About Clubmark
If you are thinking of developing your club by setting up a junior section then "Clubmark" is a good place to start.
Clubmark is a quality accreditation scheme for sports clubs, set up by Sport England.
It requires clubs to show for example, that they have appropriate policies and procedures (e.g. equity,risk management) and that volunteers/staff are appropriately trained (e.g first aid, coaching, umpiring etc ). England Lacrosse is licensed by Sport England to award Clubmark, with criteria specifically tailored to lacrosse. The lacrosse version is called Lacrossemark!
Benefits
It does take time and commitment to submit a Lacrossemark application. However the benefits are:
Parents like it - this is important if you are trying to attract junior players. Many parents see it as the sign of a well organised club. Once you have the award you can use the Clubmark branding and logo on your website and promotional material.
It opens the door to funding opportunities - a number of grant giving bodies require you to have clubmark or to be working towards it before they will consider a grant application.
It makes the club easier to run in the long-term - at the end of the process, you will probably have all your policies and procedures in a single Club Handbook, and your Committee roles in a Volunteer Handbook, so everyone knows what they are doing.
Who Can Help
County Sports Partnerships run many of the courses that your club members will need to go on to achieve the award. Follow the link on the right hand side of the screen.
The Clubmark website includes templates for many of the policies and procedures you will need, as well as case studies and good practice. Follow the link on the right hand side of the screen.
Women's Clubs in the South East that are/have been Clubmarked include Cobham, Central London, Hatch End Hawks, Hitchin, Welwyn, Reading LC. You could contact them for their view of the process.