Step 3: Finding alliances and board members

When I started the esport association, I met with the chairman of the board and he asked me to bring my game plan and eight names for the esports board. The following week I came back with 14 pages of a detailed game plan and a list of ten people, who I wanted to be part of the esports club.

How? I created a Google form where interested people could sign up. I shared it on social media and asked if anyone wanted to start a local esports club with me (unpaid/volunteer work). They could sign up and I would contact them. Then I invited the candidates for a meeting. They were adults with different professional and gaming experience; I needed people who could do the things that I could not.

It is important to build a board with a variety of competencies. Look at a person’s skills, rather than age or experience. In the end, our board consisted of four people with gaming experience, three people with no gaming experience and myself as the chairman. As a group we had professional experience from banking, education, sales and marketing. We were all unpaid volunteers but all members, coaches and board members paid a membership fee to be part of the esports club.

Once you have recruited the right people for the board, you can sit down and show them your game plan again. I suggest discussing your plan on an operational level and figuring out the answers to these questions first:

• What should you call the club? What will your logo, colors, website, social media, streaming profile and so on, be.
• Which games should you offer training in?
• How, where and of what frequency should your members train?
• How do you find coaches? (and educate them?)
• What does it cost to be a member?
• How does money come into the esports association?
• How can you work together with parents and schools?
• How many members do you want?
• Are your members going to tournaments? If so, how?
• Should you hold your own events, if so, how? – And many other topics.

Your goal will be to create the foundation and framework for the esports club. If you are part of a traditional sports club, there might be internal rules on colors, shirts, and brand names that you should be aware of.

Now you have made the first framework for the club. Great Job! Let’s move on!