Peter Simpson has been a member Craven Energy Tri Club for eight years, five of which he has spent on the club’s committee.
He’s now coming to the end of his three-year spell as Club Chair, a spell that he’s enjoyed and learnt plenty from.
“It’s been like running a small business” he explained. “You’ve got to be involved all the time.
“We have at least one session a day, sometimes two. Then there’s the general mechanics of the club, working with coaches to plan the sessions, organising facilities, keeping the website updated, and making sure our members know what is going on.”
The important part of running the club though is catering for the members.
Simpson said: “First of all you have to engage the members, find out what they want and make sure you’re hitting those things. We’re run by members for members.
“Whenever we try and do something new, we make sure we’ve got our members with us. That’s absolutely crucial to successful organic growth because otherwise you’re shooting in the dark.
“We did a member survey and it came back 60-40% social vs performance, and we can’t break that DNA.”
The club now has a thriving social section, as well as a growing number of members that are heading towards the Age-Group Team and junior members representing regional academies.
“The social aspect of the club and the comradery is second to none. It’s just amazing, and we’ve got a thriving junior section and Age-Groupers.
“We had a couple of members qualify in 2021 for 2022, then we had five in 2022 for 2023. It’s been really infectious with people trying different things like aquathlons and duathlons.
“We’ve been able to pull coaching threads together as well for different distances and race types and we’re just trying to help our athletes out. Then people are supporting each other to try and improve and see how far they can go.
“Our juniors are growing as well. We’ve launched a race squad for those that want to perform. Going from a standing start we’ve had five of them qualify for the Yorkshire performance squad. It’s been amazing.
“More youngsters are now saying ‘I want one of those trisuits’ and they’re doing the best they can to join it.
“The more success the club is having the more visible it is, and you need those performances for people to see the club and want to come and join even if it’s not to race competitively.”
The success of the club has been a team effort, but Simpson reserved special praise for Mark Taylor, the club’s Head Coach and a British Triathlon Age-Group Team member.
“Mark has been a leading light for us, he’s been the evangelist for our juniors, our Age-Group athletes and those wanting to improve their performance. He’s a great coach and he’s brought great structure with him. He’s always wanting to get involved and he practices what he preaches and has helped a lot of people at the club get to where they are today.”
Simpson has urged anyone to get involved with their local club.
He said: “You don’t have to be a triathlete to join a triathlon club. You’ve got to start somewhere, give it a go and if after two-three minutes you want to stop you can. But very few do. Just give it a try and you don’t have to do all three disciplines, you can just swim, bike or run.”
Clubs are a great way to take part in the sport. They provide a social setting to get involved and develop through coached sessions.To learn more about triathlon clubs and to find one near you, click on the button below.
