Best Tips For Running A Winter Sports Clinic

Are you thinking about running a winter sports clinic for your sports club or league? It’s certainly a good idea to keep the athletes engaged during what can be an off-season, plus a great revenue driver for a business during slower months.

If a winter clinic is something that you are considering, it’s time to get the ball rolling. Here are some of the best expert tips to help you run a clinic this winter.

1. Teamwork: In order to successfully run a winter clinic or anything, it takes a team. Figure out who is going to be part of organizing, staffing, and running the clinics. Once you get your squad together, you can begin delegating tasks to people. If this is your first year running a clinic it’s a good idea to lean on others to make sure the production element succeeds the planning stages.
2. Find a location: If you are running a winter clinic in a part of the country where weather drops and snow begins to fall, you will want to make sure you have a safe and warm indoor location for clinics. Indoor or outdoor clinics are personal preference, but make sure you have a location secured. This should be a top priority at the beginning, because without a space to play there won’t be a clinic.
3. Figure out your “why”: Why are you hosting a clinic? Is the clinic specialized or general? Answer questions early on so you can begin to market the concept. It’s totally okay if at the beginning you just know that you want to run a basketball clinic, but eventually start to figure out the time breakdown, what skillsets will be taught, and what kids and families can expect to get out of the event.
4. Timing: When do you want to open registration and market the clinic? Look into your timing and focus your tasks and announcements around when you want to operate the clinic. If you are hoping to have the clinic in January, it’s a good idea to open up registration at least a month in advance. This will allow your time enough time to figure out number of registrants and how the day will operate.
5. Open registration: Complete your registration forms and share it out with the world. Make sure it’s featured on your website, email it to past club, league and team members and broadcast it out on social media. Once you get the registration forms live and begin marketing it, it’s essentially go-time! This period of time is essential for running successful clinics because you need players and families to make it happen.
6. Run a “mock” clinic: Practice makes perfect! Get your team together and walk through a practice clinic ahead of the first day of events. This will get the flow of the day down and work out any potential challenges. Use the “mock clinic” as a way to run through everything as you would the first day. Make sure your staff is on time, the space is organized, and the activities run according to schedule.

These 6 tips are just a starting place for running a successful winter clinic. There are many other things to consider, but before you start ordering t-shirts and figuring out a game-plan for anything going wrong, focus on these tips to get you off the ground. Remember, winter clinics are a great way for your organization to showcase your offerings and grow your network. Kids should come away from the clinic inspired, fulfilled, and more skilled than when they came in.

Want to learn more? Get Ready for Fall and Winter Sports with the New TeamSnap for Clubs & Leagues.