Purpose

The purpose of this post is to document my efforts in establishing a UL Tennis Club, possibly helping other students interested in starting their own clubs.

Why a Tennis Club?

I’ve often been asked what motivated me to set up a Tennis Club at UL. When I accepted the offer to study at this university and discovered there wasn’t already a tennis club, I felt disappointed. I’ve played tennis from a young age and it’s always been a big part of my life. I belive that tennis is a wonderful game, an individual sport but still a great way to socialize. I wanted to do everything I could to give people the chance to play and perhaps discover a passion for it.

Timeline

First Meeting

After the first semester, during the Christmas break, I contacted and later met with the Communities Officer, who provided valuable insights into establishing a club. One of the first steps was to gather at least 25 members to show interest in the club.

Committee Establishment

Later, I received a Club Proposal form from the C&S Administrator, but I couldn’t submit it without first establishing a committee. Fortunately, I knew many people from international events and was able to set up a full committee, including a Chairperson (myself), Secretary, Treasurer, Health and Safety Officer, and Public Relations Officer. Each committee member was fully qualified for their role.

Club Promotion

I reached out to UL Sport to arrange the use of the tennis courts for our activities, which was approved without any issues. I also created a Discord server for members, though I found out many people don’t use that app, so we later switched to a WhatsApp community. We also set up an Instagram account to promote the club and share announcements.

Club Ratification

By sharing a Google Form on Instagram and in various university groups, we far exceeded the required number of potential members, with over 60 students expressing interest in the club’s establishment. In week 9, we were asked to present at the C&S council meeting in front of all C&S committees (over 60 clubs and societies) to have them vote on our club’s ratification. I delivered the presentation, and we succeeded. Our club has been officialy ratified. As the semester was almost at its end, we decided to start our activities in the next semester after the summer holidays.

Where We Are Now

During the summer holidays, I worked on unclocking our UL Wolves page, which members can use to join the club. At the start of the next semester, we participated in a career fair at the UL Sports Arena, which went particularly well. By the end of September, 152 students had paid for their memberships, and since then, we’ve added 25 more, bringing our total to 177 active members. We currently host two two-hour casual sessions per week.

TC Fair