About Pascal Grüne:

“Since I was 15, I have taken on a variety of roles in different clubs (coach, chairman, etc.]. After studying sports management at Koblenz University of Applied Sciences, I took over the management of a large sports club with more than 2100 members in northern Germany. I also work as an engagement and process consultant for the Lower Saxony State Sports Association and supervise development processes in clubs.”

How Pascal set up a new triathlon department

We take a practical look at the topic of developing a club's offering. Pascal founded a triathlon department in 2019 and reveals how he went about it in this interview. What stumbling blocks were there? And what things worked well straight away? In this interview, you'll find out everything you need to know about developing a practical offering in a sports club.

The preparation phase: motivational factors for a new triathlon department

Martin: What motivated you to set up a triathlon section in your club?

Pascal: I started triathlon around 2014 and basically trained on my own. I didn't have a training plan and did everything on a whim. That's when I had the idea of looking for fellow triathletes so that I wouldn't have to suffer so much on my own.

Martin: Now it is generally more difficult to recruit new members for individual sports. Was your club even suitable for setting up a triathlon program?

Pascal: The infrastructure in Otterndorf was there and I wanted to incorporate it. There was a swimming pool and a lake on the doorstep. There was also a running track next to the clubhouse. The club also had a swimming and athletics department. What was special about us was that we had our own triathlon event every year, but never a corresponding training group. And that's where I wanted to make a change.

Martin: Who did you have to convince to implement your plan?

Pascal: Good question. I wasn't on the board at the time and saw it as my own little private project. Nobody on the Board was against it and then I just got started. My basic principle was that I wanted to avoid competition within the club or with other clubs in the area. But there were no activities for adults in the neighborhood anyway, only for children.

“What makes triathletes tick?” - Developing an understanding of the target group

Martin: How did you approach the potential target group? Surely you know triathletes from your personal environment.

Pascal: No, unfortunately I didn't know any of them personally (laughs). So I asked myself what makes triathletes tick? Because training consists of three disciplines and is therefore very special. There are few people who can do everything and even fewer who want to train all three disciplines. Triathlon training can be lonely.

Martin: What did you conclude about yourself in relation to others? And was that the right thing to do?

Pascal: I took my motives for granted and didn't question whether everyone thought like me. I don't know if that was right - but it worked in the end. After all, what did I have to lose? At worst, some time would have been wasted, but the planning had already been fun. I then drift off into a dream world and imagine what the end result will look like.

Martin: Can you lead a group as a trainer yourself or did you need outside expertise?

Pascal: I always wanted us to have qualified training and not just be a bunch of people playing sport without any ambition. I myself have a coaching license for table tennis - so I was completely lost. So I needed help here.

Finding a trainer: how Pascal found a trainer for the project

Martin: How did you go about finding a trainer?

Pascal: There was a club in the area that had a performance-oriented children's triathlon department and I contacted them to get a feel for whether there was someone who could also offer this kind of training for adults. I also contacted triathletes from the local area.

Martin: You said that there were no personal contacts with triathletes. How did you find a solution here?

Pascal: I was lucky. I approached the club in the neighborhood and made it clear that I didn't want to take any members away from them. As we were the triathlon organizer in the area and the neighbouring club only had a children's section, I was able to convince the people in charge of my project. And I was able to win over the existing coach for my project. She was totally behind the sport of triathlon and always wondered why the club only had a children's section. The whole thing took me about two months in late fall.

Martin: What helped you convince the trainer?

Pascal: I was able to open doors. The trainer was really keen and we were immediately on the same wavelength. I was very responsive to the trainer's needs and gave her free rein in terms of content and time. A trainer with the right qualifications who can cover everything in terms of content costs money. That's why it was good to talk to the club representatives in advance to get some start-up capital. I secured 500 euros from the existing event and a further 500 euros for the start-up phase. I didn't need this sum at all, but I had the security of knowing that I had a certain budget to spend.

Martin: Did the fact that triathletes are a very price-sensitive target group in terms of equipment costs play a role in the planning?

Pascal: That didn't play a role at all. Our aim was to appeal to amateur triathletes and beginners who start with the sprint distance as well as ambitious specialists. After all, anyone starting out in triathlon doesn't have to spend four-figure sums on a bike. A Dutch bike, a pair of good running shoes and swimming without a wetsuit will do just as well.

Planning and organization: How Pascal organized a taster day

Martin: The foundation stone was laid. What happened next?

Pascal: We had the idea of organizing a taster day. It was about finding people who don't yet do triathlons and want to get into the sport. We wanted to cover a lot of ground in the planning. In other words: running, swimming, cycling. Unfortunately, it was February. And that's not exactly the best weather for doing sport outside (laughs). So we decided to swim for an hour in the indoor pool and then go to the gym to do strength training and running exercises.

Martin: What did you have to consider in terms of organization?

Pascal: I had to make arrangements with the swimming pool to rent a lane. That was difficult because I had no idea how many people would come. I also had to find a suitable time slot for the gym that coincided with the swimming pool. We decided on Saturday mornings. Good contacts from the club's internal departments paid off here. I finally decided that the costs for members would be 0 euros and non-members would have to pay 5 euros for entry to the pool - so I was able to calculate well and signal to the board that my idea would not be too expensive.

