Our club challenges and direction

Bicycle related chatter & discussion
Sim
Posts: 29
Joined: 08 Sep 2015, 13:32
Location: Annandale

Postby Sim » 31 Oct 2016, 15:37

I read an interesting article in Bicycling Australia magazine this week, where a bunch of club presidents were surveyed on a range of topics about the direction of their club and the challenges they face.

It made me feel a bit bad that I know so little about our club direction and challenges apart from what I read in the annual report and the newsletters that get sent ... I live in a bit of a bubble where I don't see or think much about what happens beyond the training rides I do and the people I meet on them.

For example:
- most clubs are primarily focussed on racing, 'participation' is a secondary focus and advocacy not much of a priority at all;
- a lack of volunteers seems to be the biggest challenge faced by clubs; and
- Cycling Australia came in for a belting as not providing much support (as opposed to Cycling NSW who seem to be quite good). Which was especially irritating to read having just parted with another $99 membership renewal :shock:

Anyway I'd love to know more about what our challenges are :D

Eleri
Posts: 1753
Joined: 31 Dec 2009, 08:43
Location: Erskineville

Postby Eleri » 01 Nov 2016, 18:13

I think we pride ourselves on being inclusive and participation really works for us. Our sheer size (I think we are now the biggest club in NSW) means that with something around 40% of our members holding a race licence, we still have more race licence holders than the majority of NSW clubs!

We've got 50 or so juniors that ride track and you probably don't see much of that Sim. And while it's true that "volunteers" are hard to come by, in fact we do pretty well on the big occasions (Christmas Carnivals at Tempe anyone?). It's always good to have more people putting their hands up for the very rewarding role of ride leader of course.

It's fair to say that cycling in Australia is trying to find its way and CA is no exception to that. We're a bit remote from anything they do and our representation at that level comes through CNSW.

I'm sure others have ideas too.

User avatar
JoTheBuilder
Posts: 1500
Joined: 19 Feb 2011, 15:32

Postby JoTheBuilder » 01 Nov 2016, 18:25

I've always felt that DHBC prides itself on 'participation'. Until people 'participate', you can't have racing or advocacy. I lived in Newcastle for a while and was keen to join a club up there but they all seemed to be focussed on racing and I didn't have the guts to join up. Fast forward 3 years and DHBC was the perfect place to learn the ins and outs of riding that culminated in me doing 1 or 2 races. I decided racing wasn't for me but I still had a wonderful group of friends with which I could ride with.


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