I want to try and get the groundwork for a club set now, so I can start it up for the fall. Anyone done this, and have any suggestions about how to go about this? I can do the lessons, and will bring in some outside instructors depending on how much money we get, but I want to try and have all bases covered to there are no surprises.
Any help from people who have done this?
I started one at the University I work for. Talk to the student
activities office or whoever is in charge of the student groups on
campus. One thing I would recommend looking into is to see if
your group will need insurance or will liability waivers work. The
members of our club just sign liability waivers, but at my former
University we would need our own insurance. If you have any
specific questions, just let me know. I will be glad to help.
Okay, Ill look into that. What about a faculty advisor? Im pretty sure I need to have one, but its going to be tough finding someone to vouch for the club, when they have no clue what its about. Even if I find someone and explain it to them... its a tough sell. Any suggestions?
Again it depends on your University policy. For instance when I
was a student and started my first club I didn't have an adviser
either. Well they told me to just go ahead and start the club and
they will appoint me an adviser till I could find one myself.
The more activities any university has to offer its students the
better. I have yet to see a college turn someone down trying to
start something that will have a positive impact on the student
population. You would be contributing to the school by starting
this group. The more a university has to offer its current students
and future students, the better. Student activities/organizations is
a valuable recruiting and retention tool to them.
Currently I work as a staff member at a University, so I am the
adviser. At Michigan Tech, where I work, either staff or faculty can
act as an adviser. Also in some cases you they might even let a
graduate student act as the adviser.
First thing you need to do is just make an appointment and start
talking with them. Find out everything you need to get it started.
Chances are they will have some packet or booklet on what you
need to do. Good luck and again let me know if I can be of more
help!
Steve
Joe - Where do you go?
Awesome, Thank you Steve
spg, I go to Wentworth in Boston, MA.
northwestern has a BADASS bjj club
I'm the prez of my BJJ club, basically what gubbs said is what I would tell you to do.
Some food for thought. When you get started, give participants 3 free sessions then charge them for dues. In those three sesions teach them basics of the guard, mount, and side mount along with basic guard passing and mount escapes.
My beginner curriculum is as follows:
Guard(Armbar, triangle, armbar/triangle combo, arm triangle, shoulder wrench, scissor sweep, elevator sweep, hip bump)
Mount(armbar, arm triangle/neck lock, ezekiel choke)
Side mount(Kimura/Keylock)
Back(Rear Naked Choke, armbar)
Mount escapes(elbow-knee escape, arm-leg trap)
Guard passing(don't know names)
I usually get this taught to a beginner within 3 meetings and then they are hooked. Another thing is that I don't ask them to roll with any of the other students until they have learned all of the above. However they can roll at their own free will.
Good luck dude. I absolutely love teaching the stuff to other college students and I'm sure you will to. Just don't discourage them by whooping their ass the first day (unless they ask for it).
Be prepared to get a lot of students!
Will do, thanx for all the help everyone.
I think I want to get people interested in it now... there are only like 4 or 5 weeks left of school... and I am thinking do one class a week for the rest of the year and have no dues. I think having to pay nothing will attract a lot of people, and hook them really well for the fall. This will also give me some people who have a slight clue for when I start it up for real in the fall.
Our club does not charge any dues, but then others do. The only
time we charge for anything is when we bring in someone to teach
us a seminar.
As far as money goes, some universities have programs that will
fund student sponsored activities. Also you may be able to
request funds from the undergraduate student government. I
brought in my instructor for a seminar and the university helped
pay for it. It is definately worth looking into!
If I could do it with no fees, that would be great. I know people arent big on shelling out any money, especially college kids.
Before we set ours up at UVM, we put up fliers to advertise for an organizational meeting. A bunch of people showed up and I gave a brief history of the grappling and what class was like. I then asked people to sign up and give their class and email on the list if they were interested in it. I took this to the government along with student sponsor and faculty sponsor with a written constitution. That was enough to get us recognized.
Drop me an email if I can help Joe.
Chris Owen www.catamountbjj.com
I don't want to charge but I'm going to have to because my schools activities fund is ridiculous. All I need the $$ for is to buy some mats, cleaning gear, a first aid kit, and maybe a grappling dummy. I asked my "students" about how much they would be willing to pay and they said $30 a semester was fair.
If your school becomes a pain when it comes to giving your club $$ (like mine is), remeber that it's easier to get dues from those who are hooked instead of those who are curious. That's why I suggested the 3 free sessions. After 3, 90% are hooked and willing to pay. It's like dealing crack.
I also might suggest trying to teach twice a week right now so you can get a better crop of members for the following semester, granted you have the time.
If I had more time, I would. Time constraints are huge on me right now.
I train on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday.
I teach on Tuesday, and Friday.
So this leaves me Saturday and Sunday.. I cant do both, so I think Sunday will work better. So that gives me one day... Im still thinking about how I would like to do it.
Ideally, I can get a few who are super hooked to come and start training with me on one of the other days... we will see though.
Good luck with your club. It is efforts like this that help the sport grow and develop.
Im a doctoral student in exercise physiology at the University of Kentucky and as part of my assistantship I have to teach activity classes like weight training, etc. This semester I got them to offer a BJJ class for credit and next semester there is going to be a another one plus a self-defense class based on BJJ and MMA style training. So far everyone is having fun.
Brian