Some years ago I was invited by the Queens Park Cricket Club in Trinidad to their Annual Dinner and made a speech during which I described what I thought would make any sports Club great.
What I said then I think has stood the test of time in setting out what it takes for any Club or Sports Association to be successful.
“Let me list seven principles which go into the making of a Great Club.
Underlying everything are good administration and solid financing. These are not the glamorous, headline-attracting side of Clubs and sporting associations but, trust me, getting them right day in and out, year in and year out, is absolutely vital. Let good administration and solid financing falter and fail and big trouble looms. So let me start with these boring but fundamental requirements.
(1) A great Club has to get its administration right. This means:
a) Putting dedicated people in charge whose priority is the good of the Club and not personal position, power, privilege or influence.
b) Ensuring that the nuts and bolts are assiduously attended to: audited annual accounts and reports, membership meetings properly and regularly conducted, a strategic plan kept up to date and approved by members.
(2) A great Club has to have solid financing. Never let this slip – it means:
a) Paying constant attention to revenue generation and fund raising.
b) Involving members in what is needed and what is planned and how they can help.
c) Accounts meticulously kept in order and up to date and maintaining the strong presence of internal audit.
(3) A great Club must, of course, have a clear sense of mission – what it was founded for, what purpose drives it forward, what aims beyond mere existing does it have? But not only this – a sense of mission must be constantly refreshed, revisited, given new impetus and inspiration by succeeding generations.
(4) In close tandem with a sense of mission there must be a sense of history, a feeling for tradition. The records must be preserved, the history must be written, the heroes must be remembered, the great deeds commemorated, the hall of fame kept up to date.
The new generations should always be aware that they are adding to a long and honourable tradition of achievement. Quite apart from anything else, such awareness contributes to better performance on the field of play – it is a motivational force – and it’s also a factor in attracting sponsorship.
(5) A great Club must pay attention to instilling in its membership awareness and pride in what the Club stands for and contributes and achieves. Never let it come to be looked upon simply as a privileged gathering place with perquisites. Not to say that it should not be a place of entertainment and good fellowship and enjoyment of the activities that any good Club provides. But that is not the be-all and end-all of it. A Club is not great because of its bar and its spectator rights and its fun days.
(6) This leads naturally from (5). A great Club has to associate itself with its nation’s purpose and its nation’s good. It must certainly never alienate itself from the national mainstream or be at daggers drawn, for instance, with the Government of the day. This does not mean surrendering autonomy of planning and action but it does mean keeping a sure finger on the national pulse in exercising that autonomy. It means sensitivity to what looms large politically. It means keeping in touch with Governments and those who one may one day be in Government. It means seeking the pragmatic path between autonomy and partnership. A great Club must incorporate national goals in its planning and in its own aspirations associate itself with national objectives.
(7) A great Club does not rest on its laurels. It does not sit back and admire what it has done. It generates new ideas. It brings forward new faces. It promotes vigorous discussion. It understands old principles but sets new goals. It does not grow stale. It must be great in every generation.
Good administration. Solid financing. A sense of mission coupled with a sense of history. Pride in its membership. A concern for national purpose. An impulse to keep renewing itself.”
These seven simple principles that go into making of a great Club may seem elementary and go without saying. But, they are fundamental and must never be taken for granted by any sports administrator.
