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Club Standards update

As we approach six months since the introduction of the Club Standards self assessment process, Senior Club Support Manager Chris Mallender provides an update and news of upcoming Club Standards sessions.

Club Standards were primarily established to offer clubs a straight forward process to follow, with a set of supportive resources to ensure they are legally compliant and are able to keep their members safe. Ultimately we believe this results in more effective clubs with happier members and a more positive environment to enjoy athletics and running.

Implementation and review of standards

From the outset we highlighted areas across the seven standards where clubs should already have been implementing relevant processes and operating in line with key policies. In some cases this resulted in clubs updating policies or operating procedures, but in others it was a real learning curve for clubs and they had to almost start from the beginning.

Over the last six months we have seen a significant increase in compliance levels across all seven standards, but there is still work to be done. We have also reviewed some of the standards internally and have a clearer picture of how we need to evolve Club Standards over the short and medium term.

How Club Standards have helped clubs offer a better experience for their members

Clubs have faced some significant challenges in some cases, but we are starting to hear more and more about how Club Standards have helped clubs:

Striders of Croydon

COVID restrictions provided an ideal time to start thinking how to go about rewriting our club rules as our committee felt that they needed modernising, however it soon became apparent that we were becoming bogged down in the detail of the task without any focus. Fortunately this year we became aware that England Athletics has created a set of club standards and the guidance needed to implement them. The guidance created by EA is very thorough and in many cases they have actually created the documents for clubs to adopt without any adjustments needed. The portal is well laid out with plenty of resources to help clubs complete the seven standards with relative ease.
— Michael Smaldon

Scunthorpe & District RC

At SADRC we have worked tirelessly to improve and maintain the EA club standards, and even though there has been frustration and  resistance, we know the standards are a measure of how well run a club is.  We can now confidently demonstrate to our governing  body that we are legally compliant, that our members and volunteers are our priority and that we provide a positive, safe and inclusive club for all. We now have our highest membership base, we are able to provide more opportunities,  we have more members involved in events and positivity from our members has improved significantly. The standards have helped us set a foundation of our club and now we can look at how we develop further to achieve our goals.
— Nicola Wilkinson

Club Standards webinars and forums

Some of the areas where we are seeing the biggest challenges will be the focus of our next round of Club Standards webinars and forums which are taking place at the end of September / early October.

Webinars

Forums

The sessions will focus on:

  • How to write a Club Health and Safety Policy and Risk Assessments
    - Led by Steve Pettit from Leigh on Sea Striders / Director of Health and Building Safety, Governance, Strategy and Communications, L&Q Group
    - Wednesday 28 September
  • Effective Committees, recruitment / retention / succession planning
    - Led by England Athletics Club Support staff
    - Thursday 29 September
  • Practical steps to deal with a club complaint
    - Led by England Athletics compliance and club support staff
    - Wednesday 5 October

Find more information on ClubHub.

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