Can You Help This Mom? Welcoming New Club Members

We are a military family and move often. Our skater has had to adjust to new rinks, new coaches, and new clubs more times than I would like to recall. Arriving at a new rink, joining the local club and then never being welcomed or contacted is a big time bummer! One thing that might be nice is for your club to post intros about the new members on a club board. Just a short summary that might include a picture, short background, interests outside skating, coaches–something that encourages other members to recognize and welcome new members.

At our club the only official thing that new members have to do is sign our yearly contract that details the rules of the club (we don't have a lot, mostly it is about fees, rates, practice times, and discounts through using the rink's ProShop versus buying equipment elsewhere). As for a welcoming committee, there isn't much of one. Mostly it is the coaches who get the new skaters up to speed, and other parents tend to help out as they see fit. I will say the parents of the younger kids do tend to be rather friendly at our rink and help each other out, but the adult skaters not so much.

I think maybe having a general schedule of the year would be good to give to new parents (competition and show dates if available, test days if they are known, and any other major fund raising or other events) and perhaps an expected cost next to each item (entry fee, coaching fee, etc.) so they can see what is happening and when. That way it might be easier for them to budget time and expenses for their first year, and even if they don't participate at all of the events, they can at least be aware of what is available.

I like the “guest” who is a military family. We're in the same boat. We lived in Maryland and were a part of a club for 2 years. Never saw a welcome from anyone. Then we moved to New York. We've been here 2 years. Again, no welcome. Now we're up to move again. Boy, if I'd known that clubs could welcome people, I would have volunteered for that one myself! Where's the welcome wagon at most clubs? Being in the military is rough but as skaters (or in my case the parent) we try to give our children some resemblance of stability by keeping them in the same activities. That's why ice skating is perfect! But it would make transitions so much easier if parents not only welcomed newcomers, but also get the kids involved. Find out how old the new skaters are and introduce them to kids that are around the same age and perhaps even in the same skating levels. That way they might make a friend and feel that much closer to being a part of a real club!

I'm an individual memeber of USFSA so I don't have any figure club specific advice. However, I did run a Toastmasters club as an officer for several years. We always emphasised welcoming in new members so that cliques didn't form. New members alwasy bring in new energy and new ideas which keep the club vital and growing. Here are a few things we did.
1) Welcome packet: this included several forms such as program information, a welcome letter from the president, a list of contacts, the last newsletter that went out, how our club fit into the national and international organization
2) Meet the officers lunch: this had two purposes the newbies got to meet the people who run the club in person in an informal setting and it was the time to have a Q&A where no questions were too stupid to ask
3) greeter; someone was assigned to greet people when they arrived at regular meetings and to answer questions by new people

I believe these could be readily adapted to a FSC.

Almost forgot, the meet the officers meeting was also used to assign mentors to the new members. It gave the newbies someone to call on for advice or information. I love the idea of having mentoring both for on ice and for families. One of the biggest complaints I hear from skaters is lack of knowledge of ice etiquette which often comes from newer kids/adults not knowing the correct areas to spin/jump in during the session. Since this changes from club to club a mentor would be tremendously helpful in this area.

We have something at our school called: “New Parent Partners” it is a wonderful idea. Experienced members with a child at a similar age/level are assigned a new member. They call up, introduce themselves and arrange a meeting with their children. (at the rink or for a local ice cream). The new parent has a chance ask questions and get to know another skating parent, and the new child makes a new ice friend

I think it's absolutely great that this club is trying to welcome new members. It will lead to a healthy, thriving club. I am ready to leave my current club because I have been a member for almost three years and there certainly was no welcoming or friendliness, not at the beginning and not now. Anyone know a friendly club in northern colorado? Lol.

I really like this new member board, guest! Thank you! I might do it on our website and give members permission to view it.

What a sad statement, anony. I hope that you find a club that's a good fit!

Hey, Silver Blades.

I think those are great ideas. You know, I could ask board members to welcome people at ice time. That's not hard to do.

Very smart – thanks!

Having a possible schedule of events is a great idea, invisible. Thank you very much.

These are some great ideas! I think it’s a wonderful, important idea for new members to be officially welcomed. Sadly, not enough clubs do that and it gets left to the friendly members of the club to do personally. It’s too easy for someone to be mistakenly left out that way.
http://RaisingFigureSkaters.com

These are some great ideas! I think it’s a wonderful, important idea for new members to be officially welcomed. Sadly, not enough clubs do that and it gets left to the friendly members of the club to do personally. It’s too easy for someone to be mistakenly left out that way.
http://RaisingFigureSkaters.com

I am the new member that you are trying to reach. My skater is Freestyle 2 (or 3?), age 8, and only skates once or twice a week. She has competed in local Basic Skills competitions, but has not done any testing.

I just read with interest your post about the levels – that is something I have been trying to figure out for awhile now. I asked her coach, but don’t want to take her hours to educate me, because I forget her answers sometimes. That would be something to include for parents new to skating.

Another thing to include is job descriptions of the various volunteer jobs. I want to volunteer rather than pay, but feel like I will make idiotic mistakes unless I have some training. So maybe a training meeting, which would count as an hour of volunteering? You might get more volunteers if we knew what was expected.

I like either the idea of a buddy family (though I am shy – this might be too direct for me) or a welcome meeting, that will outline things like etiquette, volunteer expectations, etc.

Thank you, novice! I’ll answer your question about levels next week (it’s pretty much testing week in the U.S.).

Thanks, too, for explaining that you need help with job descriptions. That’s really helpful, too.