VC Jubilee Youth Cycling Club

Great Britain’s phenomenal success at the Beijing Olympics cemented cycling’s status as one of the country’s most successful professional sports. Cycling clubs are seeing a boost in membership thanks to the sport’s high profile successes. So how are these volunteer-run clubs coping with the surging popularity of the sport whilst maintaining the level of support they offer to existing members and volunteers? Well some of the most successful are turning to external support systems and management resources, such as runningsports, a portfolio created and funded by Sport England which provides skills and support to sporting volunteers including tutored workshops and lots of free resources.

Sally Page, who runs VC Jubilee youth cycling club alongside husband Roy, is in charge of membership and coaching at the Shoreham-by-Sea youth development club. Founded in 1998, the club takes on cyclists aged 9 to18 and welcomes youngsters aged 7 or 8 provided they are accompanied by a parent. The club’s committee found runningsports’s online resources and practical workshops an invaluable source of assistance as they put together their development plan. Sally explains how runningsports resources helped the club to focus on their goals: “we attended the “Awards for All” runningsports workshop and used the “action planning for your club” workbook. The clear, concise ‘how-to’ nature of the information really helped us when we were putting together our club development plan, making the document seem easier to tackle by providing a straight-forward template to follow. In turn, we were able to focus our energies on recruitment, clarify our goals and follow up on new enquiries more quickly.

“I definitely think that using the resources available through runningsports is part of what’s helped us grow recently. The runningsports information helped us stand back and review the aims of the club, so that we could see where we needed to stretch ourselves. We’ve seen a boost in membership, particularly from females, which is very positive.

”We’ve also used some of the free runningsports quick guides, which helped us to manage and acknowledge our growing number of volunteers, particularly in terms of putting together the most relevant and useful training plans for them.”

Giving fresh ideas and advice
With 50 members aged 9 to18 (12 of whom are female), VC Jubilee youth cycling club is an important and recognised part of the local community. Their members participate in various types of cycling activities, from mountain-biking, track cycling and cyclo-cross to road riding. They have formed a partnership with a local adult cycling club so that junior members have an exit route and do not have to give up the sport at 18. “Lots of our older kids have returned to us as coaches,” says Sally, “which is rewarding for us and them, and inspiring for the other youngsters. We currently have two 16 year olds who have completed Level One coaching and are extremely competent assistant coaches. Thanks to external resources like runningsports, we are able to support more volunteers which in turn enables us to take on a greater level of members. The club is going from strength to strength.”

The club’s volunteer resources and membership has varied throughout its 10 year history, at times dipping well below its current successful levels. Sally and her fellow volunteers have always had their own ideas about advertising and recruiting but she says that it’s good to have reassurance that they are on the right track. “It’s encouraging to have the support of the runningsports resources which allow us to benchmark what we’re doing, remind us that we are doing the right things and enable us to come up with new ideas,” she confirms.

If you’re involved in managing a club and need to tackle your development plan, come up with new recruitment or fundraising ideas or want to benchmark against other clubs, Sally Page’s experience at VC Jubilee Youth Cycling Club proves that making use of external resources such as runningsports can help you make substantial changes simply.