So you love frisbee, but are scratching your head and wondering “why isn’t there a club at my school?” Frisbee is cheap, fun to play, and growing fast at all levels, and starting a club at your school is incredibly rewarding. You will be introducing a brand new sport at your school. You’ll get to be a part of a club, build a community, and have a lot of fun! And, as long as recruiting efforts are made, the club will survive.
To get help starting a club, please fill out the form below. To find out more about starting a club, keep reading…
The Keys to Success
There are a handful of elements that will lead to the successful establishment of a team. Here’s a checklist. There are more details for each of these below.
- Organizers (1 player, 1 adult)
- Recognition from your school
- Equipment
- Recruitment and promotion
- Practice
- Getting connected to other clubs
- Games and tournaments
- Maintaining the club year to year
- Building your club for the future
Building Your Club Organizers
In order to get your club off the ground, you need to have the right organizers. At the very least, you must have a player and a teacher. Each of those people has a different role in organizing your team.
The Player – The player organizer is often the catalyst for the club and is the organization’s person on the ground. The player is able to spearhead recruiting and many of the leadership responsibilities. The role is essentially a captain.
The Adult – It is essential to have an adult involved in the club’s organization. The adult can be the club’s liaison with the school’s administration and help the club become an official club and get field space and other resources from the school. The teacher’s role is mostly that of sponsor. Don’t be afraid to ask a teacher to be the sponsor for your Frisbee Club.
Recognition from your School
*Usually only applies in high schools*
Getting club status from your school is one of the most important and easy things you can do to get your club started. You will need a sponsor that is a school staff member. Rules on obtaining club status differ by each school, but your teacher/sponsor should know how to do it. If not, ask your athletics or activities director. Club status can give you access to field space, equipment, school insurance, the right to use the school’s name, and financial support. It will also allow you to advertise for your club in your school.
Equipment
Before you get going, you’ll need to invest in equipment. Luckily, everything you need for a frisbee club is inexpensive. There are many options for a Frisbee Kit, so visit Frisbee Rob’s online store and choose your equipment: https://www.dtworld.com/category-s/5186.htm.
Recruitment and Promotion
Promoting and recruiting for the clubwill have a significant impact on getting your club off the ground. First, schedule a time after school with your sponsor for an organizational meeting a couple weeks in advance. In the weeks and days prior to the meeting, be sure to carry a disc around school and throw whenever you get the chance. Put signs up around school and tell people about the meeting and make sure they invite others. Some people might have excuses like: “I’m not good enough”; “I don’t know how to play”; “I don’t know how to throw.” Encourage everyone: “You’ll get better”; “No one know how to play, yet”; “We’ll teach you to throw.”
The meeting should be attended and run by the captain. Start the meeting by showing some footage of frisbee (lots on Youtube). While the video is running pass around a sign-up list to get names, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses. Once the video is done the coach should tell everybody who s/he is and explain his or her experience. That should be followed with some questions and answers about frisbee and finally what they can expect out of practices and playing during the season. Find out what the best times for people to play are and set your first practice. The meeting shouldn’t take long and once you’re done, head outside to play some, but be sure to collect your sign-up sheet. After the meeting record all of the information from the sign-up sheet.
Practice
Prior to your first practice be sure to remind everybody using your contact information. For a new team, practice should focus on fundamental skill building and should include plenty of time to scrimmage. For ideas on how to teach skills and drills, check out the Disciplines, Ageless Game, or Flying Disc Week.
Warm up your body and stretch before playing. People will think twice about coming out to practice if their body still aches from the last practice. Have group stretches before and after practice. Stretching prevents injuries. Make sure you discuss the importance of stretching. Remember that practices should be fun. Also keep in mind that is fun to learn new skills and improve. Don’t overload players with new information, but give them enough that they can see tangible gains in their skills and knowledge of the sport. Use positive reinforcement when teaching new players to play.
Getting Connected to Other Clubs
Frisbee in all forms (especially ultimate and disc golf) is growing rapidly around the country. Many schools either have a club or would be interested in starting a club. The best thing to do is reach out to schools in your area and encourage to get a club started so you can support each other.
Games and Tournaments
Now that you are connected to other clubs in your area, you can start challenging each other with weekly games and records, and work together to plan a Frisbee Meet.
Maintaining the Club Year to Year
It’s important that when the player/leaders of a club graduate that the club doesn’t disappear the next year. Maintaining clubs is an important part of growing the sport so that in the future there are more opportunities to play frisbee at every level. There are two important things to do to make sure that your club continues. The first is to have an adult who will make sure the club happens the next year. The second is to have a younger student be an assistant captain. Make sure that the assistant is involved in all of the major organizational aspects of the club and knows what to do the next year as a captain. This will make your transition to the next year much easier.
Building Your Club for the Future
One step beyond simple maintenance is actually building your club for the future. If people are learning about frisbee in their PE class they will have a base when they come out to practices. Ageless Game and Flying Disc Week have many resources for teaching the sport, you can book Frisbee Rob to come to your school.