Set up a University Wakeboard Club! It’s great experience, perfect for your CV and it’s fun! Persuasion is easy now it is BUSA recognized, get someone trained up to win the beginner category and you’re in the points. After knowing how intimidating it is to set one up here is a bit of a hand, it is definitely worth it in the long run as that’s how we ended up here.
For all universities, the exact things you will need to set up a club (not society as this may prevent future funding) vary, however this is a basic guideline, and you can always email me at sam@loch-stock.com if you need a hand.
First of all you need to think what you can offer members. It is helpful if there is a lake nearby with year round facilities, as remember the majority of university time is during the ‘off’ season. Plan your transport in advance, don’t assume there will be minibuses available through the uni, it isn’t as easy as it sounds. We have done car pools with any extras coming and going by train. This also means that the club may be there for the day but individuals with lectures can still get there. You don’t need exact days just yet but speak to the owner and see if they can hook you up, remind them you will be bringing large numbers when they would usually be quiet, if they have a brain that should do the trick!
Alliance magazines are available for your club for a year subscription of 30 each issue. You can either cover costs and use them to entice people to your amazing sport, or sell them and make money- we like this!
Think about what you personally can offer them. For us it was unlimited access to Dunfermline as I have keys but also discounts at places we had organized for Loch Stock. If you work, speak to your boss about something they can offer the club, they will probably support you for taking the initiative and even if they can’t help they should point you in the right direction.
Next you need a plan. This should be a rough idea of where you, as president, plan to take the club within the set up year. A few ideas of this is regular training, socials, weekend trips to LLWB, creating a presence at student nationals and following the Loch Stock tour. This should be enough ammo for a meeting with your Sports Union (SU) president. From here they will tell you where to go.
You will probably need a constitution and a safety policy, for this try and get a copy off a different club at your uni, they all have to have them. We used table tennis and badminton!
From here on it is all specific to what your SU needs, but it is a good place to start and don’t wait for them to give the approval before you start getting people involved, do it now!! Set it up on facebook as there is probably someone else out there willing to help; every time you go riding get it out on the internet so people know, even if it’s just one or two different people every time it is still spreading the word!
