In my third year at Oxford I set up Oxford University Roller Skating Club. This page explains a bit about how it went! 🛼

The motivation.

  In my second year of university, I realised that it was probably a good idea to be doing some form of regular exercise. This may sound pretty obvious, but I hadn't really exercised beyond commuting (walking/cycling) for about four years! Scrolling through the sports societies on offer, the most appealing one was ice skating; I'd grown up doing Artistic Roller Skating, so it would be slightly familiar. I went to sessions with Oxford Ice Skating Society for a few terms, and it was great! But it wasn't quite roller skating...

  I knew that other universities had roller skating societies, but Oxford didn't. The idea of setting one up played on my mind for a while, but I wasn't sure how much I actually enjoyed roller skating anymore (or whether the skill would come back to me!). To test this out, I went to Thames Valley Roller Skating Club in Abingdon. It turned out that I hadn't lost my skating ability at all; I ended up going back a few times to help teach at the sessions. This was enjoyable, but travelling from Oxford regularly was not ideal because the terms were already so busy. So the decision was made: I'd set up Oxford University Roller Skating Club!

Setting up the club.

  The first step was to contact the Sports Federation and suggest the idea to them. Initially, they didn't seem too convinced...If the club would have any chance of existing, I'd need to demonstrate that there was the interest and demand for it. Thankfully, one Google form posted on various Facebook groups later, there was evidence for such a demand. Phew!

  Next came a great deal of admin: paperwork (e.g. a club constitution) and finding committee members. The paperwork had to be approved before any club activity could start, and all the sessions for Michaelmas (first term) were already booked up. Finding a committee was not the easiest, because there weren't many roller skaters in Oxford (reflecting the current lack of a roller skating club). There were also a lot of little decisions to be agreed on, like how much to charge for sessions. And some more time-consuming tasks to sort out, like getting a club bank account. Most fun of all was creating the logo and branding for the club; I'd already helped re-brand the Mirzakhani Society, so was excited to get creative!

  By Hilary (second term), we had a taster session planned, which was extremely exciting! Tickets were more popular than anticipated, so sign-ups closed within just a few days. The session itself went really well; attendees enjoyed themselves and were up for more regular sessions, and there were no disasters with the hire skates! :)

  All was looking very promising for setting up regular sessions the following term. Then Covid hit.

  We returned to Oxford in-person in October, but sessions couldn't take place without several risk assessments. My attempts at delegation just felt like great disorganisation, and so we ended up with no sessions that term. Study was remote again the following term, so no sessions then too. And then it was exam term and I was doing my exams remotely, so not the time to be starting sessions. :(

  I handed over the club at the end of my time at Oxford, and it's been growing and growing! When I left Oxford, the Facebook page had around 150 followers. Just over a year later (when I wrote this) it had 392 followers! There are now regular sessions as well as roller hockey sessions too. I can't take any credit for its success, but I'm glad to have founded the club and provided a roller skating club for the University of Oxford! :)

Reflections.

•   I definitely spent way too much time sorting out the paperwork, and worrying about little details such as how much to charge for sessions. If I were to do it again, I'd prioritise starting sessions as soon as possible.
•   Despite spending a lot of time setting up the club, when doing so my first priority was always my degree. I should have been more organised by dedicated a certain amount of scheduled time to work on roller skating admin each week.
•   I definitely didn't manage the committee as well as I should have done. Regular (e.g. weekly) meetings, clear delegation of roles, and holding people to doing the tasks they were assigned in time would have meant the sessions would have started sooner. Having been on other society committees, this organisation should have been second nature, but not having clear sight of when sessions could start seemed to blur away any form of structure.

Advice.

  If there's a club/society you'd really like to see exist at your university, you could be the one to set it up! :) Make sure you have enough time to dedicate to it, and ensure you have a structured plan for when you'll work on all of the admin. Speak to others who have set up clubs so that you know exactly what the process involves, and find people who are as enthused by the idea as you to help you! Good luck!