What is the first step?

The first step in creating a junior club or developing an existing one is to produce an action plan. This is a living plan, a plan for your club's future, a plan you can amend and develop as you achieve each objective over time. An action plan will help you decide how many young people you can involve in the club, the opportunities you can offer to those young people, how many coaches you will require to work with them & the costs involved in running the club.

To start developing your action plan you need to carry out an audit of your club's status to determine whether current activities will help or hinder your junior club's development.

The plan you write should belong to the club. It should reflect the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities & strengths that affect the club's development.

Who should be involved?

Everyone involved in carrying out the plan should contribute to its establishment. To ease the junior club's development, you should ensure everyone agrees with the plan's content. To achieve this you should involve the main committee & establish a working group and junior club committee.

The club's committee

If your plans to establish a junior club are going to be successful, you should involve your club's main committee at every stage of the development process. The committee needs to consider why the club should introduce a junior section and what it can offer; establishing a philosophy for your club is very important.

The committee's requirement is to focus on the young people's development; the sports development must be secondary consideration. If the committee keeps this focus, then the club will provide a suitable, healthy learning environment in which young people can enjoy sport. The club will benefit in the long term by developing a core of committed young members who, in time, may take their place in running the club.

The working group

You will need to set up a working group to develop the action plan and ensure your junior club's plans form an integral part of your club's overall development plan. The working group should represent all sections of your club (eg a coach, player, teacher, parent, committee member, treasurer, chairperson, junior coordinator). An individual from the working group should update the main committee on a regular basis. Everyone in the club will then feel as though they own the plan and that it is the blueprint for the club's future development.

The junior club committee

Your club should consider setting up a junior committee to manage, assess and review the junior club's activities. The committee membership should comprise representatives from all the sections involved in running the junior section. To sustain your junior club's development, you should assess and review the club's action plan periodically.

What should you include?

Your plan's contents will include information about your objectives, the tasks, time-scales and the people who can help you achieve them. Your plan should revolve around three key questions:

• Where are we now?
• Where would we like to be?
• How do we achieve our objectives?

Guidelines for action plan

Introduction – gives you the opportunity to set the current scene in your club. You can look back at achievements and outline future developments. You can provide information on the adult & junior structures. You may wish to include details of the club's mission statement, constitution, history and aims. You can structure the introduction to include the:

• Strengths of your junior club
• Weaknesses of your club
• Opportunities for future developments
• Threats or restraining forces, both internal and external, to the club's development

Administration – this section should outline the administrative structure of your club & get answers to the following questions:

• Can the current structure cope with the club's future developments?
• Does the need exist for a junior club committee?
• Would training help the committee members to cope more effectively with future developments?
• How will you link the junior & senior sections?

Coaching & Officials – at some stage you will need to determine the number of people who will be taking part in the club's activities. Knowing this number will help you decide the number of coaches and officials that the junior club will require. You will need to consider the training needs of these people.

Recruiting Members – you should discuss ways of encouraging new members to join your club. You may need to decide the number of schools & youth clubs you will target & the nature of your approach.

Developing talented performers – outlining the structures for developing talented performers is important. The structures ensure the opportunity to fulfil his or her potential through the club. Establishing a coaching plan will help identify clear development paths for junior & senior club members. You should consider linking with existing development schemes to increase the opportunities for your talented performers.

Creating fun & competitive opportunities – you should include details of the existing and future fun & competitive programmes for juniors & links with the senior programmes (eg leagues, friendly fixtures, tournaments). Your sports governing body and other local clubs can give you this information.

Identifying facilities & equipment needs – this section gives you the opportunity to identify the facilities and equipment that the club will need to achieve its objectives. What do you currently have available for your use? What are the club's predicted targets for facilities and equipment use during each year of the plan? Where can you purchase any additional equipment needed?

Financial position, sponsorship & fund-raising – in this section you should clarify your club's present financial position and set targets for income and expenditure. You should ensure the club can finance itself. Membership should cover the day-to-day running expenses of the club. You may wish to consider sponsorship and funding for special events and facilities. You should identify potential fund-raising events within the club and use your development plan to attract potential sponsors or grant aid from outside agencies. You should set targets for finding sponsorship and raising funds for the club's long-term investment.