How to Use Your Website to Recruit New Team Members

By now, you probably know the importance of having a website for your team. It’s a central hub where your fans can stay up to date with team news and progress as well as a place where potential sponsors can learn more about getting involved with your team.

But, your website can also be an excellent way to recruit new members for your team. When optimized, it should highlight opportunities and benefits of signing up, and provide potential members with all the necessary details needed to become a member. It should be the primary means of communication between individuals interested in joining your team and those who are already on your team, whether they are players, managers or coaches.

In today’s post, we’ll talk about using your website to recruit new team members and cover essential pages and features your website should have to be more attractive to those interested in joining a sports activity.

How to Optimize Your Website to Recruit New Members

If you want to recruit new members, there are a few things your website needs so potential members can easily find the information they need.

Make Sure Your About Page Is Up to Date

The most important page on your site is the About page. Not only can you share information about your sports team and highlight your team members and the statistics, you can also use it to tell visitors what are the benefits of joining your team.

Use it as a place to create interest and establish a relationship with anyone who visits your website. Share the story about your club, your important milestones, accomplishments, and key players who started out in your team and went on to establish a successful athletic career.

You can also include information on how you contribute to the community and all the activities and events that your team participates in. Be sure to review your About page every so often and update it to include the most relevant information about your team.

Create a Signup Page

While your About page is great for visitors to get to know your team, you should create a signup page where visitors who are interested in joining your team can fill out an application form.

The application form can be a short questionnaire on why they’d want to join and listing their previous sports activities or you can simply ask for their email address and notify them when your team goes through another round of tryouts.

You can promote this page at the bottom of your About page, include it in the main navigation as well as in the sidebar of your blog. Once the tryouts are open, promote the page on your social media by including it in your profile link or by scheduling promotional posts in advance.

Image Credit: Dallas Cowboys Draft Day

Consider an FAQ Page

You can also consider creating an FAQ page that would list all the answers to questions someone might have before joining your team.

This list of questions can include:

• When do you usually recruit new members?
• Are there any requirements to become a member of your team?
• How to apply to be a team member?
• Who should they contact if they have more questions?
• What are the benefits of joining such as do you provide equipment for them or do they have to cover their own expenses when your team travels?
• How are membership fees collected?
• How often are the training sessions?

Think of past tryouts and try to remember the questions potential new members had. Include them on your list and be sure to keep it up to date as you get more questions from future tryouts.

Make it Easy to Contact the Right Person

Having a signup page that outlines the signup process and makes it easy for visitors to fill out a form is essential but making sure potential team members can easily get in touch with the right person is just as important.

Sometimes, visitors may need more information or they simply want to talk to a person before applying for tryouts. Discuss with your team who will be responsible for recruiting new members and assisting during tryouts. Then, be sure to include their contact information on the contact page and on the signup page.

Image Credit: Boston Celtics Contact Page

Include a Team Calendar

Consider including a team calendar on your website not only to keep your fans up to date with future matches but to keep prospective members in the loop as well. They are just as likely to be interested in attending a match. However, if you include a schedule of your training, they can attend the training session as well to get a feel for your team.

What’s more, you can offer complimentary training sessions to interested visitors so they can decide whether the sport in question is the right choice for them, what they can expect during regular practice, and what kind of equipment they would need.

Organize an Event

Consider organizing an event for the youth in your community and promoting the event on your website. This gives interested visitors a chance to attend the event and get a first-hand experience in your sport.

You can set the event to take place during a weekend before you open team tryouts or organize it to repeat on a regular basis. Aside from giving young people in your community a chance to get involved in a physical activity, you will also build relationships and make your community members more inclined to support you.

Image Credit: Tampa Bay Rays Events

Interview Current Team Members

Finally, consider interviewing your current team members and ask them to share their experience about being a member of your team. This can be a great way to establish a more personal relationship with potential new members and to give them a first-hand account of training, participating in matches, and provide them with tips from the pros.

As humans, we are more inclined to pursue a hobby if we see that others have had a positive experience with it. Inviting your team members to help recruit new team members by sharing their story gives those who are interested in joining a way to connect with their future teammates and a perfect way to share that positive experience.

Image Credit: LA Lakers Practice Report

Make Your Website Attractive to Potential Recruits

Your website is a great way to keep your fans updated but it’s also a great way to provide all the needed information that potential members want to see. Use the tips above to make it attractive to new recruits, familiarize them with the signup process, and provide them with an easy way to apply for the next round of tryouts.

If you think your website could use a fresh look, check out these 9 ways to improve your sports team’s website design and our collection of sports team WordPress themes to give you some inspiration.

Don’t forget to download our cheat sheet with the tips above to serve as a handy reminder so you can optimize your website and hit the ground running the next time you want to recruit new team members.