The dynamic of the American family has been changing for some time. As more club members want activities and amenities for the whole family, youth programming is one of the key areas on which clubs should focus more attention to remain relevant to members and successful overall.
According to NCA’s 2009 Private Club Operations Report, more than 40 percent of respondents have pursued expanded programming for both juniors and families as a way of responding to the economy. The following case studies provided by several private clubs throughout the country detail their family programming, the strategic planning involved, and plans for the future.
Columbia Country Club, Chevy Chase, Md.
James T. Troppman, CCM, General Manager
In 2001, Columbia Country Club’s board and house committee set into motion a strategic plan to generate more services aimed at families. In September 2007, ground was broken to add 35,000 square feet to the original 65,000 square-foot clubhouse, with a $30 million renovation aimed at families and youth.
Through informal surveys of parents, the club received feedback on what its members were looking for in family programming. The planning was completed with assistance from the family activities committee, and input from the youth regarding what activities they would like to see. Columbia Country Club has found that events for the younger kids (under 10) do very well when staff, rather than parents, oversees the activities. Examples include movie nights, girl’s night out with nail painting, fun “mocktails” and music, and family camp night on the golf course. However, despite requests for programming for teens, many of the planned events often conflict with the private and public school systems’ calendars and sports schedules, in which the membership is integrally involved.
The KidCity, the club’s child-minding facility where up to 17 children can be watched at one time, is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Friday nights after 5 p.m., and all day Saturdays, with reservations only. The current age range served is two through nine, but the club has received requests for children younger than two years of age. KidCity is expanding its services by offering story and craft times for the children. Children older than 10 are allowed in KidCity without adult supervision and the Teen Clubhouse (a game room) is available any time the facility is open, with the summer and Friday nights being the busiest times. The Teen Clubhouse includes games like ping pong, air hockey, dome hockey, Nintendo Wii and an arcade machine. The club has hired a part-time supervisor to oversee Kid City and the teen clubhouse.
The new outdoor pool complex opened in May 2009 and features a new wading pool with a “beach entry,” bubblers and fountains, and a Poolside Café. The club’s original bowling lanes have been relocated into the new facility, breathing new life into the duck pin bowling program. With the addition of a small 60-foot by 40-foot ice rink in the winter, the club hopes to attract beginner skaters and their parents. The rink uses space that would otherwise be dormant during the winter months and offers rental skates and food services.
While Columbia Country Club has re-positioned itself as a club for the entire family, it has not forgotten the generations past that have helped to create and strengthen the club. The club has improved all events and strives to find a balance of events for all ages and is proud to have an active membership that supports the activities and events offered at the club.
The Briar Club, Houston, Texas
Mr. Richard Lareau, CCM, General Manager
The Briar Club, located less than five miles from downtown Houston, is family-oriented “country club without a golf course.” The club is situated on four acres of land with seven tennis courts and a 27,000-square-foot fitness facility and Wellness Center.
In May 2009, the club invested $85,000 in a fitness system aimed to get members’ children ages 7-12 to be more physically active. Called the “Loft,” the new interactive video system studio provides numerous ways for youth (and adults) to get fit using high tech equipment. The equipment, part of the XRKade franchise, includes cutting edge gaming and entertainment systems where people become “human joysticks.” Whether running from ninjas, playing virtual dodge ball or bicycling to compete in a motocross race, the variety of activities challenges participants to compete with friends or their own “personal best.”
More than 1,000 children have taken the orientation program, which allows them to use all of the sophisticated fitness equipment. The club has developed several ways to keep youth returning to the Loft, including an after school program offered each weekday from 2 – 4 p.m. Another popular program is “Club 360,” which challenges the youth to complete 360 minutes of fitness activities to receive recognition on the “Wall of Fame” and rewards for their accomplishments.
The Loft is staffed with young adults who monitor, challenge and instruct the youth in physical fitness. The Loft is part of the club’s Wellness Center, featuring four studios with programming and group activities focused on reformer Pilates, matt Pilates, yoga (youth and adult), youth and adult ballet, zumba (Latin dance), spinning, ball room dancing, urban dance, youth boxing and UFC training (ultimate fight club) and other aerobic and cross training classes. The center additionally provides its membership with men’s and women’s family locker rooms, a youth game room and a poolside open air sports bar.
