Despite the high profiles of the four major racket sports, racketlon is a sport still in its infancy. Not yet funded by Sport England, UK Racketlon relies on its community to help it not only survive. Despite these challenges, UK Racketlon is one of the leading racketlon nations, finishing top of the medal table at 2023 FIR World Racketlon Championships with 48 medals. In this article we have compiled a list of 10 ways you can help us to promote and grow racketlon even further in the UK:
1) Wearing promotional racketlon t-shirts
Whether it’s club night, match night or simply at the gym, wearing a racketlon branded t-shirt is a great marketing tool and offers the opportunity for somebody to learn more about the sport.
Don’t own a racketlon t-shirt? A special edition UK Racketlon shirt can be purchased here, which can be customised with a player name for no extra charge.
2) Supporting UK Racketlon social media posts
Re-post, share, like, comment: all these actions have a significant impact on the way that our social media posts can reach the wider community and potential new players. It takes seconds, doesn’t cost any money, but is very much appreciated 🙂
3) Scouting new venues
Is there a local facility in your area that has the facilities for all four racket sports? UK Racketlon is always looking to add new possible venues to the roster and recommending a local venue may come in handy should it lead to a new tournament in the future. Please forward any venue details to Sam Barker (barker.sam@hotmail.co.uk)
4) Sharing your success
Local media outlets are always looking for new stories about people or events in the local area, so if you’ve won a tournament then why not offer it as a story? Just make sure you get your best side in the photo of you clutching the trophy!
5) Talking about racketlon
Try dropping racketlon into a conversation at a club night, match night or tournament. A simple ‘So, do you like any other racket sports?’ is an easy step towards introducing racketlon into a chat.
6) Encouraging first-timers
First impressions are lasting. If you’re an experienced racketlon player then it’s highly likely you had a positive experience in your first tournament. If you’re playing against a new player then please be friendly and encouraging.
7) Creating a local group
Creating a mini racketlon community in your area could not only grow the sport, but also help improve your game with the occasional group training session. Car sharing when travelling to tournaments can also reduce costs. There is also an opportunity to enter a team into the 2024 Racketlon County Championships.
8) Swapping skills and knowledge
Swapping technical skills and tactical advice is a great way to help one another improve and boost the strength of UK Racketlon as a whole. A racketlon tournament is a great opportunity to ask for some advice from a more experienced player in your weakest sport.
9) Volunteering
If you have a desire to give back and offer your time and skills then UK Racketlon would love to hear from you. As a sport that receives no funding, we are reliant on the passion and enthusiasm of our incredible community. Outside of the more structured roles, you can still make a difference even by something as simple as offering to mark a squash game at a tournament (as long as you are clued up on the rules of course!).
10) Running a tournament yourself
UK Racketlon are always welcome to new tournament proposals and can offer assistance to those eager to run one in their local area, club or university. Please contact our Tournament Director (barker.sam@hotmail.co.uk).
Of course, this list is just 10 possible ways to help and there will be many more. We’re so grateful to our wonderful community, who do many of these things already, unprompted. It is our aim to use this new and improved website to help push UK racketlon forward in 2024 and beyond, so we can continue to be one of the leading racketlon nations in the world!
Happy racketlon-ing to you all!