Promote stoolball and find new players

If your team needs new players, or your league needs new teams, there are lots of ways you can get the message out. Here are some suggestions and ways that Stoolball England can help, but if you have other ways to find new players that have worked for you, please contact us.

Make sure your page is up-to-date

Check your team’s page on this website. Do we have contact details for your team? Do we have the address of your ground? Do we know when you play? If not, tell us about your team. We’ll put it all on your page, so that players can find you and get in touch.

If you’re particularly in need of new players, tell us and we’ll add an appeal on your team’s page and our news section.

Post on our forum

Use our forums to let everyone know what you’re looking for. There’s no better place to reach an audience already interested in stoolball.

Put posters everywhere you can

We’ve produced an A4 poster for you to print out and display. There’s a space for you to let people know who they should contact if they want to play. Put it up in your front window, at work, in leisure centres and village halls, in libraries or the local shop. Ask local companies such as supermarkets if they will display a poster on their public and their staff noticeboards. If you get some copies of your poster laminated you can put them up outdoors too.

In particular target sports clubs which play winter games such as hockey and football, to see if there is anyone interested in playing a summer sport. Try to reach those playing tennis, badminton and squash too as they will already have good hand/eye coordination.

It’s useful to prepare a letter explaining why you’re promoting your team, in case you need to leave a poster with a receptionist.

Play Stoolball poster (PDF format, 2.1MB)

Car stickers – get one for everyone in your team

How often have you read a sticker on the car in front when you’re in traffic? Everyone does, so get your whole team to use them. The stickers cost 50p each or £3 for 10, read “Stoolball: the sport for all ages and abilities”, and have the address of this website so people can find out more. Any window will do: promote stoolball at home, in the car or in the office. To get your stickers, please contact us.

Advertise in local media

Place an advert in your local paper or free-sheet. There may be a small cost or, if you offer to write an article about your club, you can often get featured free of charge. This was a success for Horley Stoolball Club in Surrey where eight new players responded to their advert.

Advertising or making an appeal for your club on local radio can help too, whether it’s community radio for your town or larger stations such as Heart Radio or BBC Sussex.

Get schools and your local council to help

Ask local schools if they will put a poster up, and talk to their PE teachers and School Games Officers about playing stoolball either in class, as an after-school club or as a taster session which your club could help to organise. Tell them about our section on school stoolball.

Your local council may be able to help, particularly at town, parish or district level. They are usually keen to promote new sports, and can include you on local websites, help you to organise your publicity, apply for grant funding and run taster sessions. Cowfold Stoolball Club got started thanks to their local council. Try neighbouring councils too, though only if they don’t already have a stoolball team of their own!