| I'm on the committee at Bowmen Of Adel; this is a topic that comes up regularly.
What we tend to see is a rush of enthusiasm to join at the end of a training course, an initial two or three attendances & then a fade off, with only a dedicated few coming all the time & becoming 'confirmed' archers. With this in mind we ran a tournament section especially for beginners at the end of the summer but still only got a relatively small turnout.
We've now introduced an 'achievement card' to help archers who finish their initial course & are wondering what to do next- I certainly felt a bit lost when I started & it took me a while to get into the idea of distance, class etc- what we do is encourage people towards shooting 3rd class through stepped achievement levels. A few people have taken this on but it'll be next year before we see if it really works.
I think the main issue with new people joining a club is actually that the existing members make them welcome, and that they feel they know someone will be there to smile & say 'hello' if they come on their own. Come next season's beginners' courses I think we'll have to take a hard look at that to make sure it's happening!
Pete |