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Words by Ollie Harsley (@OllieHarsley)
I’ve always wondered what could be done to attract younger volunteers to non-league clubs? The main reason why I ask this question is because I feel that there needs to be new voices and new perspectives at non-league clubs and leagues themselves in general. This would balance things out with the predominately older volunteers who dedicate their time to ensuring that all non-league clubs continue to survive.
This comes from my own experiences as a young volunteer and I definitely think it’s possible to have more younger people involved in some capacity. I first got involved with non-league football when I was 15 years old back in 2015 and, since then, it’s always been something that I’ve been passionate about. I’m now nearly 23 years old and I dedicate the majority of my time to promoting non-league football because I love it so much.
Younger volunteers would certainly bring new perspectives and ideas about a number of aspects of running non-league clubs. This includes the continuing development of social media which has expanded significantly in the last few years. New apps such as TikTok have brought new horizons for non-league clubs to branch out into and it’s predominantly younger individuals that are utilising this sort of opportunity to get publicity. This would definitely be a valuable thing to have at your disposal.
From my own experience at Hall Road, I’ve been given free reign on our social media accounts to establish my own voice and style whilst also always taking on advice and guidance from those around me. Moreover, it’s been a successful example of older and younger voices coming together to help the club develop. Ideally, this would be replicated at the vast majority of non-league clubs.
The recent surge in attendances at non-league games is definitely a good sign that some younger people are wanting to go and watch games. It’s all about getting them involved because they’re ultimately the next generation who’ll need to step up and take the reigns from their elders.
I’ve written this article to try and get the message out that more young volunteers are needed in non-league football. This isn’t going to be sorted overnight, but it’s certainly something that has to be addressed in order to ensure that non-league clubs don’t miss out on getting fresh voices and perspectives.
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