Focus Club – Quasar

Here at Scottish Hockey we want to help our clubs and what better way than sharing best practice.

Quasar Hockey Club based in the Highlands may not be the biggest club in Scotland and after realising the low numbers of members they put their thinking caps on to see how they could pull in new memebrs to this club.

Pete Bavidge who is the only male member left, with his daughter Aimee being the only female left from when the club first a started in 1995, put the plan together but firstly decided what Quasar actually wanted to achieve as a club: Short Term Gains v Long Term Goals. The decision was that they wanted a sustainable club for Moray to secure the sport in the region rather than be alive for only a few years but have been successful competitivly.

Next two decisions were taken: Firstly was to relocate from historical base at Kinloss to Fochabers.  Evidence showed that the location was clearly putting people off. The first training session we had at Fochabers saw numbers of about 30 as opposed to the average of 9 at Kinloss.

The second decision was perhaps the more controversial, to drive development in the club. The decision was made to dispense the mens team and focus on the ladies and youth side of the club. With a view to redevelop the mens set up in the future.

‘As direct result of these decisions the ladies swelled from barely 8/9 members (club was on the verge of folding) to about 17. We drove hockey in the schools and as a result we now have a core of 16 U18 girls, 8/9 U16 boys and about 20 Primary kids from P4 – P7. These are all full members of Quasar.

‘We also have a number of prospective members ranging from P4 upwards who are currently in the 4-6 week free try out period many of who have already expressed that they will take up membership once that period is over.’

Quasar GAGO

They also utilised the LA and Community Sports Hub to spread the word of mouth that ensure there were no trials for joining the club.

‘The club is open to anyone and everyone with no exceptions. We tell perspective members that we want them to trial us, not the other way. We drive the enjoyment factor and focus less on “trophy” success and more or individual improvement and enjoyment as main factors in keeping players.’

Quasar kids

Quasar ran after school activities at Secondary level and run festivals for all primary schools. They are in the process of an application for Charity Status to further enhance sustainability and commitment to the community, promoting that they involve everyone and anyone. We also recently hosted a P4 – P7 series of 3 “Have – A – Go” sessions and 3 S1 – Adult “Have – A – Go” sessions that were really successful and will become an annual event.

The development work this club has done has resulted in many males coming forward on the participation side, they may not quite be ready to go back in to competitive hockey just yet but they are certainly well on their way.

Pete couldn’t be prouder of his club; ‘Our club numbers stand at about 68 right now. We may not be the biggest but not only have we doubled in size in a short time and we are also getting more and more new members resulting in more pitch lets on a weekly basis because of our profile, our accessibility, our website contact form and more importantly word of mouth.’

They train each and every Wednesday at Milnes High School in Fochabers. Primary training is 6pm – 7.30pm and U18/Adult is 7pm – 9pm.

Is your club doing some great work? Then let us know! It can be from umpiring to coaching to your junior section. Email [email protected]


Recent posts:

Back to all news
Back to top