In order for clubs to embrace and service families well, it is important to understand what the implications are regarding club facilities. We’re not talking about turning clubs into romper rooms where children play, eat and “raise Cain.” Rather, how does a great club offer an experience that serves all family members—dads, moms and the children who are living in the members’ households—as well as broadening the family to include grandchildren and the grandparents?
If we look at where the world is going and where clubs must go to serve today’s family-focused society, clubs must provide the facilities that reinforce the mission of being inviting and well-serving of these families.
In the North American private club world, there are myriad club types serving society in one way or another, including the traditional country club, golf club, city recreation club, dining club, yacht club and tennis club. Almost all these club types will have the word family in their mission or purpose statement. But how such clubs achieve their stated mission of family service can vary greatly. Many clubs say they want to be family-oriented, but are not really committed to what that means. You will often find such clubs with membership problems as they spend millions of dollars on projects that don’t serve family needs and little to no money on family-friendly facilities such as casual dining, fitness areas and swimming pools. Yet these same clubs can’t figure out why the next generation of members (and their families) is not joining.
So to determine what kind of facilities families want in clubs, we have to look at what they enjoy doing. Golf is perceived by many as a challenging game that is not enjoyable unless it is played well. In order for youth and family members to take a stronger interest in golf, clubs need to promote programs and facilities that will increase access for women and children—and keep it fun.
Also, traditional country club sports such as golf and tennis are sports for individuals. Yet the most attractive sports for children, and to some extent even for adults, are team sports (soccer, baseball, football, field hockey, lacrosse, basketball, etc.). In other words, private club offerings for recreation activities may be out of sync with what family members want to do.
The big question is, how do private clubs get back into the mainstream recreation world to offer what families want to do, either individually or together?
Family Facilities by Club Type
One of the most successful club types today is the urban family club without golf. Such clubs as The Briar Club in Houston, the North Hills Club in Raleigh, The Racquet Club of Ladue in St. Louis, The Boulevard Club in Toronto offer broad recreation activities that appeal to families (adults and children) with multiple activities—but without golf! Most importantly, these clubs have large memberships with reasonable initiation fees and dues. They provide very good value for their costs. They are conveniently located. They provide good dining, and they provide recreation offerings for every person in the family.
Typical full-service country clubs offer four basics: dining, golf, tennis and swimming. These clubs have, for the most part, expanded their facilities to provide more recreation activities and year-round offerings. This expansion of services has added value to country club memberships by offering fitness, platform tennis, bocce, pickleball and other recreation. However, clubs with golf offerings may have challenges in getting all family members to play golf.
Remember, growing golf is all about making golf more fun for men, women and children of all ages. Successful clubs are tackling this challenge by improving practice areas and offering pitch and putt courses. Other enhancements/offerings include golf conditioning and training facilities, good teaching professionals (especially women professionals), and fun golf events for children, women and men.
City Athletic Dining Clubs
As cities expand downtown residential centers alongside business centers, the traditional city club also must transform itself into an urban social, business, recreation and dining club for its members and their families. These members not only include business people living in the suburbs, but also empty nesters living in the city and young adults with and without children living in the city. Yet service to families is sometimes a missed opportunity for such clubs. Family members are often in the city for social events or if children take up sports like squash, bowling and competitive swimming. So the city club of the future must also embrace members’ families if they are to remain relevant.
Top Family-Focused Facilities
For today’s family to justify club membership, the club must offer a value proposition that warrants its cost. Today, club membership is a joint decision between the husband and wife. Many times joining can also be greatly influenced by the children, as parents will join a particular club that offers the facilities that best match the children’s activities.
The facilities that most attract families are:
- State-of-the-art, outdoor swimming facilities with zero-entry pools, water spray areas, plenty of shade, plenty of deck area and heated pools in cold months. In St. Louis over the past five years, three of the four top clubs have replaced pools to make them safer and more appealing to families.
- Health/fitness facilities are equally important to adult family members of all ages. This is a major trend change as in the past fitness was seen as primarily for the younger members. Some clubs like The Briar Club in Houston are attracting children to its cutting edge fitness offering.
- Casual dining areas with relaxed dress codes are popular. Family members have to eat, and why not at the club? The challenge for family dining at clubs is mostly operational and facility-centered. And remember that good outdoor dining is everyone’s favorite.
- The family lounge with a cyber café is a good hangout for family members of all ages. Think Starbucks or Panera. Most clubs have converted every square foot of clubhouse space into revenue-producing dining rooms, meeting rooms and activity areas with no spaces left for family members to just relax and spend more time enjoying their club. As a result, they don’t stay around the club after they work out, play a match or have a lesson.
- Bar/pub areas are one of the three most important club facilities that most encourage social interaction among members (swimming pools and fitness facilities are the other two). Bars are high-energy places and need to be separated from dining areas, which usually have a more relaxed environment. The old concept of having a long bar on one side of a mixed grill does not work for those with their backs to a dining room as well as the diners seated behind a boisterous group at the bar.
- Babysitting, child activity areas and a Tween room keep members’ children occupied. The Boars Head Sports Club in Charlottesville, Va., is a large family club that has facilities that offer something for all family members. School buses drop children off at the club after school to study and spend time until their working parents can pick them up.
- Quick, physical workouts fit the bill for busy families. There is renewed interest in all racquet sports, fitness facilities and golf practice facilities (many golfers are using practice facilities more often than the golf courses themselves).
- Club use by women is still one of the biggest challenges for private clubs of all kinds. Clubs need to offer facilities and programs women want such as good dining, social events, events for children with value, spa activities, card playing, women-oriented fitness offerings, good golf and tennis programs tailored for women, and clubhouse interior decors that are female-friendly.
If a club truly wants to be family-focused/friendly, its facilities must say this. Clubs should have great golf offerings—but they should also offer the swim, tennis, fitness, dining and spa facilities valued by other family members.
Recreation and social activities both for children and adults are what attracts family members to clubs. These activities are what make the club a destination. Then once at the club, family members can be enticed to dine or participate in other club offerings. Be sure your club’s destination offerings are good enough to encourage members to go out of their way.
Social Gatherings
Any time members get together, there is an opportunity to enhance the club’s value to them. A club by its nature is where like-minded people can have better life experiences by sharing in one another’s company. This is as true for children as it is for adults. Promoting social interaction must be a critical goal for all clubs—and family events are a great way to do this. Just look at how a children’s swimming meet brings out the parents. Clubs need to develop more activities for the entire family, and then have the facilities to support them. Bingo nights can be a lot of fun. “Can’t miss” holiday events can be energized by doing something new each year.
Family-friendly facilities should be the result of achieving a club’s strategic plan. Rather than just rendering lip service to being family-friendly, clubs need to survey their members to determine what is the right family emphasis, and then hold their board’s feet to the fire to accomplish it. All organizations must conform to the needs of the society they serve to remain viable. Private clubs are no different. Clubs today, have a great opportunity to serve families better. Will they do it? Those that do will prosper, and those that don’t will slowly disappear. Let’s make sure that our clubs prosper by offering a true family-friendly club experience.
Club Trends Spring 2014