| The purpose of this study was to investigate current recruiting practices among swim clubs sanctioned by US Swimming. Through this investigation, data were also collected to measure the relationship of demographics and club dimensions with recruiting efforts. A questionnaire was developed for the purpose of this study. A total of 600 swim clubs were randomly selected and questionnaires were distributed to these clubs. The numbers of completed questionnaires were 287 and thus utilized for data analysis.; The present study showed that coaches were the major responsible persons for recruiting swimmers. The implementation of US Swimming recruiting supplements was in the following ranked order: posters, brochures, videos, cards, and slicks. The employment of US Swimming recruiting programs, on the other hand, was found in the following ranked order: Winning Spirit camps, Partners programs, and Sprintstar.; The following recruiting methods were cited by the respondents as factors emphasized when recruiting: (a) affordable costs: monthly dues and membership fees; (b) recruiting channels: referrals, lesson programs, flyers/inserts, schools, brochures, summer swim camps, and swim meets; (c) promoted team benefits: skill development, enjoyment of swimming, quality of coaches, opportunities to make new friends, development of self-esteem, enhancement of health, quality of swimmers, enhancement of time management, constructive use of free time, opportunities to travel, and provided amenities; (d) public relations focus: newspaper publishers, local swim committees, the community, potential club members, and competing sport clubs; (e) public relations strategies/devices: word of mouth, inside bulletin boards, internal publication, internal club atmosphere, handling complaints, and written news releases; (f) other recruiting efforts: feedback from parents and swimmers, swim clinics, and staff rewards.; Correlational analysis showed that several recruiting methods correlated to club characteristics. However, correlation coefficients were consistently too low to predict recruiting methods from club characteristics. Finally, cluster analysis was conducted to test the clubs which (a) applied US Swimming recruiting supplements, (b) did not apply US Swimming recruiting supplements, (c) utilized US Swimming recruiting programs, and (d) did not utilize US Swimming recruiting programs. |
