Starting a club
Whilst starting a new club can be extremely rewarding, it can also be very challenging. Although clubs come in all shapes and sizes, there are some initial steps and important structures that are common to all.
From creating a club constitution and affiliating with Volleyball England to finding facilities and players, this page is a guide to getting your club off the ground.
Sport England's Buddle resources on starting a club are highly recommended for an informative step-by-step approach through the process.
Organising Your Club
Setting up a club can be a really rewarding but challenging experience, you need to think about the following to make sure your club can run successfully:
- Is there demand?
- Where will your club be hosted?
- Do you have a venue?
- When will your sessions take place?
- Do you have coaches & volunteers available?
- Where will you recruit?
- Think about the right people for your club committee - more details are listed below
- How will it be funded?
- What are your costs?
- What funding opportunities are available?
When starting a volleyball club, it's important to make sure that you have the right organisational structure in place and that your club is insured. Good governance is the foundation of a well-run club:
- Effective club committee (chair, secretary, treasurer). Ideally these people should not be related to each other.
- Create a club constitution and a club mission statement (examples below)
- Open a club bank account
- Affiliate your club with Volleyball England. This entitles you to £10 million Public Liability Insurance along with a host of other membership benefits. Please be aware you will require an individual VolleyZone account to complete the club affiliation. More information can be found at the bottom of the page.
- Club Development Plan, more information can be found in Planning for your Future.
- If you have juniors within your club you required to have a Club Welfare Officer in place. More information on the role can be found here.
- A minimum of a Level 2 coach who is qualified and registered with Volleyball England.
Volunteer role descriptions
Club Affiliation
The Club Affiliation page provides clubs with more in depth information about the benefits of being affiliated to Volleyball England and how to access these benefits.
If you would like support to set your club and complete your club affiliation on VolleyZone, please email membership@volleyballengland.org with the following information:
Club name
Website
Email address
Address of sessions
Committee members if known
Support
Funding
National and Local opportunities availability.
Regional Volleyball Associations
There are 9 regional associations, staffed entirely by volunteers. They can help you to find players and enter local competitions and leagues.
Active Partnerships
Every county has an Active Partnership staffed by professional sport and activity officers. They may have their own sources of funding and will be able to support your club with advice.
