Calum Meston, Tennis coordinator from the University of Edinburgh presented to education establishments - universities, colleges and schools from around the country at the Scottish forum earlier this month, on how they can further increase tennis participation and drive forward growth successfully in club and venue management with ClubSpark.
Calum opened up the day
with a discussion about what systems and processes were already being used at
various student clubs, then proceeded into a presentation around his reasons for using
ClubSpark, how this increased his engagement and why other establishments would
also benefit from what the platform offers.
At Edinburgh University, ClubSpark has been the key to boosting membership and participation in classes this year with only introducing the platform in June – just prior to the start of semester one.
The university has seen a rise of 15% in participation across all classes which include - cardio tennis, ability level coaching, social tennis, and BUCS performance training. Calum says, by posting regularly and linking back to social media, it has made organising and managing sessions much easier than in the past from using their own personal website.
Using the news tab to link Tennis Scotland with the LTA meant they could promote coach education and help members gain their level 1 and 2 coaching qualifications. This, in turn, has resulted in more coaches helping out at the club and also lifted the standard of players on a faster rate. This has been vital to their growth; most classes now tend to have 30-40 participants on average per session. Having more coaches available has given players more one-to-one coaching time.
For Calum and his team, this is a no-brainer. An easy-to-use system, simple registration process, with easy payment processes whilst delivering great results.
Universities, colleges, and school tennis clubs can gain a range of benefits through affiliation with the LTA including access to ClubSpark with website, booking, coaching, and payment processing all built in.