"Why bother – we’re happy as we are"
"What a waste of time"
"We’ve got no one to do it anyway"

If the thought of producing a club development plan turns you off, think about the benefits:

• they make it clear what the club wants to achieve in all areas
• existing members will know where the club is going
• they help to recruit new members
• they inform important local and national organisations (e.g., your local authority, your CB, the RFU, Sport England)
• they demonstrate your commitment to improving the strength and structure of your club
• they focus activity, so that energy is not diluted across too many areas
• they are now required by many local and national funding agencies to support applications for capital or revenue grants.

Also, the task itself is not as onerous as you might think:

• plans can be short and concise (and are often better when they are)
• they should be realistic and achievable. It’s far better to have a plan with five objectives that will be achieved than 20 which will not
• you should be able to get help from your County Rugby Development Officer (RDO), particularly with developing the plan for your junior section
• you may also receive help from your local authority sports development unit or your local Active Sports Partnership.

Many clubs have recognised the benefits of planning (around 20% of clubs now have development plans, according to a recent survey).

Here is a simple process to help your club produce a development plan:

1. Discuss with members or the Committee which of the following areas your club needs to improve:

• Constitution
• Committee structure
• Finding more people to help (which particular roles?)
• Number of sides / sections
• Women’s rugby
• Juniors, colts and minis
• Coaching
• Safety, risk assessment, first aid, emergency procedures
• Child protection
• Insurance
• Codes of conduct
• Promotion and publicity
• Links with schools, local organisations and the community
• Facility development to support new planned programmes.

2. Pick your top three priorities and decide what exactly needs to be done to improve those areas.

3. For each action, decide:

• who is going to do it?
• when is it realistic to be done?
• what will it cost?

4. Finally, you can record your decisions using the following template, or design your own:

Club name, address:
Contact details: (Usually best to give 2 or 3 main contacts, e.g. chairman, secretary, head coach, development officer)
Current structure: (e.g. how many sections, no. of sides, details of current facilities)
Main areas for development – next 3 years: (List main areas of weakness and opportunities to develop – e.g. junior development, coaching, safety, promotion, facilities)

Action Plan

Area / objective	Details of  action	What needs  to be done?	Who will   do it?	Cost	Start & completion date

An important local point of contact for every club is your Local Authority. Consult with your local Sports Development Officer for advise and guidance in producing a development plan.

Further information

More details on development planning for your club can be found at:

Running Sport Series - Planning for sport (Sport England,1999)
Running Sport Series - Planning for sports development (Sport England,1999)
Active Club Pack (Sport England, 2000)

Running Sport Hotline
Tel: 0345 585139 (local rates)

Club Quest - Club Development Plan (Sport England and Bath & North East Somerset Council, 2000)