mfquint

I’m looking to start a cycling team and I wanted to ask around to see what was included in teams that people are part of ie 1 time entry fee, annual fees, jerseys etc. The team will be sponsored through a local gym and will be for all walks of life whether you’re the beginning cyclist or cat1. We will have weekend rides, cycling classes at the gym, a charity ride once or twice a year and other events.

NickDavid

Contact USA cycling. They will give you the info.

Rutnick

are you racing? It reads more like a local club that doesn't race.

mfquint

There will be several members including myself who do race but we will also take part in local tours and events. So yes its a club in the sense that we will be promoting our gym and doing charity events but we also look to race as a team.

thegunner

maybe i'm doing it wrong, but we just found people willing to sponsor a 'club' and put their names on the jersey. we race under their jerseys. if it gets bigger, then we'll sort it out later on, for now... it is what it is, a cycling club with corporate sponsors

lpolliard

What city is your gym in? You might find some BF'ers who are interested.

mfquint

This is exactly what I was looking to do. We will have a number of sponsors including the gym as the main sponsor. Do you guys charge an annual fee or one time fee? Please provide more deatails about your "team/club" Thank you

I'm located in Albuquerque, NM and I know a number of people that are interested in joining. Once the team gets going I will post up on here if people want to join but for now I'm just trying to hammer out the details and write the business proposal for the gyms sponsorship.

JRonaTrek

yeah, if its more of a local thing, i doubt it you'd have to through some national process. I think it's a great Idea....there should be more of this happening.

thegunner

i'm in nyc, and it's mostly just for members of the columbia team so there's group rides and a team to race under during the summer months/local in races columbia doesn't participate in. uh, i kind of just emailed random people hoping for sponsorship (kits etc. at cost) in exchange for increased visibility in the nyc area. there are a lot of surprisingly generous companies out there!

as far as dues etc, i wanted to avoid that since that's the biggest turnoff for a lot of cyclists, the need to commit to a team that might not be together all that long, so basically just friends who train/ride together. we'll each pay our license fees and race fees. if it gets bigger, and we get more sponsors, then we'll figure out dues etc. for right now it's just a way to ride and race together.

edit: that being said, if anyone on the boards would like to join an informal club/team... let me know

Voodoo76

Do we get any free gear?

Psimet2001 

Having done it a few times I can recommend/advise as follows:

1. Look for local associations to "register" with. League of XXX wheelmen/cyclists, etc. Usually they charge little to no dues and will list your club up on a site, etc.

2. If you plan on racing - then you should register the "club" with USA Cycling. It costs $150/yr to do so. After that you will need to be listed with the area "local association". No cost and the info will be available from USAC.

3. My advice is to not charge dues - especially if you are a new club. People have this funny way of expecting "something in return" whenever they pay for anything - even if you point out exactly what their money went towards and even if they had a vote in it.

4. Put someone in charge. That person has the final word. Period.

5. Put someone else in charge of all of the logistics. Kit buys/design, etc. Do not make kit design a collective process. Involve 1 person and the sponsor - that's it.

6. If you recruit by talking to people when off the bike then don't be surprised if they join and you never see them "on" the bike. I have found that recruiting works best when you start the discussion after you meet while riding or racing. It demonstrates that they are actually going to participate.

7. Never expect to be thanked for anything. This is your hobby and you decided to do this. No one else decided for you and no one else owes you anything for making that decision. This is due to the fact that running a team will be much more work than you ever anticipated if you haven't done it before and the fact that happy people usually stay quiet - it's the ones with issues who are vocal so you will end up only hearing about what's wrong.

8. Cyclists are competitive, smart, egocentric, and type A. Don't be quick to jump to the "A-Hole" label - these are actually qualities that can help make someone very effective in a race.

9. There is nothing better than seeing a picture loaded with your team members. Make sure some get taken.

10. The more you have meetings the more opportunities there are to develop disagreements and/or drama. Most of the people in this sport are successful and/or leaders - meaning each one is the smartest person they have ever met. Ask 10 to decide on something....and it will erode quickly. - see #4.

11. Celebrate. Everything possible.

12. make sure people know your team ethos before joining.

Voodoo76

This is a gem! If anyone disagrees just look at half the threads in this joint.

thegunner

you live in texas...

Voodoo76

I know...