Since the opening of the Loft, it has strongly influenced many of the 30 new memberships accepted in the past six months.
The club is dedicated to serving families and provides additional youth programming, including “Little Tennis” starting at age 3, as well as a junior tennis program that operates five days per week and an aquatics program and swim club. Babysitting services are provided at Briar Club Kids every day of the week for a nominal fee for parents using the club facilities
Farmington Country Club, Charlottesville, Va.
Philip R. Kiester, General Manager
Shannon Banks, Youth Activities Coordinator
Farmington Country Club, whose mission is to be a premier, family-oriented club, is in the process of developing a five-year plan that addresses program development, marketing, research and implementation of youth programming. Members have expressed an interest in youth programs and family activities and the club has made a conscious effort to recruit families with children to join. Respondents to the club’s last general membership survey indicated a need for a more comprehensive youth program.
Farmington recently unveiled a Facilities Expansion Plan to the membership, which includes an expanded youth facility and upgraded game room. At present, the game room is located near the pool and is open eight hours per day during the pool season. The teen room is equipped with a jukebox, arcade game, table tennis and foosball table.
During the summer, the club’s general camp program is available for four to six hours per day (depending on the child’s age) for six weeks. The club develops a brochure to help parents select the programs in which to enroll their children.
The Children’s Place (the club’s drop-in child care service) offers monthly movie nights for youth ages two through 10 and family indoor playgroup during the winter months.
Additionally, Farmington Country Club is considering expanding its babysitting center (now open six days a week, serving children up to their 7th birthday) to something large enough to accommodate programming for children through age 12 (and open perhaps 10 hours per day). While this model seems to be relatively rare in private clubs, it is very common at the best fitness clubs in their area.
The club also wants to meet Virginia state licensing requirements for licensed daycare, because members want more babysitting than currently can be provided given the Virginia regulations for child care services. The club also knows members want a few more things not offered, including:
- Child care for stays up to five hours (to allow parents to play 18 holes of golf)
- Child care that will allow parents to leave the property
- Youth activities for children ages 7-12 who are too old for babysitting but too young to use the club without an adult or babysitter with them at all times
This year, the club began offering “First Fridays,” evening child care for children ages three months to eight years in addition to a monthly movie night. State regulations and a lack of youth space currently limit the club’s ability to expand the program; however, the new facility will allow the club the opportunity to pursue licensure for child care service—a necessary step so that the club can extend the maximum stay limit, as well as offer services for children and youth through age 12. (See sidebar on page XX for additional information on state licensure.) The new facility also includes an enclosed outdoor play area, complete with a playground. Inside, there will be multiple playrooms that will allow the club to better segregate youth and children by age, and thus allow programs to be tailored to meet the needs of these different age groups.
The club’s drop-in child care service and summer camp program each has its own departmental budget. The club’s Youth Activities Coordinator oversees the child care and summer camp programs, while youth programs in golf, tennis and aquatics are handled through their respective sports outlets. Youth social events are run through the club’s catering department and social committee.
The development and implementation of quality youth programming is an ever-evolving project. Farmington has had drop-in child care for 11 years. What the club has learned in those years will be used to build programs moving forward.
Nassau Country Club, Glen Cove, N.Y.
Francis X. Keefe, General Manager
Nationally and internationally, Nassau Country Club is known for its championship golf course: the home of the Bobby Jones Calamity Jane Putter, the Nassau Bet and Nassau Invitational. But ask a member with kids or grandkids what the club is known for, and there is a good chance they will say “family.” Nassau Country Club, founded in 1896, has a long history of offering family activities and today’s Nassau is even more kid friendly. Club leadership, while respecting the traditions of the club, has put emphasis on youth and family both through activities programming and long-range capital planning, especially within the past 20 years. The club knew it would require transition programs as the average age of the membership fell from the mid-60s to the early 50s. The club promoted the involvement of parents and grandparents within all classes of membership to create greater emphasis on youth and to encourage more immediate family members to join the club.
People joining clubs today want more than a great golf course; they want a family activity center. The swimming pool (circa 1930) has been resurfaced, heated and lighted for night time use. The club has added a playground and enhanced its interior space with the addition of a supervised kid’s lounge. On any given night at the pool there may be a family bowling on the Nintendo Wii, while others are enjoying a pizza, salad and soft drink priced as a family “value meal.”
