• DO have a mission statement: What kind of club team do you want to be? How active do you want to remain throughout a given year? Some club teams exist only as a traveling entity that comes together in the summers to enter various tournaments hosted throughout the nation. Often this type of club includes as many current college players as college grads. Other club teams form to compete in indoor lacrosse leagues during the fall and winter. Gotham began our first competitive year by playing other regional club teams during the spring season. As interest in the club grew, we were able to compete in local games and tournaments.



• DO have core players and leadership positions: Gotham began as a few former players passionate about looking for an opportunity to play lacrosse at the post-collegiate level. What began as a small band tossing the ball around in Central Park has turned into a club with a list serve of around 200 lacrosse loving New Yorkers. The determination of Ayana Green and Rachel Moore to create a club team has insured that Gotham will serve the New York City region for years to come. It didn't happen overnight, but within two years Gotham had a regular spring schedule and entered several summer tournaments. Gotham was able to grow because Ayana and Rachel have been successful at identifying fellow lacrosse nuts who were willing to give Gotham their energies, abilities and resources.



• DO have a web site: Now that you have a name, you need players. The web site will probably be your most important recruiting tool. The first thing I did when I decided I wanted to join a team was to Google "New York City Lacrosse." Word of mouth will only take you but so far, and the Internet reaches a much wider audience and has brought in scores of interested members for our club.



• DO have an e-mail account: A club e-mail account goes hand in hand with having a web site. Keeping all club business in one e-mail account makes organization and delegation much more feasible. Queries from prospective members won't get lost in your personal e-mails. As players come and go, it's also helpful to have an account to which various players have access. It also seems more official to send a request for membership to 'GothamWomensLacrosse@yahoo.com' rather than to sally@yahoo.com.



• DO find field space: Once you've decided when your club will play, you need to find a place to play. The Internet is a great resource. Indoor leagues usually have sites. Contact local high schools and colleges. Often their field space is available on Sundays or at other times when not in use by students. Contact your local parks department. Gotham holds practice once a week at a city-run park. It may not be a regulation size field, but it works for drills and scrimmages.



• DO get involved in the greater lax community: The more people to whom you reach out, the more opportunity you will find. By contacting area coaches, you are looped into field space, refs, players, clinic opportunity etc. Have all of your players join US Lacrosse; by joining, you'll be covered by their insurance during practice and competition. US Lacrosse may also help with funding and also provides articles and information on tournaments and regional teams. Feel free to contact your local US Lacrosse chapter for help. US Lacrosse also has a Women's Post-Collegiate Club Council with great resources for new and existing clubs and players (www.uslacrosse.org/wdpcc).



• DO recruit from colleges: Gotham decided to send out a mass mailing information letter to a number of colleges in the north east. We wanted to tap into the recent college grads that might be moving to New York City and might want to play on a club team. It's just another way to spread your name and let players know that you exist.



• DO fundraise: Renting field space, purchasing uniforms, having a coach, traveling to the next state, tournament fees, etc. start to add up. Gotham charges team dues. That money only takes us so far into the season. We want the club team to be fun, not a financial burden. In order to reduce out of pocket expenses, fundraising is a team necessity. We've raised up to $1,000 in a night simply by going to a bar, charging a cover, and bringing our friends. Gear sales and clinics are other great ways to raise money.

		DO get gear: Advertising your presence in the community is an important step towards club longevity. Walking around New York with a Gotham shirt has attracted many interested players who hadn't found our web site or didn't know any current players. It also helps team morale to have the spiffiest uniforms at the tournament. You can also bulk order gear and sell at a fundraiser.
DON'T be afraid to ask for help: Gotham wouldn't be around if the founding members were shy. Ask existing clubs how they got off the ground. Contact local lacrosse figures (coaches, players, stores) for help. See what you can do for them in exchange for field space, money, gear etc. Someone has been there and figured it out. Don't be afraid to build off of their expertise. Starting from zero will waste time and energy - use what's available. DON'T try to take on too much individual responsibility: One person can't do it all! Gotham decided to form an executive committee to establish leadership positions and dole out responsibility. Scheduling a season, planning fundraisers, budgeting and manning an e-mail account and web site are very time consuming jobs. DON'T be afraid to delegate: We have an executive committee of 12 people. Each person is responsible for just a small piece of the pie. This gives our team direction, support and encouragement. You can't do it alone - it takes the whole team. As a leader, you'll need to identify players willing to help. You'll need to shape the team's leadership and set its course. DON'T lay out your own money or bring the team into debt: A club team should never go into the red. Don't feel that as a team leader, it's your personal responsibility to take on the bulk of financial layout. The nature of a club team should be that everyone pitches in. Team dues and fundraising may not take you all the way through a season. The team can't pay for everything (unless you somehow manage a sweet corporate sponsor). Let players know that they will sometimes be asked to cover their own expenses and help the team. DON'T be closed minded: Be creative in reaching out. Think out side of the box. Gotham didn't have a lot of money to purchase collapsible cages for our practice. One of our players, Trillium Sellers, approached a lacrosse web site and negotiated that she would write a column on club competition in exchange for a cage. Everyone has skills and contacts. Learning to tap into that for the benefit of the organization takes creative thought. DON'T be too closed off to players of differing abilities: Gotham decided early on to be a club that offered women of all abilities the chance to take the field. Other teams have gone too aggressively the route of wanting only the best. Starting off, your goal should be to field a complete team. Some of your players may not be all-Americans, but they still count and allow the game to go on. Gotham now has enough interest that we've divided into an A Team/B Team structure. This allows us to be competitive while still providing a forum in which all players can have fun. DON'T aim too high too early: A team can't be born overnight. There's a lot of preparation that goes into a season. It took Gotham a full year of planning before we could have our first official season. Take it slow. Building a lasting organization takes thought and time.
		DON'T get discouraged: A lot of effort goes into creating something from nothing. It won't happen over night. Don't lose heart. Keep reminding yourself why you're expending so much time and effort. The joy in holding our first team trophy after 3 years of development was more than worth the pains it took to get there. DON'T forget to have fun: It's a club. Its sole purpose is for fun! Don't get caught up in the details. If you don't get the trophy, you still played a game with an amazing group of fellow lacrosse loving women.

Contact: gothamwomenslacrosse@yahoo.com       Link: www.gothamwomenslacrosse.org

Mary Ballantyne, President of Gotham Women's Lacrosse, hails from CT where she started playing lacrosse in a pee-wee league. Holding on fiercely to her wooden stick, Mary played for Choate and then Smith College. Now in her 4th season, Mary credits Gotham with keeping her in the game, on the field, and happy with a new group of life-long friends.

Margot Ryan, Vice President of Gotham Women's Lacrosse, is a native New Yorker who played at Harvard. She has been actively involved with Gotham since its earliest days and has been a steady presence on the executive committee.