Machka 

+1

And I'll just add that you've got to look into insurance. This might be covered if you join an association, but if not, you'll have to track it down yourself. If something bad happens on a ride, the club is responsible. You may need to charge your club members a minimal fee to cover the insurance aspect of things.

mfquint

Psimet2001 and Machka thank you for your advice and knowledge.

SteelCan

A club of which I am a member, looked into insurance (sponsored thru USA Cycling). The wording/legalese in the coverage was so open, that an attorney friend could not recommend it. (IIRC his opinion was that it only seemed to protect officers from direct litigation in a civil suit)
The coverage was $950/yr

I know of a handful of clubs. A director of our club asked around. NONE have insurance.

nitropowered

The USAC insurance is only $125. Might as well, its cheap enough and you get 1mil coverage.

I disagree about not charging a club due. You have various costs of running a team, like USAC registration, insurance, etc. Plus I believe that if you pay a due, you feel more motivated to do things with the club, since you paid for membership. Unless you have a money sponsor, all of this would be coming out of your pocket.

SteelCan

Are you sure about that $125?
The quote one of our club directors received was $950. This was through USAC (not sure who the underwriter was but policy was found via USAC)
The $1Mil of coverage sounds right, though what it covers is limited.

Psimet2001 

Being a club and paying your club dues with USAC extends USAC insurance over official club events. The insurance isn't great but like mentioned when I read it over a year ago it appeared to be geared toward not allowing club officers or the sponsoring entities to be financially devastated in the event of a catastrophe. It's all out there on the website if someone with some time just wants to go look it up. Start in the forms library.

As for the club due - seen it happen 1,000 times. You're a club and most likely have someone else's name on your jersey. That someone else can pay for the registration. Money spoils everything good. Mainly because too many people are too weird about it.

nitropowered

https://www.usacycling.org/forms/waiv...bInsurance.pdf

$125, I just paid it.

kenshinvt

While I agree that money can have a negative effect, I think it is a good idea to have at least nominal dues. They can be as little as $15 or less and bundled in with the cost of the yearly required jersey. Even $10 per person with >15 people is enough to cover the USAC fee. While I'm sure people do feel entitled (to voting, participation, etc.) when you move up to larger amounts, I doubt many people feel that a nominal amount entitles them to anything. Most people understand that there are administrative costs associated with running any reasonably sized group.

Ideally, yes, you would have sponsors cover everything. The problem is that sponsors are not reliable from year to year nor is the amount that they contribute. The money goes to an interest-bearing account and is then useful to fill the funding gaps that eventually crop up. It's not so much the operating expenses but the surprise expenses.

I guess really what it comes down to is what is your long term goal for the team? Do you want a team with a permanent name that takes on small-level sponsors but is more focused on social riding with perhaps some racing? Or do you want a focused racing team where you ride under the sponsor's name and are after results? If it's the latter, don't worry about dues. If it's the former, keep in mind the long term picture or be willing to pay out of pocket.

Machka 

Rowan and I walked out of the first meeting for a new club in the area.

-- they didn't have insurance of any sort, and told us they basically just hoped nothing would happen.
-- they were holding races without authorization (and calling them "practice rides" even though they all knew and acknowledged they were races).
-- they had done up a ride schedule, but proceeded to cancel the social road ride on the up-coming Saturday ... because they weren't really interested in holding social road rides (despite what they advertized), they were interested in holding races they weren't authorized to run, and a few mtn bike rides.
-- they wanted $50 from each of us, but couldn't tell us what for ... they hmmm-ed a bit about buying a lawn mower or something to improve some mtn bike trails.
-- they wanted us to put in an order for kit as soon as possible.
-- and right at the end of the meeting, we found out the real reason why they wanted to create this club ... the government was handing out grants. If there was a bicycle club in the area, the club would get grants, and there may possibly be a bit of money for a few bicycle facilities. By creating this club, they were getting money from the government. Money from the government plus our $50 entry fees.

We weren't impressed.


I don't mind a bit of a club fee, but I want to know what it is for ... where is the money going and why?

paste_me

people in texas get free gear?! sign me up!

Psimet2001 

Exhibit A:

You can listen to me or you can have drama. You have to understand that someone is ALWAYS going to feel entitled - even if it's $1. Just sayin.