or however andriy would put it 
we need new players. how does your club do it?
2 Likes
Had some success with advertising a new player ‘introduction sessions’ that lasts over six weeks.
Basics of it are:
- One session a week, with a little training and drills and then pickup (1 experienced player on each team)
- Have mallets and balls available for the new players to buy before the end of the 6 weeks.
- The last session is a mini tournament
The mini tournament in my experience has been especially helpful. Not only is it fun but the players tend to make a leap in their progress. Also in Bern we currently have a fair few newbs who are since itching to play other tournaments.
Only other thing I’d say is that after the six weeks, although new players can look after themselves a bit more, but you still need to give them a space in addition to regular pick up.
That could be a continuous new player night, or perhaps just in the last 1-2 hours of a session games are organised according to intensity*
*not skill cos nobody likes to be told what games they are allowed to play or not.
6 Likes
Quick exercises to do with a first time player to make them feel more at ease on the court:
- Show them how to hold the mallet with the end of the shaft in the middle of their palm, making it easier for them to tripod.
- Get them to do some ball control off the bike. Knocking the ball side to side and small passes. The key here is that they don’t move their feet so that they control the position of the ball with the mallet alone. The default position of the ball should be ahead of them (2 O’Clock for a righty / 10 O’Clock for a lefty)
- Get them used to braking with the front brake, by pushing their body weight back as they do so. Start with two hands, move to one, get them to increase speed.
- Once they are braking comfortably ride around with them and then cut their line, simulating in game interactions. Again increase speed / intensity as they become more comfortable.
Top tip to tell a newb:
- “That ball is yours!”. Get them stuck in.
5 Likes
We had great success in Berlin following roughly what Emmet proposes here. After the mixed (where we always get lots of new people seeing the sport) we did 2 rookie days on the weekend followed by several weeks of rookie training once a week. We also organised cheap mallets for the to buy which really helped!
Instead of a one-off tournament we did a winter-ABC-league (playing a league game roughly every other week), this kept moral high in the cold Berlin winter and had the benefit that the more experienced A (and B) player(s) have a good motivation to train the rookie(s) in their team even on regular pick-ups.
For the future we might make the teams larger (4/5 players each) and play bench games. We think this would make the team more equal and importantly makes scheduling easier.
3 Likes
Another great way to get new players is to host a tournament in a prime location with high interaction with non players.
Love a polo festival with three courts and whatnot but definitely think clubs and individuals have been burnt out by putting on massive tournaments in playgrounds and carparks that don’t get a good return on potential new players, who are ultimately needed to keep the show going.
Also think as a rule would be cool for tournaments to do more in terms of actively publicising how a non player can become involved.
- Detailed Information stand about the sport and involvement at the organisation tent / place
- Basic information on how to get involved on the boards / around the court
- Announcements from organisers between games / before finals etc…
3 Likes
Completely agree. Such a shame there was no focus on recruitment at the grand royale! No shade, but what an opportunity! I’d try and build a mini try out corner…
2 Likes
+1, It is a good example, because LGR is excellently organised and I appreciate their efforts hugely (cos honestly it is one of the best tournaments I’ve had the pleasure of playing in).
But for me putting a little effort into recruitment is a bigger gift to the community than prizes or food for the players.
Berlin Mixed is a good example of a tournament that has resulted in lots of new players. Obviously a big part of that is that Templehof is a fantastic location, but were there any other tactics made by the club to recruit from the tournament? @momo
1 Like
We had two rookie days on the two weekends after the tournament. One on a Saturday, one on a Sunday (better than twice Sat or twice Sun, we thought).
To announce this we made flyers to hand out on the tournament (which we forgot to pick up on time 
) and some posters on the day. But I think most people we reached through Instagram.
And then we made sure to have enough bikes on the rookie days in different sized and all with flat pedals.
And once we had some rookies hooked, we supplied them with cheap mallets, to remove this hurdle.
2 Likes