The many different clubs at Bellevue College all share one common problem: members of clubs are bound to leave due to various reasons such as graduating, new class time conflicts or even just a loss of interest. The struggle to acquire new members in order to sustain clubs is becoming a real problem. This was not a problem for the awesome Ultimate Frisbee club led by President Chris Langely. The club was the second largest BC chartered club back in spring quarter 2013 and has survived to the new school year. The club just needs to resubmit its charter before it becomes a recognized club for the next school year.
The club has withstood the test of time by bringing back old members and bringing in new members. Troy Woolfolk is the new vice president of the club and a returning member from last year.
Woolfolk was elected to the position because of his dedication to the club. He knows what the club is all about and how the club operates at its core: “It is an exciting experience. Every Friday we go to the field and meet new people. Although it is always a wild card with the weather, so you never know how many people you are going to get each week. In the spring we get a lot more people, so that means more members for the club. We get a lot of people during the winter but more during the spring.” Langely ran the club very successfully last year and with Woolfolk’s help it can only get better.
The main problem for any club is getting new members. The main way the club gets new members is by word of mouth. New member Alex Schubert heard about the club directly from Langely. Schubert enjoys the game so he fit right into the group: “I like that it is a time to get energy out and it is a time to hang out with some people that all like to do the same thing.” While the group is all about playing Ultimate, it is also about meeting some amazing people who enjoy the same activities.
Even if a club is guaranteed to be popular, it always comes down to having strong leadership. Langely did have a bit of trouble getting the club started: “We started in winter of last year [2012] and the biggest challenge at first was obviously a challenge that a lot of clubs have in getting people to join. Fortunately, I had a group of friends that helped me start this club, so starting up was not too big of a problem.”
However, after it was up and going, the club’s name spread like wildfire. “Within the second or third week of winter quarter we had tons of people coming. Then in spring quarter, the number of people grew even more,” said Langely. After that, their problem of not enough people became one of having too many people. “So our problem grew from having too few people, to having too many people, which is a good problem to have,” said Langely. The club has lost about 50 percent of its original members because of graduation among other reasons. The club is still looking for new members to join.
The group is also making flyers. It is still active without its charter, so new members are encouraged to join. They meet every Friday from 1:30-3:00 p.m. at Robinswood Park just outside of Bellevue College. The awesome Ultimate Frisbee club is ready to start and to become one of the largest BC clubs again.