in hiring sports facilities where you can run your sessions.
- Your Local Active Partnership– Each county in England has a Active Partnership responsible for growing sport and physical participant in their areas. There is a wealth of expertise and local knowledge at your Active Partnership you can draw on here to help you get off to the best start.
Your Club Structure
Deciding the governance structure that your club will adopt is extremely important and you should take time to discuss your options will all volunteers that will be involved in running the club and possibly your members.
Whilst some small clubs can manage with just a couple of people running them, it’s usually a good idea to recruit a few people to form a club committee to help manage the club more effectively and efficiently. Roles will vary from club to club depending but it is advisable to have a Welfare Officer, a Treasurer, a Secretary, the club’s head coach and a Chair to oversee the committee’s work.
Finance
Securing the initial funds to set up a judo club can be challenging. Most clubs start off with an initial investment from its founding members. However, clubs will need additional income to help them grow and prosper. These can include:
- Membership Fees – A key element to raising income for a judo club is establishing a realistic membership pricing scheme that is attractive to potential new members as well as retaining current members. The more members your club has the greater the income generated by membership fees.
- Fundraisers – Most clubs run a range of different activities from raffles to quiz nights, judo competitions to masterclasses to raise money for their club. Get creative and think about what fund raisers your club and run.
- Funding and Grants – The Funding page has a listing of potential funding pots that judo are eligible to apply for to help them develop and expand their activities.
You should set up a bank account which will enable the club to receive the income above as well as paying outgoings. These financial records should be maintained by the designated treasurer in the club’s constitution and used to create a realistic budget which will ensure that the club is financially sustainable.
Facilities and Equipment
The venue is at the core of any judo club. It is where the judo takes place and where parents, players and people associated with the club socialise. Do some research to find out what facilities are available in your area that are of a suitable size for judo, are accessible and are within our budget to hire or lease for a set period of time.
Local schools, sports centres, sports halls, village halls, universities and colleges other sports clubs are all good places to start when searching for a venue for your judo club. You should also consult your local authority/council and County Sport Partnership as they will have knowledge of the facilities in your area.
Once you have successfully sourced a venue you will need to look at Health & Safety and the Duty of Care provisions which the club has to members whilst at the venue.
In order to run a judo session at your new club you will need to ensure that there is sufficient equipment available for people to participant.