Post
by Niall Doran » Wed Mar 04, 2015 2:49 pm
Yes, I’d have to agree with the above sentiment that it’s important to have separate areas for the different types of play.
My club used to be based in an old stone building, provided for free by the town council, with younger players getting classes in a room at one end of the corridor, far away from the other room where the older players were. No problems with noise from one group disturbing the others.
A few years ago, the town council decided to move us out and into a very small building with three small rooms with paper-thin walls (they probably are paper!) separating them. We only open on Friday nights, and on these nights, there are classes for younger children (7 to 12/13) and older children (13-18). There are no classes for adults.
Since the move, the club has been slowly haemorrhaging adult players, and we now find ourselves with the following age profile:
Age Number of members
5-10 1
10-15 7
15-20 4
20-25 2
25-30 0
30-35 0
35-40 0
40-45 2
45-50 1
50-55 2
55-60 1
60-65 4
65-70 2
70-75 1
75-80 0
80+ 1
Total 28
Personally I’ve started to hate going to the club on Friday nights, and generally go only because I feel I have to. Other than the trainers, I’m the only person over 25 and under 55 there on club nights, the others having slowly left because of, I’m assuming, the noise and proximity to kids. I feel it’s killing the club, but it’s a free building so we don’t have a say in the matter, as our budget wouldn’t allow for renting anything else.
We’ve had a couple of potentially interested players come in, one in his mid-20s and the other around 40, and I’ve done my best to make them welcome, sat down and played with them, gave them tips about their play, explained how the different team competitions work and told them there’s a place for them when they want. But in both cases, after maybe a month or so, we didn’t see them again. I’d guess it’s partly because of too many kids, and partly because I think the club has lost the critical mass of adult players to make it attractive to potential recruits. No point going to a club to see the same three faces every time.
Sorry if this comes across as a bit of a moan, but you definitely need separate areas in a club.