Starting a New Sports Club

 

There are five steps to forming a Worcester Students’ Union Sports Club:

 

Step 1: Putting together your ideas & gaining interest

Step 2: Submit your Application & Draft Constitution

Step 3: Meet with the SU Activities Team

Step 4: Approval from SU Executive Committee

Step 5: Complete Relevant Committee Training

 

Only Sports Clubs who have followed these five steps will be permitted to operate as a Students’ Union Sports Club. This is to ensure that your potential Sports Club has a proper structure, does not contravene Students’ Union policy and has the required level of financial assistance, both from its members and from the Union.

We have four application windows across the academic year where you can submit a New Sports Club application, all applications are then reviewed at a set date by our Exec Committee.

Please see here the windows for 2024/25:

	First Window	Second Window	Third Window	Fourth Window
Application Submitted	From 1st Sept to 31st Oct.	1st Nov to 31st Dec.	1st Jan to 31st March.	1st April to 30th July
Application reviewed by Exec	18th November 2024	14th January 2025	11th March 2024	TBC
Set up period	Nov/Dec	Jan/Feb	April/May	Aug/ Sept

 

Please note that only current students at the University of Worcester are permitted to establish Sports Clubs or hold committee positions within them.

The SU is here to support you through all the steps of this process. Some of your key contacts to reach out to for support when starting a Sports Club are:

Jack Lambert, Vice President Student Activities - Jack.Lambert@worc.ac.uk

Sophie Smith, Student Activities Manager - sophie.smith2@worc.ac.uk

Barney Blake, BUCS Sport Administrator - b.blake@worc.ac.uk

Step 1: Putting together your ideas & gaining interest

Check a similar Sports Club doesn’t already exist: You can find a list of our active Sports Clubs here. We do not accept duplicate Sports Clubs that have aims too similar to an already existing Sports Club.

Naming your Sports Club: Come up with a name for your Sports Club that reflects its aims.

Forming a committee: You will need 3 students in total to set up a Sports Club, they will make up your committee. You will need a Chair, a Vice Chair Finance and Admin and a Vice Chair Inclusivity and Promotions, see here for more information about committee roles. You can also have additional roles like Social Secretary or RAG Rep. If you want to set up a Sports Club but struggling to find other committee members do let us know as we will be able to help look for others that would be interested in setting up the Sports Club.

Membership interest: It’s also important to consider that upon approval you will be expected to recruit 12 members for the society within 6 weeks from the date of approval. Make sure that this is realistic, and you do have interest from others.

Step 2: Submit your Application and Draft Constitution

Now you have  gathered together your ideas, established who committee will be and checked there is interest from wider students you will need to submit a ‘New Sports Club Application Form’ to the Students Union outlining the aims and purpose of your Sports Club. 

Within this form you will also need to submit you draft constitution. A constitution is your Sport Clubs governing document, it acts like its rule book clearly stating the parameters in which the group can operate. Every student group needs to have one.

Please see here the draft constitution you will need to update and attach to the application form. You will need to update all the parts in it that are outlined in red. Please keep in mind track changes is on the document to make it clear to us what changes have been made when reviewing.

 

Step 3: Meet with the SU Activities Team

Once we have received your New Sports Club Application Form, we will invite you in for a ‘Start-Up Meeting’. This is with the student activities team and VPSA so we can go over your application, discuss any financial needs of the club and raise anything that may need to be discussed before the application goes to the Executive committee. It is also your opportunity to meet the student activities team and the VPSA and ask any questions you have.  

 

Step 4: Approval from the Executive Committee

Once you have had your ‘Start Up Meeting’ and developed your constitution, your application will be submitted to the SU Executive Committee meeting for approval. Depending during which application window you have submitted your application will determine the time frame it goes to Executive Committee.

New Clubs wll be approved based on the principles available here. 

If approved, you can then progress to the next step. Please note, the Executive Committee hold the right to ask for amendments to be made before approval or reject the application.

Please see the Approval Process for a New Sports Club Application here. 

Step 5: Complete Relevant Committee Training

Once your Sports Club is approved you can officially start your Sports Club! You will need to complete your online module training which can be found here and attend a committee introductory session with the SU. As part of your training, we will ask you to complete a new club development plan. This is to ensure you have planned what activities your new club will be doing and ensure you recruit members.

While you work to complete your modules, we will work to set up your Sports Club behind the scenes, setting up your mini-website and creating your memberships. We will notify you when this is complete, and you can begin promoting your Sports Club!