Olympic Southern Flyers
by Cathy Reid
Putting the customer first
Becoming member-focused has resurrected one sporting club that was at risk of folding, and turned it into one of the most successful club of its kind in Australia.
Four years ago, membership of Melbourne ice -speed skating club, the Olympic Southern Flyers, had dwindled to 12. That is when Melissa Kah stepped in and took on the role of Sports Development Officer.
‘We knew we had to improve the running of the club and increase our membership to survive,’ Melissa said. ‘We turned to the Australian Sports Commission’s resources, specifically the guidelines on club planning, and decided we had to be more customer-focused.
‘We realised we needed to improve our member servicing, so the first thing we did was a survey to see what our members wanted.’
This survey covered everything from what was working to what needed to be improved. Armed with that information the club held a planning workshop to look at its future direction.
‘We came up with a four-year plan and it has really worked. We have turned the club around and now have more than 50 members. Now we have the ball rolling, we are working on yearly plans.’
The club developed a racing calendar, a web site and a newsletter.
‘Other than planning, the other main area we needed to improve was communication, both within the committee and to our members. We developed a communication policy and we now have a very popular newsletter, which pulls everyone together. The newsletter goes out to all current and past members and is something we can give to our new members as well.
‘We try to mention as many members as possible in the newsletters and not just our elite skaters. We also make sure we recognise the hard work being done by our volunteers.’
The club also set up an email group so members could be informed of any changes to training times, as well as any upcoming social events. It allows the club members to communicate with each other and acts as a medium to pass on immediate information.
‘The social side of skating is very important. We have barbecues, parties, bowling nights, video nights — a wide variety of events where we can get together off the ice and catch up with everyone.’
To increase numbers, the club broadened its focus to embrace people who wanted to skate for enjoyment and fitness, as well as those who wanted to compete at the elite level.
‘We now concentrate on being a ‘friendly’ club. When new people arrive we make sure they feel welcome and we introduce them to everyone.
‘We also purchased a lot of new equipment so we could provide new members with the right equipment so they would have a positive experience. Before then, for example, we only had second-hand boots that were very uncomfortable.
‘Now we focus on what it is the customer is coming to the club for. We had to change our whole approach. There was too much emphasis on the elite skaters and we hadn’t catered well enough for our other skaters.’
The club has introduced different level programs to cater for all skill levels. Training programs are written up ahead of time and everyone has access to ice time.
‘We start off with a skill-based session for beginners and juniors, then we break into our training session, which is divided into A, B and C levels. Skaters choose the level they wish to skate in. And while there is less focus on the elite, the elite training program is a lot more intense than it used to be.
‘We also started playing music during skating sessions to create more of an atmosphere.’
While expanding its base, the club still manages to produce quality skaters at the elite end and sends a team of 16 to compete nationally in the Duke Trophy.
In the past three years, the Olympic Southern Flyers has produced three of Australia's national team skaters — Alex McEwan, Glen Harvey and Lachlan Hay — and two of Australia’s best juniors, Corey Williams and Toby Dite.
‘So we certainly provide opportunities for those who want to compete at the highest level, while concentrating on being a club for all abilities.’
To add variety, there are also off-ice club training sessions, such as in-line skating along the St Kilda Esplanade and 70-kilometre bike rides.
Melissa has pulled together information from the Australian Sports Commission and compiled a sport specific CD-ROM for other speed skating clubs across Australia, and presented the Olympic Southern Flyers’ formula for success at a recent national workshop.
‘By creating a group email with other sport development officers across Australia we share ideas and resources, enabling all clubs to work in the same direction. We are a small sport so it’s important that we share resources between the clubs, lessening the workload on our small volunteer base.’
Brett Throssell , from the Australian Amateur Ice Racing Council, is impressed with the turnaround the Olympic Southern Flyers have made in the past few years.
‘The expansion has made quite a difference to our sport,’ Brett said.
‘Their approach has been very professional and it is great for the sport. Hopefully it will lead to Victoria having more clubs down the track.’