Perhaps the centerpiece of the club’s youth program is its All Sports Program that began in 1991. The program was designed to develop and improve the athletic ability of girls and boys in the five to 13-year-old range. Four days each week youngsters enjoy half day golf, tennis and pool instruction by PGA, USTA and certified pool instructors. Parents are pleasantly surprised when they see their children in their required “whites” exhibiting skills at a younger age than many of their parents.
After nineteen years, the club now sees excellent athletes with superb sportsmanship competing in high schools, colleges and becoming club members. There are families who joined Nassau from other local clubs just to participate in the All Sports program. In these uncertain times when other clubs are looking for special ways to attract members, Nassau has been fortunate that its focus on family has become an excellent retention plan.
Multnomah Athletic Club, Portland, Ore.
Linda M. Ornelas, Member Services Director
Multnomah Athletic Club is a family athletic club. The club’s membership strategies encourage younger families with children to join and become actively involved. Because the club has a fully subscribed membership, it holds lotteries every three to five years to create a limited wait list. The lotteries allow the club to manage the demographics by weighting the drawing in favor of younger families. Their children grow up with the club being an important part of their lives. When they are young adults, more than 60 percent of the legacy members join the club, paying full initiation fees, because they want to continue their family tradition with their children. This helps the club counter the natural aging of the membership.
The club invests heavily in its children and family programs and facilities. The club has a child care department with three separate rooms for infants, toddlers and children ages three through six, serving about 800 families per year. The club has a professional manager and trained staff who offer enrichment programs beyond child-minding. Classes are offered for parents (infant massage, infant sign language, first aid/CPR, parenting) and children (art, music, cooking).
The child care manager is also in charge of the club’s Junior Lounge, which is a safe place for children seven and older to hang out. Children under seven must be accompanied by an adult. The room has one attendant after school, on school holidays and summer break. The club provides board games, a Nintendo Wii, TV, ping pong, air hockey, and foosball.
The club’s athletic departments have hundreds of competitive and recreational camps/lessons/activities for children of all ages. The club’s child care services are offered Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. The club is considering adding Sunday hours in 2010, in addition to considering a preschool program on site.
Over the past decade, Family Fridays have become the signature event of the club’s family-oriented programming. From 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on 39 Fridays a year, inflatable rides that are age/size appropriate are put up in the main gym. A theme is utilized to match additional offerings. For example, on Trailblazer Night, the local NBA team’s mascot, dance team members and a few former players come to meet and greet members. In the club’s second gym, the rock wall is open for climbing, and the food and beverage department sets up a buffet and bar. A movie is shown on the wall in that area. Finally, in the club’s third gym (all on the same floor), there are plasma cards, dodge ball games, video games, open gym time for basketball, soccer and football or other carnival-like games for a variety of ages. The crowds vary depending on the weather and the theme, but each Family Friday brings children, parents and grandparents of all ages to the club for a fun evening out.
With more and more families with two parents working outside the home, members report that it is important that the club offers activities they can do with their children, or safe places and wholesome activities for their children while they work or work out. For this reason, family social activities are more in demand than adult events at the club.
Babysitting Services at Clubs
Clubs need to be aware that the laws for child care vary by state. Generally, each state requires staffing qualifications and training for licensed child day care centers, as well as minimum standards for regulating the health and safety of children. Additionally, liability insurance is a license requirement. The National Resource Center for Health and Safety in Child Care and Early Education’s Web site provides individual states’ child care licensure regulations. See http://nrc.uchsc.edu/STATES/states.htm for details.
Clubs considering offering babysitting services should start by contacting the state agency that governs child care and child welfare in their state. States have standards for licensed day care centers, and define criteria that exempt a facility from having to be licensed by the state. For example, child-minding services, such as those currently offered at Farmington Country Club, are considered exempt. Some types of exemptions a state may allow include:
- A program of instruction with a single focus, such as sport clinics
- Programs that specify a specific age range and length of time, i.e., children ages 6 to 12 for a three-week program
- Practice or competition in organized competitive sports leagues
- Child-minding services provided to allow parents or guardians who are on site to attend instructional services
- Child-minding services limited to less than three hours per day, if the parent or guardian can be contacted and can resume responsibility for the child’s supervision within 30 minutes; and if the parent is receiving or providing services or participating in activities offered by the establishment
When considering whether to offer babysitting services, clubs need to be aware of the potential risks and liabilities that could arise. In addition, clubs should explore various types of liability insurance including:
- General liability – covers property damage and bodily injury
- Professional liability – provides coverage for damages and defense should a claim arise from professional services the club provides
- Personal injury liability – provides defense coverage should a person attack the club’s reputation by means of false arrest, libel, slander, malicious prosecution, wrongful entry or eviction etc.
