I recently had a conversation with another coach, who runs a successful private judo club, about why some clubs fail to attract players while some have a thriving membership.
According to my friend, in order for a club to succeed, the head coach must have at least one of the following three qualities:
i) Was a former top competitor
ii) Was not a top champion but is highly regarded for his technical skills
iii) Is very good at communications and publicity
Of course if a coach has two of the three qualities, even better. But best of all is a coach who has all three qualities, although this is quite rare. Let's look at these qualities in detail:
Former Top Champion
It's worth mentioning that just because a person is a former champion doesn't mean he or she will necessarily be a good coach. There are many reasons why a good fighter may not end up being a good coach.
That said, there quite a few examples of the very best judo players in the world who successfully transitioned into very successful coaches. Olympic Champion Ezio Gamba of Italy (now the head coach of Russia) is probably the best example. He's managed to produce five Olympic Champions in just two Olympic cycles.
On the other hand there are also examples of top champions who never managed to produce a single World or Olympic Champion. So, it really depends on the capabilities of the individual. In general though, I would think a former champion has a good chance of becoming a capable (if not great) coach.
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There are many, many examples of very good coaches who were not top champions themselves. Many of these were fighters who had some competition success but did not rise to the very top. In fact, when I was a competitor, two of my coaches were from this category. There were good competitors but really great coaches.
There is a theory about why good competitors have a better chance at becoming great coaches (than those who were great competitors). A good competitor who never quite made it to the top would naturally be more empathetic about the struggles and challenges that up-and-coming fighters face. A great competitor, in contrast, is more likely to expect everyone to be as talented and as skilled as he was.
Also, it's believed that a good competitor would generally be more caring and selfless towards his students than a top competitor. You see, to be a top champion, you have to be self-centred to a certain extent. As such, they would not be used to thinking about other people. Their focus throughout their career is on themselves, not others. Of course this is just a generalization. There are examples like Gamba of Italy and Kosei Inoue of Japan -- top champions -- who turned out to be excellent coaches who obviously care a lot about their players.
Good Promoter
Let's face it, salesmanship is important in any endeavor. You could have the best judo club around but if nobody knows about it, nobody knows about it! Word of mouth can only go so far. It needs to be amplified through social media, blogs, YouTube etc. If you're doing great things at your club, shout about it to the world.
Some people might be hesitant to do that because it takes a lot of effort to make content. But in today's world, this is absolutely necessary.
Some might not like the idea of "showing off" but it ain't bragging if it's true. If you have an effective training program that has produced champions, let people know about it through descriptive blog postings. If you have a fun program that your players enjoy, let people see that through highlight video clips. If you have fantastic randori sessions that are well-attended and hard fought, let people witness that through a livestream.
We are in the era of social media. Your target audience is likely to be online a lot. If you want to reach them, you've got to promote your club through that channel. I've had so many players tell me they were attracted to my club because they saw our postings on Facebook. Their impressions was that we are a very active club, with lots of regular practice that look like a lot of fun. We really get that a lot.
Bottom Line
My friend says you need to have at least one of those qualities above to attract students. He's probably right. Even with just one factor, it may be enough to get some people into the club. But to keep them there is another thing. One is probably not enough.
Let's say you're a good promoter. Your savvy postings and campaigns might attract people but if your coaching is bad, nobody will want to stay. Similarly, some people might be attracted to your club because they heard you were a former champion. But again, if your coaching is bad, they won't stay.
Or let's look at another scenario. Let's say you are a technically-sound coach but you're really poor at promoting the club. It would be hard to attract people in the first place because they would have never even heard of you. Why? Cos you're not a famous champion and you're lousy at marketing.
So, I would say it really takes at least two factors for it to work but ideally all three. Then you really have a winning formula.
It's worth mentioning that of the three factors, "top champion" is the only factor that you can't change. If you were never a great champion, you can't very well travel back in time and change that fact. Not being a top champion is just something you've got to make do without.
But you can make yourself very technically sound by researching and studying so that you are familiar with modern judo techniques and up-to-date with the latest trends in world judo, etc.
As for being poor at marketing, that's up to you to change things too. Take an online course to learn digital marketing if necessary. But more importantly, adopt a new mindset that you have to create content to promote the club.
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