Club culture and practices

Our sports activities take place in different clubs, clubs with different club practices and club culture. It is important to have a conscious relationship with how club culture is created, based on the club's values and goals. Culture is something that occurs when people meet regularly. Such a culture can also occur unconsciously. We come, meet, do things, act and react to each other. In this way, patterns and structures arise in the way we are together. Often this is based on unwritten rules for what we do and do not do. Culture arises anyway, but it is entirely possible to influence it. The question for us is whether we want it to be random or not. Who are the actual culture bearers in the club/group, is it random or do we want to steer this in a direction?

If you, as a trainer, have 20 children or young people and let them into a hall without any guidance for the activity, a form of culture will automatically be created. Patterns, unwritten rules and ways of being will form that are created by the participants. The question that must be asked is whether these frameworks are good enough for everyone to be able to thrive and function well together.

Different club cultures can be felt when you are new to a club.

Being welcomed by email is nice and important, but how you are received at your first training session and your first time at the club is even more important.

• Are you welcomed by others at training, are you greeted with a smile and a welcoming look? 
• Is anyone interested in me as a new member of the group? 

As a new performer in a group, it is also important to gain an early insight into the activity itself, an understanding of what is expected of me and what rules apply in the group. 

If no one shows interest in showing me/explaining this, it is easy to feel left out. If you don't feel welcome, the way out can be short, either to another club or, in the worst case, out of the sport in general. It is therefore of crucial importance that we create a club culture where we clearly invite new people into our sports community.

What we actually do

If you are going to build a good club culture, it is about having some simple, good rules of the road that are constantly followed up. It is what we actually do that creates culture. Our big and small choices in everyday club life. You have to actually do it, and show how we want it, and follow it up. Because as previously mentioned, culture is also created by the things we don't do. For example, if we don't say hello, or if we don't react when someone steps over the line. If we don't react, we are helping to accept what is happening, and pushing the boundaries of what is perceived as accepted.