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Public Relations and the AFDC
It's all about You
by
Lauren Cangelosi
In The Future
When you envision the
future of ultimate, what do you see? Is it the image
 of
a sports arena
similar to a football stadium packed with people? Is Nike, Gaia, or
Gatorade sponsoring the top athletes? In the future do you see, college
coaches scouting top high school players? Will kids start playing
ultimate at age 5 like they do with soccer and baseball?
Ultimate? What’s That?
This may or may not be
the future of our sport, only time will tell. Right now, ultimate is the
sleeper sport in the realm of athletics. If you asked the average
civilian (non-player) if they know what ultimate is, their response would
most likely be
a puzzled look followed by "what?" Just imagine if you asked about
goaltimate. For this reason, we need to focus our efforts on spreading
the word about the AFDC, ultimate, and goaltimate. Overall, the objective
is to increase the membership of the AFDC, especially the amount of female
players.
Strategies
In general, working and
communicating with local media, colleges, and high schools to keep them
abreast of the activities and leagues the AFDC has to offer will increase
membership. This includes sending out press releases to the media and
placing ads in publications, such as college and high school newspapers,
which will reach potential players. This is important because it
establishes contacts and informs people of the AFDC and ultimate. Placing
fliers in outdoor/recreational stores and fitness clubs will also raise
membership.
Recruiting Women
Aside from increasing
general membership, increasing the amount of
women players is a large part of the objective. I will be collaborating
with Holly
Summers, the Women's Director, to leverage our efforts in raising
female membership. To increase the amount of female players, the same
type of things that will be done to raise general membership will also be
done, but with a focus on women. In other words, a lot of recruiting will
be done at Agnes Scott College along with placing fliers and ads in
publications specifically targeted for women.
Other Projects
Once the campaign to
increase membership is in place we can begin other projects such as an
ultimate clinic, getting involved with the Boys and Girls Club, obtaining
sponsorship for Terminus, and a few other things that are currently on the
backburner.
It’s All About You
To come full circle, these projects
will impact the future of our sport through increasing the awareness of
ultimate and the amount of players. At one point in time, basketball and
soccer were at the same crossroads ultimate is at today and look how those
sports have increased in popularity. Hopefully, through these efforts
more people will begin to understand why we cherish the plastic and the
thrill of the game. In the end, it comes down to you and the
contributions you make to further the love of the game.
If you would
like to get involved with the PR efforts or have any ideas/suggestions,
please contact
Lauren Cangelosi
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| Feb '02 Articles |
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Romey's
Ramblins |
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Winter League |
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Spring League |
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Public
Relations |
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Holly's Vision |
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Goaltimate |
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Ozone |
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Gridlock |
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| "When
you envision the future of ultimate, what do you see?" |
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Overall, the objective is to increase the membership of
the AFDC, especially the amount of female players. " |
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"...we need to
focus our efforts on spreading the word about the AFDC, ultimate,
and goaltimate." |
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| "I will
be collaborating with Holly Summers, the Women's Director, to
leverage our efforts in raising female membership". |
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