Activity Reporting Year 3: The Facts

The iSquash Activity Reporting tool was initiated in 2015 to help us understand people’s participation habits:

• View the Year One (2015) findings (including programme insights). Click here
• View the Year Two (2016) findings (including regional breakdown). Click here

What we have seen is that a focus on retention as well as acquisition is crucial to growing your club. By helping people fall in love with squash and your club, you’ll be able to tackle the challenges and make your club more resilient. So where do you begin?

Group Programmes

People are the heart of your club. We know that people join a squash club to be around others. This means that playing squash with others helps keep people coming back for more. Why? Because group programmes are motivating and motivated club members keep coming back for more. This means engaging your members in group activities from day one is central to increasing their motivation and belonging.

Year Three (2017) findings

Affiliated clubs were asked to record details of programme participation activity throughout the year. During 2017 a total of 162 clubs entered information. This has been grouped into programme categories that reflect the different playing communities on the New Zealand squash athlete pathway. Click here

Our findings – highlights:

• There has been year-on-year growth in overall participation in programmes delivered by clubs and districts.
• Junior programmes (including schools), business house leagues, club nights and interclub competitions continue to account for more than 85% of all participation and are key weekly activities in most clubs.
• There has been an increased focus on providing extra activities to further engage players, such as ladders / leagues.
• Clubs and districts continue to target different groups with new short-term programme opportunities for youth, beginner adults, women and fitness enthusiasts.

How your club can help more people fall in love with squash

If gaining and / or maintaining member numbers is important to your club, group programmes are an ideal way to engage with and retain people. To get started you should:

1. Speak to your members – are there programmes you could be running or ones that aren’t well attended? Find out why this is. Perhaps your coaches need some upskilling or the timing doesn’t suit enough people.
2. Ensure you have programmes to meet the different demographics and playing needs of your club.
3. Be inclusive and support your new members with programmes that suit their needs.

Remember, the more of your members that play together, the better. This means they’ll build stronger connections and are more likely to stay.