One of the biggest problems eL Clubs face

One of the biggest problems that eL clubs face is the lack of volunteers to help out within the club. Thats something that a few of us have been discussing recently.

Its all very well paying for promotions officers etc. but if there aren't enough people helping out then its too big a job for one guy on his own. In some cases there is an expectation of the clubs to continually resource people to take on board tasks for the club, but the same people completely disappear when the help is actually sought.

Compared to GAA and Rugby clubs, eL clubs (from what i can see) fall way behind in this area and is probably a reason why some eL clubs struggle to have any impact on their communities. The lack of activity from clubs and the people who support those clubs results in little or no contribution to the community as a whole and in some cases results in apathy towards the club.

Whos to blame? what can be done to curb this?

From where I sit the biggest problem with the eL is that most of the money goes to the players, with precious little left for any form of development. The volunteers that are in the clubs get burnt out from the constant cash chase, and eventually they leave and a new "fresh" group step in, and the cycle continues. Unless and until the clubs face this fact then there is no future for professional football in this country. We all love the game, and we the volunteers put in the effort for the love of the game, but somehow when these players sign a "pro" contract, everything revolves around them, and the spirit of one for all goes out the window.

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Originally Posted by number16

From where I sit the biggest problem with the eL is that most of the money goes to the players, with precious little left for any form of development.

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I am just talking about volunteers and their impact on clubs. You spoke about three or four different issue. I just want to focus on this one.

Rovers is run by volunteers.

KOH

A face: Definitely identify very strongly with your post above. We're caught between a vibrant junior soccer scene, connacht rugby, GAA via either club or county attractions.

Only success on the park attracts new volunteers. Maintaining it is the big problem.

It's a labour of love for most.

We'd cope if everything went belly up, but we do what we can to keep senior soccer in our own neck of the woods.

Harps is the same, pretty much everything is done on a volutarily basis, although we do have a paid financial controller.

I do think clubs need to think more long term and try to direct more efforst towards forging stronger community identity, but this is easier said than done when there's always more work to be done than people to do it.

I don't necessarily think we're that different to the GAA and rugby though, but I do think that people get of sick of working just to see all the money go to players who often don't give a crap.

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Originally Posted by NY Hoop

Rovers is run by volunteers.

KOH

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No non-playing paid administrators at all?

Monaghan United is also run 100% by volunteers.
We have employed our first full-time employee this year, a full-time coach who works at all levels from mini-leagues to the senior side (former player Thomas Heffernan who has a UEFA B Licence).
I hear what Galway Harps is saying, it's hard to sell tickets or whatever fundraising we do only to see the proceeds head down the M1 with a bunch of journeymen mercenaries

the biggest problem facing el football nearly dissapeared with a can of petrol

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Originally Posted by A face

The lack of activity from clubs and the people who support those clubs results in little or no contribution to the community as a whole and in some cases results in apathy towards the club.

Whos to blame? what can be done to curb this?

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well you said it there. clubs treating their own communities with distain and failing to get involved with the community at any level comes back to haunt such clubs. some clubs only pay attention to their supporters and community when they face going to the wall. many a volunteer has got involved with helping their clubs only to be treated poorly despite giving up alot of their time.

who's to blame ? the old generation of people who control the clubs. they think they can treat people poorly and these people will still turn up and support the club.

i dont know what can be done to curb it . out with the old and in with the new i suppose. but EL football is so riddled with bad politics that change can be something very alien to some people. personally i dont think a promotions officer can repair the damage already done by a club.

cork already had a community liason officer in place and i thought this was excellent. cant remember her name. anyway it's great to see it done. some clubs only doing club promotions officers now cos they have to or are getting grant for it. otherwise they'd never do it or even think to do it. clubs like cork and derry can be held up as examples of what an EL club should be. some other clubs wouldnt know what proactive means let alone adopt such a policy

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Originally Posted by A face

I am just talking about volunteers and their impact on clubs. You spoke about three or four different issue. I just want to focus on this one.

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A face,

I would have to agree with his point. So much money goes to players that volunteers are always chasing cash to pay players, never mind develop projects which would develop the club's identity.

I have been volunteering in some form at Derry for 4 years. I've been travelling RTW since Oct and being away has made me realise the amount of time and effort I put in when I was there. I am not looking for plaudits, and I would do it all again, but it can take over your life.

At Derry we have a number of committees comprising of volunteers. These are very useful as people start off in them and then gravitate upwards. All of our current board have spent time on these committees in the past and they understand the time and effort that it involves.

I think the wages thing is a huge reason why we fall behind other sports in this area. GAA clubs have volunteers as they know that all the fundraising they are doing is for "the club" and goes towards new facilities etc, it is not going into the pockets of players.

When you spend hours during the week badgering friends, family,workmates etc to see your team give another gutless performance it is very frustrating as you know you worked your balls off to get the money that pay the wages for these players. It is unsurprising that people get volunteer fatigue and drop away.

All very true, Maribor puts it very well, and I speak as somebody who volunteers a hell of a lot of time for my club.

Worth noting that theres a wider, lifestyle / culture issue too. I remember reading arecent survery, think perhaps it arose out of the last census or the one before, that volunteering is a dying phenomenon. Celtic tiger killed it apparently, and the vast majority of Irish people are too busy chasing their own mortgage payment to volunteer for any club or community enterprise.

I know the thread is about volunteering, but paying for full time marketing / promotion / sponsorship people has got to be seen as an investment, not a cost. It's too important to be left to someone to do on a part-time basis or as a glorified hobby. The trouble is, most clubs are too used to just viewing ANY kind of expenditure as a mere cost - and therefore to be avoided - that they can't see the bigger picture. I'm not knocking what volunteers do for the various clubs, but in something like this, if you leave it to amateurs, you get amateurish results.

If you pay someone €50k or whatever a year to do the job, after they raise the first €50k, everything they bring in is pure profit for the club. If they're any way worth their salt, they'll get that much just for match sponsorship and the advertising hoardings around the pitch. Then there's jersey sponsorship and fund-raising promotions, etc etc.

By the same token, the cost of marketing clubs to their local communities is an investment, not a cost. Say you spend €10k in the local press / on the local radio to advertise your home games. If you get just 40 - that's right, FORTY - more people coming to every home game (at €15 a skull for 17 games), then it's paid for itself and everyone over and above the 40 is pure profit. Cup games? All profit. European games? All profit.

This is one area where clubs outside Dublin should have an advantage cos the local media is stronger and allows more focus on one team, whereas anything us, Rovers or Bohs might do would have less impact.

There'd also be a knock-on benefit in terms of coverage of matches - if say, Harps were to offer Highland Radio or the Donegal Democrat €X amount of advertising, it shouldn't be too hard to link the spend to a guarantee of more editorial coverage for Harps. Same goes for the other country teams.

(PS Dcfcsteve, before you go attacking this post, remember we're back to loaves-and-fishes marketing :) )