Find interested parties with news reports and the personal network

Martin: So the basic framework was in place. How did you advertise the taster day?

Pascal: I tried to spread the word widely and activated my personal network. This included posting a news item on the homepage and distributing the information to the various departments in our club. I also passed this news item on to other clubs and to the district and state sports association. The local newspaper also received the information. The entire daily and training schedule for the taster day was integrated into the news item so that everyone who was interested was informed about the schedule. The trainer was also asked to advertise properly in her own network. I also created a small graphic and added it to my WhatsApp status. I later noticed that my status had been shared and spread.

Martin: Have you also contacted the trade association?

Pascal: Yes, I did. Unfortunately, the professional association wasn't much help because their focus is on children's and school sports. I then used the Facebook page of our triathlon event to reach the right target group. This put me in touch with a few starters from previous years, some of whom were also interested in joining our training group. That was all three to four weeks before the taster day. I was hoping that eight to ten people would come.

Martin: In the end, it's the mix of measures that makes the difference. Did you know how many people would come?

Pascal: No, I had no idea. There was an opportunity to register with us - but only six or seven did. So we were sure that the one booked swimming lane would be enough.

Martin: And how many were there in the end?

Pascal: There were actually 23! I would never have expected that. And there was everyone: from absolute beginners to Ironman finishers. Of course, it was far too crowded on the swimming lane, but the trainer led a great training session. Later, we sat together in the gym and thought about how we could continue. Some of them immediately signaled that they would stay on. In the end, there were 15 athletes who met every week to train together.

Martin: How many of the 15 were already members of the club?

Pascal: I estimate there were ten existing members and five new ones. And of course that also makes a financial difference. We had a membership fee of 100 euros per year, so I had already recouped the initial investment. Because the swimming pool cost admission and the trainer had to be paid, an additional fee was charged.

Martin: How much was the additional fee?

Pascal: The additional fee was 150 euros a year. Triathlon in our club therefore cost a total of 250 euros a year. This included the trainer (twice a week) and entry to the swimming pool.

The difficulties in the early days

Martin: What difficulties did you face in the early days?

Pascal: Of course, I didn't want my own department with just 15 people, because almost everyone would have had to take on an office. There was the idea of joining the swimming department. But they were worried that, as open water swimmers and amateur athletes, we wouldn't fit into their short-distance program. The athletics department then tolerated us because we were self-managed. So we were able to use the running track and the expertise of the existing coaches and athletes.

Martin: How did you calculate the costs for the department?

Pascal: With a classic Excel spreadsheet. The cost items were the coach, the association, the entrance fee for the swimming pool and the outsourced accounting. I calculated a few scenarios and factored in the 1,000 euros in start-up capital. I added up the total costs and divided them by the number of people. I communicated this openly with the group. Compared to the other clubs, we were a group with an enormously high additional contribution - but this was also due to the fact that the burden was spread over a few shoulders.

How a small triathlon group caused a positive stir in the local area

Martin: You were then an established group in the club. How did your group continue?

Pascal: It developed a momentum of its own that I hadn't expected. We quickly had our own name and our own logo. As a triathlon team from Otterndorf, we were the OTT team, which was recognizable because of the license plate in the town. We had photographers and graphic designers on the team who created a great logo and a team photo by the lake. We also had team shirts and our own social media channel. Because we also went to competitions, we had the idea of setting up a pavilion with a three-metre banner and logo as a team tent. Overall, there was a great team spirit despite the huge differences in performance. A joint summer party and sitting together after training perfectly rounded off the team spirit in the group.

Martin: You moved away at some point. Is the group still there?

Pascal: Yes, of course. I organized the handover and am in the area from time to time. Of course, I wear my team T-shirt at every opportunity and my heart is still in it

Next time: "Save energy and benefit from the network of a fellow campaigner."

Martin: What would you do differently next time?

Pascal: There was no public participation, for example. I would organize the project differently next time so that I don't slip into a winter month for the taster day. I would also involve other participants more in my idea from the outset. That was difficult because I did a lot of the work myself. I would have saved a lot of energy if I could have benefited from the network of a fellow campaigner.

Martin: And did you learn anything from this?

Pascal: I gave specialists like graphic designers and photographers free rein. It makes you realize what others are capable of and what great work they do. I later installed a deputy and that was a very good decision because he was able to take a lot of work off my hands. That was also an advantage when it came to the later handover, because a lot of knowledge had already been passed on.

Would you like to find out more about knowledge management in the association? Click here for our detailed blog article.

Pascal: Perhaps we sold ourselves short when it came to sponsors and partners at the beginning. There were problems with the swimming pool, where we perhaps shouldn't have let ourselves be turned away. But there was great support from the city.

Martin: And are you building the next team in your home town?

Pascal: No, I don't think so (laughs). For now, I'm going to make sure that I can make a meaningful contribution to the club here and bake small rolls.

Martin: Finally, your personal conclusion: what are the three key points that have stuck in your mind?

Pascal: Difficult (ponders).