Six clubs from the north of Scotland attended a Club Accelerator workshop in Inverness, the first of these UK-wide workshops in Scotland.
The objective of the workshop was to bring clubs together to ignite conversations around club development and to think strategically about club sustainability and long-term goals.
Invited clubs were encouraged to bring two to three representatives along to the day resulting in a great mix of key decision makers for clubs attending and engaging with the workshop from committee members and club leaders to coaches.
The workshop was broken down into different themes to provide clubs with a broad perspective on various strategies they could pursue to enhance their sustainability. Such as exploring their club’s vision and mission, engagement with the local community, identifying different marketing channels and exploring their potential effectiveness, and discussing the importance of forward planning when it comes to developing their club.
Sharing their thoughts on the day, Moira Stewart, treasurer of Highland Budokan Judo Club said: “It’s been really good today to get all the clubs from the North of Scotland together to talk through the different issues we’re all having and getting JudoScotland’s support on different approaches, techniques and skills that we can use to try and help our clubs grow and be more successful in the communities.”
The day provided an opportunity to spark conversations with clubs to begin thinking more intentionally about ways to develop and grow their clubs. The workshop provided the opportunity for clubs to begin reflecting and reviewing what’s working and where there is scope to develop so that they can thrive both on and off the mat.
Invergordon Judo Club Head Coach Damien Fenwick enjoyed collaborating with other clubs who are facing similar challenges to them: “Today was a brilliant day, we covered quite a lot about how we could become better as a community club, a lot of interesting stuff to take back to the club.”
Representatives from High Life Highland attended the workshop to engage with clubs and explore the support they can offer, ranging from funding opportunities and coach education to building partnerships aimed at expanding sports programmes across the North.
Hugo Crush, Community Sports Hub Officer said: “It’s always great working with Governing Bodies and to have JudoScotland in the Highlands. We’re trying to encourage more Sports Governing Bodies to come north so all the support for these guys is brilliant, it’s been an excellent day.”
JudoScotland Club Support Officer Laura Kirkhouse said: “It was brilliant to see a variety of representatives from clubs across the North of Scotland come together and focus on the ‘off-the-mat’ aspects of club development – sharing ideas, learning from each other, and exploring practical ways to grow clubs.
We want to thank Highland Budokan, Northern Judo, Invergordon Judo Club, Alness Judo Club, Evanton Judo Club, and Elgin Judo Club for their engagement in the workshop which we hope to bring to other judo communities across Scotland in the future.”
If you have any questions or want to learn more about the Club Accelerator Workshop, please contact your Club Support Officer here.