Away trips and summer camps: filling them via web and social media

A match lasts ninety minutes, but a club lives all week. An away trip with the first team, a summer camp for children or a youth recruitment day turns spectators into a community – and the club can earn from them too. One Facebook post and a poster at the ground won’t fill them, though: every event needs its own page, a simple sign-up form and a plan for your posts.

Why events beyond match day pay off

A fan who has travelled with the club to an away game feels closer to it than someone who buys the odd ticket. A child who spent part of the summer at the camp knows the coaches and the changing room, and the parents know who they are trusting their child to. Youth recruitment brings the club new players – and new families in the stands.

Events are also a source of income: the camp or trip fee, space for a partner, merchandise sold on the day. We recommend pricing them to cover costs with a margin and putting them in the season calendar from the start. In the F.I.T.T. method we call this timing – the right message at the right time, from match days to recruitment drives.

A dedicated event page with everything in one place

A social media post sinks out of sight within days. Every event therefore needs its own page on the club website that all posts, posters and messages to parents link to. When someone asks what the price includes, the answer should be a link, not a long message.

The page should cover:

• Date and place – for a trip, the departure time and meeting point plus the expected return; for a camp, the daily programme.
• Price and what it includes – transport, match ticket, meals, a T-shirt or kit. Say what is not included, too.
• Capacity and deadline – how many places there are and when sign-ups close.
• Who it is for – the age range for the camp, the conditions for under-18s on a trip.
• Contact – a named person with a phone number and e-mail, not the club’s general address.

On the FK Spartak Dubnica website, the summer football camp and the away trips with partner Sunbus each have their own page with the programme and a sign-up form. Fans get to a trip straight from the fixture list: home matches have a “Buy ticket” button, away matches an “Away trip” button.

A sign-up form parents can fill in on their phone

Parents and fans often sign up on their phones – in the evening, in between everything else. So the form has to be short, readable on a small screen and right on the event page, not a separate file to download. Only ask for what you really need to organise the event.

At FK Spartak Dubnica, the sign-up form is part of the camp page and works on mobile too. A confirmation e-mail arrives straight after registration, so parents know their sign-up went through and the “did you get it?” questions disappear. The forms on the club website are also protected against spam. See the whole website in our FK Spartak Dubnica case study or live at fkspartakdubnica.sk.

A posting schedule: before, during and after

One announcement won’t fill an event. We recommend mapping out your posts in the calendar as soon as the date is set – and making every one of them lead to the event page.

Before the event

• An announcement with the date, price and a link to the sign-up form.
• The details, one at a time: the programme, who is coaching, where you are travelling, what the price includes.
• Photos and videos from last year – the best invitation you have.
• A reminder before sign-ups close, then practical information just before the event: departure time, what to pack, where to meet.

During the event

Short videos and stories from the journey, the stand or the camp pitch. Parents see what their children are up to, and fans who stayed at home see what they missed. One person in charge of content is enough.

After the event

Thank the participants and partners, share a gallery and a short highlights video. Add the date of the next event straight away, or at least ask people to register their interest – enthusiasm peaks in the first few days after everyone gets home.

Photos and videos as next year’s content

The best material for promoting next year’s camp is created at this year’s. Before the event, decide who is taking photos and what needs capturing: arrivals, training, the group photo, the certificate ceremony, a coachload of fans in club colours. Store the images clearly by event and year so you are not hunting through phones twelve months later.

One day then gives you content for the whole season: a header image for the event page, material for posters, photos for partners and “a year ago” posts just as you open sign-ups.

Children in photos: parental consent

At camps and recruitment days, most of the people in your photos are children, so you need parents’ consent to publish photos and videos. The simplest way is to build it into the sign-up form as a separate, unticked checkbox that explains clearly where the images will appear – on the club website, on social media or on posters.

If a parent says no, respect it: the coaches and whoever is taking photos should know which children must not appear in published images. Don’t add children’s full names to photos unless you have to, and use the sign-up data only to organise the event. If in doubt, it is worth asking a data protection specialist.

Key takeaways

• Every event needs its own page with the date, the price, what it includes, the capacity and a contact.
• The sign-up form should be short, on the event page, work on mobile and send an e-mail confirmation.
• Plan posts for before, during and after the event – and make every one lead to the event page.
• This year’s photos are next year’s invitation. With children, ask for parental consent in the sign-up form.