Getting others involved! - Inspiring your mates to join your team

Social Sport is more fun when you have mates that you can play with. After all, the idea of social sport is to make new friends and create memories with existing ones. You may have mates that don’t play sports that you are keen on trying to persuade to come out and give it a go. This will benefit you and your mates both physically and mentally, and I strongly suggest that if you participate in any social sort, and have mates that don’t play, work on them to come out and give it a crack! Here are some ways to inspire your mates to join your sporting team and create long lasting memories.

Social sport can be a daunting thing for some people for a variety of reasons, however the key reasons for people putting off participating in physical activity include fear of being judged on things like appearance and ability, inability to dedicate the time to play due to other commitments (work, family etc.), and financial situation can also be a crucial factor, as many payments need to often be made such as subs, registration, gear etc. These all seem like big problems, but with support from you and the club, these problems can easily be handled. Ensuring your friends that we all have to start somewhere, and that current ability doesn't matter, and they will have the right people working with them to help them improve their game as they go, and not pressuring them to play every game as other commitment such as work and family take priority, and if finances are the issue, many clubs set up payment plans to help out each individual. At the end of the day, support from you, the coaches, teammates and all club members are often the deciding factor in whether or not people want to begin playing, and then continue to stick around.

Many social leagues exist across the nation in small towns, suburbs and cities, where mates can get together, form a team and enter it in the local competition. These are often entertaining as you get to choose your team's name, get your own uniform created, and have a ball with your mates, and make potential new mates from opposing teams in the process. If you aren’t keen on the competitiveness of a governed league, then this is the perfect place for you to play and is also a great way to get you and your mates out of the house and keep fit! All it takes is for one mate to say they are keen on entering a team and messaging mates to get them to join. The fees for these leagues are often a lot cheaper than governed leagues too.

If you are keen on playing, but simply don't know what sport to play, or where to play, message some mates and see where they play. You can always go out to one of their training sessions and decide if it is something you want to pursue. While playing sports is one thing, you need to have a good atmosphere around you to really enjoy social sport, so if you are part of a club, or want to form a team with your mates, ensure that the culture is always positive as that is the best way to keep people around.

These are some ways to get your mates to join you and play with you and your team. By implementing what has been stated above, you and your mates will be creating lifelong memories playing sports together in no time at all!