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1. ADVERTISE: Many students at the University don’t know about the existence of a Synchro Club. Perhaps those people would be interested in joining?

I. How to do it?
Ø Put up posters around the different buildings of the University and Residences during the first week of school to advertise the Synchro Club and its upcoming information meeting, which should be held during the second week of school. It is a good idea to perhaps have the picture of last year’s team/trio/duet/solo on the poster as to capture one’s attention when reading a bulletin board full of other ads. Also if you can, print the posters on bright color paper to make them stand out even more.

Ø Try to get the sport section of your university newspaper to publish your team meeting date. Also there is usually the publication of an Intercollegiate Magazine, which contains all competition dates and first meeting for all sports team and clubs. I believe this comes out Mid-August or even earlier. Contact your intercollegiate office to find out.

Ø If someone on the team has time, build a website on yahoo or any other free site, which will contain the team’s information, pictures, and any other information you wish to post. That way if someone is interested, they can go on the site to find out more about the team.

Ø WORD OF MOUTH. I think this can be one of the most powerful ways of advertising your team. Talk to friends and whoever you meet. This is basically how the McGill team grew so big and fast!

2. ADMINISTRATION : The students should run the team and tasks should be divided up.

I. Which administrative positions should your team have? It all depends! Here are some suggestions and some of what McGill currently has:
Ø President, who is usually the intercollegiate liaison and who is basically in charge of the club. This person should try to get to know the different people that work in the intercollegiate office and what their role is. This will be helpful when the team has questions or need help.
Ø Treasurer, who looks after collecting team/uniform fees and who takes care of the budget. A budget should be done at the beginning of each season as well as end of year report with the actual spending
Ø Alumni Newsletter Editor, who takes care of putting together the newsletter we send out each year and who is the representative to the Alumni House
Ø Fundraising Chairperson, who takes care of planning fundraising events
Ø Uniform Committee (2 people), who take care of uniforms and ordering them.
Ø Captains
Ø Head Coach

II. First Team Meeting-what should be given out?
Ø An information sheet indicating practice times, costs of joining, competitions the team is planning to attend, fundraising activities, administrative positions to be filled and any other information relevant. At this meeting, coaches/president should also outline what is expected of a swimmer joining the club.
Ø Also this meeting is a great opportunity to gain information from the new swimmers and get to know them. Coaches can hand out a questionnaire which asks a variety of questions from your name, where you are from, where you swam, what you expect in a team/club, past experiences, what you want to accomplish, etc.

III. Plan the Year:
Ø Buy a calendar or print months from the Internet and post it up in your team room or pool area. President/coaches should write down deadline dates to set for the club with regards to music, routines, newsletter, team fees, ordering uniforms, etc. Also write down the dates of competitions and fundraising events you plan to have. This way the team can know where the club is going and what needs to be accomplished. Basically this serves as the team’s agenda. You can also write down swimmers’ b-day or anything else you want to make it more interesting!!
 

3. FUNDRAISING : We can no longer depend on getting money from our universities so you need to get creative with your fundraising activities. Here are some ideas:
Ø Synchro Alumni Newsletter: It talks about how the team performed last season and also about the upcoming season and gives a list of this year’s swimmers with their pictures and biography. We also take the opportunity to ask for money. McGill’s Synchro Club is mainly fundraised by our extensive list of alumnae. Ask your university’s Alumni department to find out more about this. This might be harder when you are starting a new team since you need some years to build up the synchro alumni list.
Ø Grant Applications: Ask your Student Body or Athletics office to see if they have any grants that the Synchro Team might be eligible for.  I think we managed to get $1000 last season from this.
Ø Coat Check: If your university has a bar/pub
Ø Beer selling (or drinks) at a University Sport Game: You can collect money from tips
Ø Fundraising parties
Ø Watershow
Ø Ken Cantero Meet: We organize a synchro competition for younger girls (12-15yrs) from various clubs in Montreal.

4. TEAM/CLUB SPIRIT: Try to have a fun, positive and learning atmosphere. If the girls are enjoying coming to practice they will attend them and will be less likely to drop out of the Club. Also the more the girls get to know each other, the better they will be able to work together and swim as a team.
Ø Go out as a team/club once in a while or have pizza nights. Make sure everyone is included (as well as the novices)
Ø Christmas and end of year party, etc…

5. AWARDS: They are not necessary but can be encouraging for the swimmers that deserve them. I am not sure how it works with the other universities, but at McGill the Intercollegiate Sports only gives out the Most Valuable Swimmer Award for the Synchro Team during the Athletics Gala. Some years ago, the team started to give out its own awards: Most Dedicated Swimmer, Rookie of the Year, Achievement Award for Excellence in Academics and Athletics, and Most Improved Swimmer. All swimmers vote for someone they think deserves the award so as to be fair to everyone.
 

GOOD LUCK AND HAVE A GREAT SEASON!!!

TWO ADD ON TO KRISTINA'S ARTICLE - Added by Anne Smeeton:
1. COACHES
Good coaches make the administration job so much easier - don't wait until September if you know of any coaches before that.  If you have coaches in September, it makes it so much easier for practices and for the swimmers expectations.  You can start right away with team practices and setting up routines.

BUDGETS!!!!
McGill also does a budget every year;

Revenues such as Team Fees, Fundraising, Water Show etc are listed and then all the expenses are budgeted such as travel and accommodation, team suits, bathing caps, fundraising costs etc.
With a budget in place it is so much easier to know how much extra money you will need from fees or fundraising activities and it helps with planning your travel and accommodation planning.