Guidelines to planning your Club Open Day

IntroductionRunning an “Open Day” at your club may bring a range of benefits to the club. First and foremost it is the opportunity to create a lasting first impression on the new girls who arrive to try rugby and the parents who bring them along. It can also act as your Registration day allowing children and parents to get to become familiar with the facilities.

The Open Day PlanThere are four phases of planning an Open Day event and they are outlined below;

Define the event – what are its objectives of the day, what is the vision that the stakeholders have, what is the budget, who is on the committee , what is happening on the day and what is the pricing structure of event (if any).

Marketing the event – Who are you targeting to come along on the day and why should they come, how to contact these individuals, which marketing material to use and how this links into media plan.

Operational plan – preparation of the venue and the staff, development of a customer experience and delivery on the day.

Review – what went well and what didn’t.

PHASE ONEYou will need to develop a committee to run the event. This may be made up of the Mini Committee in the club which should already be in place and others who you may want to invite for their assistance or expertise. Some examples below:

Coordinator for Girls Rugby Mini Rugby Coordinator if applicable Youth Rugby Coordinator if applicable Women's rugby Manager and Captain if applicable Volunteers/Parents of the Minis One member of the social committee One Marketing Person The grounds manager (optional) Bar manager (optional)

Objectives of the day (change to suit your own team’s needs)The committee in charge of the Open Day should decide on the objectives they wish to achieve. Some examples below:

To recruit players, aged between 6 – 12, for the girl’s only minis section in the club. To create visibility/brand awareness for the club in its local community To create an event that will attract individuals and families to the ground and provide a fun day out To introduce potential players, of all abilities to the game of rugby To introduce potential players to current team members (if applicable) To show potential new players how enjoyable the game of rugby can be. To get rid of any negative preconceptions that they may have about women’s rugby.

The Open Day activities

http://www.irishrugby.ie/women/give_it_a_try.php

IRFU “Give it a Try” campaign; An IRFU initiative which aims to assist clubs in their recruitment of women and girls in to their club.

The most important thing about your Open Day is that it is fun and enjoyable to all. The activities you choose to use to create this fun and enjoyable atmosphere and experience could vary depending on the objectives of the day. However, for the purpose of this we will focus on recruitment of young girls for the minis section. Clubs might want to use some of the examples below;

Meet and greet to all arrivals. This may happen at the clubhouse when players are looking for the changing rooms. Official welcome by a member of the club/team e.g. club president, team coach/manager/captain. Introduction to rugby through a basic, fun training session outlining some of the things that they can expect to learn.

The session should involve lots of fun games with plenty of chasing, movement, catching, passing, throwing, etc. Information stations giving out information packs about the club Entertainment/DJ/Music playlist Food e.g. BBQ, Pizza’s. Cake, book, flower/plant stalls Children’s games, bouncy castle, egg and spoon, sack races, Balloons, Clowns, etc.

PHASE TWO

What is the marketing message?

One possible message on the banners, flyers etc. could be;

GIRLS MINIS OPEN DAYCome down to our Open Day on ......DATE.... to give rugby a try.

Find out what we have to offer you at YOUR CLUB RFC

No experience necessary just come down and have some FUN!!

Developing the Marketing PlanThe Open Day Committee should develop a plan which will include;

1) The time Line – what is happening and when it is happening2) The Marketing Plan – which marketing channels is the club using and which messages are being passed through these

channels.

Example of marketing channels Banners (outside the club) Posters (in the locality and schools) Flyers (to all in the boy’s minis section, schools, outside supermarkets, etc.) Press releases (in the local newspaper/radio station to advertise the event) E mail template to all current club members. Social Media templates (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) Word of Mouth – can all members be made responsible to invite certain people to the event e.g. ex-players, families in

the locality, players from the local GAA, Soccer, Basketball team, etc. Have current sponsors been invited to the Open Day in order to see their product or have they been asked to

contribute?

PHASE THREEThe Operational Plan

http://www.irishrugby.ie/women/give_it_a_try.php

IRFU “Give it a Try” campaign; An IRFU initiative which aims to assist clubs in their recruitment of women and girls in to their club.

This involves the delivery of the event; what is happening on the day and what needs to be prepared beforehand?

On the day – - What needs to happen on the day?- Who will set up the games/drills? Who will coach on the day?- Is there a timetable of events and what are the roles and responsibilities of everyone who is involved?- Who will take names and contact details of all who arrive? - Who will plan and run the coaching session? - Have you invited a player from the Ireland Women’s National squad to attend?

Much of what happens on the day will depend on the objectives for the event. As an example, the aim is to recruit new players then how will you encourage them to play rugby and staywith your club? Perhaps having a prize/goodie bag for all new recruits? Reduced membership if they pay before a certain date? Have you collected all of their email addresses so that they can be sent a reminder email about training?

Information Booklet - the club could aim to produce a small “Booklet” explaining what the club has to offer in all areas and who the contact person is.

PHASE FOURThe review and follow up. It is essential that there is a review about the day, what went well, what didn’t and what you would change for next year.

It is also essential that the information collected is acted upon – are individuals sent a follow up email reminding them of the start of training? And was the ex-player who said she may be interested in coaching called up after the event? Were the parents who said they would help out contacted and given responsibilities?

More importantly, keeping a track of the number who attended, the number who returned for a second training session and the number who are still playing is very important. This will tell you how successful your Open Day was and how successful you are at keeping the players in the team.

http://www.irishrugby.ie/women/give_it_a_try.php

IRFU “Give it a Try” campaign; An IRFU initiative which aims to assist clubs in their recruitment of women and girls in to their club.