Building a Relationship with your College or University

All schools have a different set of rules you will have to abide by and procedures you need to comply with
in order to receive permission for funding, travel, event hosting, etc. To make sure that you’re up to date
on all the latest formalities, stay in close contact with your school’s club sports director, or your club
advisor if you have one. Don’t be shy about speaking with and fostering a relationship with these
individuals, especially your club sports director (or whatever analogous position oversees your team at
your school). They can be a great resource to you and will likely be willing and eager to help, as it’s
this person’s full-time job to know how to get things done and to ensure that you are able to grow and
operate properly, not to mention to grow club sports in general. Talk to them about recruitment,
fundraising, events, or anything else you need help with. When you’re not sure where to turn in the school administration for a particular problem or question, this is where you should go first. They will most likely by able to point you in the right direction. 

Many schools’ club sports departments also organize a leadership/club sports officers training summit at
least once a year. It is absolutely in your best interest to attend this meeting, whether or not you are a
newly elected team leader. If you are new to your position, you will likely learn a lot of useful tips about
how to run a club sports program. Even if you are a grizzled veteran of collegiate cycling and club
presidency, it never hurts to maintain contact with the school administration and make sure that, every
year, you know just who to talk to for your every need. And school policies are infamous for changing
without warning, so it’s best to stay current on all of them.
Most importantly, since policies and procedures vary extensively from school to school, a key point to
include in your officers’ handbooks are who to contact for what, and a list of relevant policies and
procedures for dealing with your school.