Club committee roles: what each job involves

Most people turn down a committee job because they cannot tell what they are agreeing to. “Would you be secretary?” sounds like every evening for the rest of their life. Now try this: would you send out the AGM notice, take the minutes at six meetings a year and keep the club’s email answered? Somebody might say yes to that.

This post describes each job at a racket club in those terms: what it is, when it is busiest, and what can be handed to somebody else. At the end there is a one-page job description to copy and fill in.

The three officers every club has#

Almost every club constitution names three officers, elected at the AGM: a chair, a secretary and a treasurer. Everything else is up to the club.

Chair

The chair runs the committee meetings and the AGM, and speaks for the club when somebody needs to. The real job is keeping the committee pointed at the two or three things that matter this year, and making sure the other jobs are filled.

• Busiest: the weeks before the AGM, and whenever the club has a big decision to make, such as resurfacing the courts or changing the subs.
• Can be shared: with a vice-chair, who runs meetings when the chair is away and is the natural next chair.
• Good at it: somebody who listens, can end a meeting on time, and does not need to do every job themselves.

Secretary

The secretary keeps the club’s paperwork: the notice and minutes of every meeting, the constitution and the club’s policies. They are also the official contact for the governing body, the landlord and the council. At many clubs the secretary also answers the club’s email.

• Busiest: before each committee meeting and the AGM, and at the start of the season when the governing body’s forms are due.
• Can be shared: the minutes can rotate round the committee, and the email can go to whoever the question is about.
• Good at it: somebody organised who likes things written down.

Treasurer

The treasurer looks after the club’s money: the bank account, the bills and the budget. They draw up the accounts at the end of the year and give the treasurer’s report at the AGM. At most clubs the treasurer is also one of the people who can sign for the bank.

• Busiest: the renewal season, when most of the year’s income arrives, and the year end, when the accounts are drawn up and checked.
• Can be shared: collecting subs can be the membership secretary’s job, and a member who is a bookkeeper may be glad to check the accounts.
• Good at it: somebody comfortable with a spreadsheet, who pays bills on time and says no to spending when it has to be said.

The jobs that run the club#

Most racket clubs need some or all of these as well. Smaller clubs combine them; larger clubs give each one its own person.

Membership secretary

Keeps the list of members: who joined, who renewed, which category each is in, and who has not paid. Welcomes new members and makes sure they know how to book a court and join in.

• Busiest: renewal season and the start of summer, when new members join.
• Watch for: the members who did not renew. Asking them why is the most useful thing this job can do.

Welfare officer

Is the person anybody at the club can go to with a concern about a child or an adult at risk. Keeps the club’s safeguarding policy up to date, and makes sure coaches and volunteers have the checks and training they need. Knows who to call when something is reported. If your club is registered with its governing body, it will almost certainly require one. The LTA does at every registered venue.

• Busiest: when somebody raises a concern, which is rare and cannot wait. The rest of the year is a few hours on policy and training.
• Good at it: somebody calm, discreet and approachable, who is not also the head coach or a committee member with a lot of other power at the club.

The governing bodies publish role descriptions and training for this job, and your welfare officer should start there, not here.

Competitions organiser

Runs the club’s internal competitions: the box league or the ladder, the club championships and the social nights. Sets the rules, starts each round, chases unplayed matches and posts the results.

• Busiest: the start and end of every round, and the weeks before finals day.
• Can be shared: with a box manager in each box, who nudges their own box, and with a separate championships organiser. See how to run a tennis box league for how box managers work.

Match secretary and team captains

The match secretary enters the club’s teams in the county or local leagues, keeps the fixture list, and makes sure every team has a captain. Each captain picks their team, books the courts for home matches, and sends in the results.

• Busiest: the weeks before the league entry deadline, then every match week for the captains.
• Watch for: the same eight people playing every match. A captain’s job includes finding new players as well as picking the usual ones.

Courts and facilities

Looks after the courts, the floodlights, the nets and the clubhouse. Books the contractors, keeps a list of what is due for repair or replacement, and gives the treasurer warning of big bills years ahead. At some clubs the same person runs court booking.

• Busiest: the spring tidy, any repair, and the years when a surface or the floodlights are replaced.
• Good at it: somebody practical who notices a sagging net before a member complains about it.

Bookings and club nights

Writes and keeps the court booking policy, sets aside courts for club nights, coaching and matches, and sorts out the clashes. At a busy club this is a job of its own. See court booking policy template for racket clubs for the rules most clubs settle on.

Juniors and coaching

Is the committee’s link with the head coach. Keeps an eye on the junior programme, the coaching timetable and the courts it needs, and on how juniors move into adult competitions and club nights. At clubs with a lot of juniors, the junior parents often have a representative of their own.

Social secretary

Runs the club’s social side: the end of season party, the quiz, the open day. It is the job most often left empty and the one members notice most when it is filled.

Communications

Keeps the club website, the newsletter and the social media up to date. The newer the committee, the more likely this job is done by whoever is youngest, which is rarely the best reason to give it to anybody.

Which jobs to split, and which to keep apart#

A job held by one person for ten years is a job nobody else knows how to do. Two habits make every job smaller and every handover easier.

Split the big jobs. A deputy for the chair, a box manager per box, a captain per team, a separate championships organiser. Each one makes a job somebody might say yes to, and each one is the next person to step up.

Keep the money and the checking apart. The person who pays the bills should not be the only person who can see the bank account, and should never be the person who checks the accounts. Two signatories for any payment is the usual rule. The same goes for the club’s logins: no single person should hold every one.

Most people turn down a committee job because they cannot tell what they are agreeing to.

Asking someone to stand#

The best time to ask is six weeks before the AGM, face to face, with the job written down. Tell them three things: what the job is, when it is busiest, and who will help. Then let them think about it.

Fill this in for each job on your committee, and give it to whoever you ask:

Ask the person doing the job now to fill in the hours, not the chair. They know, and a number that comes from them is one a newcomer believes. When somebody says yes, handing over a committee job: a checklist is what they will need from the person before them.