Volunteers are the life and soul of Every GAA club. Getting the right people (and enough of them!) is one of the basic challenges for GAA clubs across the Province.

Ulster GAA must say thanks to all the volunteers During the Covid – 19 Pandemic who assisted those in our communities most vulnerable to the Covid-19 Pandemic.

The efforts of our Volunteers are a testament to the GAA’s values of community identity, teamwork, inclusiveness, respect, and shows that such values are not bound by the white lines of a playing field.

Recruiting volunteers can be a chance to refresh and reinvigorate your club. A positive approach, combined with clear thinking and creativity, can make all the difference to your volunteer involvement.

Developing a recruitment strategy is a good way of promoting a positive image for the club, people like to see progress and a plan is a great way of demonstrating that.

Good management can ensure valuable volunteers are kept, affirmed and refreshed.

The club must be seen as:

• Open & Welcoming it should be a ‘Place of doors, not place of walls’

• An energetic place and full of activity

• Making a major contribution to the community

• Well organised where people’s time is productive

• Safe (Especially for Children)

Approaching New Volunteers

The first thing to do when recruiting new volunteers is to ask them to get involved. Nothing can replace the value of face-to-face communication. We communicate over email and phone but often the message is misinterpreted, also a sense of personal connection is never really created. Be specific about what they are being asked to do and the amount of time involved.

How to respond if you get a Yes, Maybe or No

A Yes:

Best Practice tells us to:

• Explain what it is you want them to do and make sure it’s specific

• All requests for Volunteer help should begin on the understanding that the entry level commitment will be one hour. This means that the Volunteer is aware of their job and control of their duties.

• Formally introduce them to the club.

• Avoid at all costs over loading them.

• Be clear cut about the time and commitment involved.

• Provide them with support & Job description for the Volunteer.

• Training – The Ulster GAA Coach and Volunteer Development Programme is run annually for GAA members across all nine counties of Ulster and contains many courses, seminars, conferences and events to help develop GAA volunteers’ skills and knowledge.

• Recognition – It’s all-too-easy to take volunteers for granted. To keep everyone enthusiastic and refreshed we should check that we haven’t overloaded anyone and keep providing feedback to them.

It is important to give people variety and don’t leave anyone in the same place/role for too long. Constantly acknowledge volunteers, formally and informally. Remember, that a simple ‘thank-you’ is all that is required. The club should also use its website and notes in the local newspapers to highlight the work that people are doing.

• People Stay involved in clubs Because they feel Valued, they feel their contribution is respected & they have a sense of pride that they have contributed to the club.

A ‘Maybe’ tells you that this person is not completely uninterested. Keep in touch and maybe they will be interested in joining at a later date or getting involved in a different capacity.

A ‘NO’ Don’t take this to heart, not everyone will agree to volunteer. People choose to not Volunteer for many reasons. Try to determine is it a ‘no’ or a ‘not right now’. You never know when someone may have a change of heart.

Recognise your young volunteers

For Youth Volunteers recognition can be given by signing them up to Ulster GAA’s Goldmark, which is an initiative which awards volunteer hours of young people aged 14-24 year olds.

There are awards for 50 hours, 100 hours and 200 hours which is an Award of Excellence signed off by the Department of Education.

Translink Young GAA volunteer of the Month award for 2020 will hopefully be up and running soon also recognises the efforts of young volunteers and is a great opportunity to showcase a young outstanding volunteer in your club.

For more information contact ashelene.groogan.ulster@gaa.ie