- Defense coverage – pays for legal defense in the event of a lawsuit
- Molestation or abuse liability – provides coverage for any suit arising from alleged, threatened or actual molestation or abuse
- Alienation of affection – protection in the event the club is sued for “stealing the affection and control” of a child from their parent or legal guardian
- Contractual liability – covers any written obligations and agreements, i.e., any field trip or medical forms provided by the club that cause a lawsuit
- Field trips/off premise activities – provides coverage when away from club premises
- Product liability – includes preparing and serving food to the children
Other Ideas for Youth Programming Implemented at Clubs
Columbia Country Club, Chevy Chase, Md.
- The club has a newly renovated bowling center, indoor pool and a winter ice rink.
- Scavenger hunts “Amazing Race” style provide physical and mental challenges around the clubhouse.
- This winter, the club has plans for broom hockey on the new ice rink.
Cedar Rapids Country Club, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
- The club uses Kid’s Entertainment Group, a country club and convention camp company to run Camp CRCC, a summer camp for youth. Camp CRCC is offered weekdays in the summer and incorporates swimming, tennis and golf.
- Kids’ nights allow parents to drop their children off in the evening while they enjoy adult activities or a relaxing dinner at the club.
- Each Wednesday, the club offers a promotion that allows kids to eat free from the children’s menu when accompanied by an adult.
Union League of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pa.
- Each year, the club hosts a New Year’s Day open house. The club is located on the parade route for the famous Mummer’s Parade and has food stations, walk-around entertainment, bands, a DJ and outdoor bleachers from which to view the parade.
- The club has a father and son event every year where fathers and grandfathers can bring their sons and grandsons for a dinner and presentation by a sports celebrity or other well-known individual.
- The club’s newest family event is a father and daughter holiday formal.
Long Island Yacht Club, Babylon, N.Y.
- The club offers children’s tennis with round robin play, junior sailing in beginner and intermediate levels, and a children’s swim team. The club recently renovated its pool and plans to host a variety of children’s water-based programs.
- Every Friday junior sailors have the opportunity to go to regattas at other clubs all over Long Island; families attend to spend the day picnicking.
- The club runs fun days, such as a family camp-out on the lawn, arts and crafts, and an evening sail, where kids build their own boats and race them in the pool using the wind.
Farmington Country Club, Charlottesville, Va.
- Social programming includes a fifth–sixth grade social, a seventh–eighth grade social and family camp outs.
- The club hosts youth sporting events, including: tennis fun days, golf Olympics, and putt-putt night, where the golf professionals transform the practice green into a miniature golf course.
- The club has hosted a six-hour Red Cross Babysitters Course for youth ages 11-15.
Nassau Country Club, Glen Cove, N.Y.
- The club features Parent’s Night Out, in which kids enjoy a special pool party while mom and dad enjoy a private dinner or a seat on the terrace overlooking the pool.
- The club’s season-ending event is a casual Super Bowl family tailgate party. The “football jersey and jeans” party starts at 1 p.m. with video games, outdoor touch football and all the fixings traditionally expected on Super Bowl Sunday. By 6 p.m., those wishing to stay and watch the game may do so; however, those with youngsters go home, tuck the kids in and then watch the game on their home TV.
- Nassau offers parent-child events, including: wacky golf nights, trips to local water parks, hockey games after a casual dinner in the grill room, petting zoos, and hayrides.
Multnomah Athletic Club, Portland, Ore.
- The Junior Activities Committee, made up of middle school-age volunteers, plan five dances per year for their age group. About 375 middle school students, mostly members, attend these popular dances.
- The Member Events staff plans classes year round for children. These include art, science, Red Cross babysitting, SAT prep, college planning, sewing, etc. Member fees pay for the cost of the classes and materials.