Introduction

To be reading this very Guide, it is almost certain that you belong to a sports club which already recognizes the benefits of involving family friendly sports activities in their strategic plan, but a little reminder would never harm – would it? 🙂

The advantages in entering in a FFS mode are numerous for any sports club open-minded enough to explore this world. If we were to list them, though, the most important of those would be:

• Increasing its popularity in their target groups and becoming more attractive and intriguing.
• Overcoming competition with other sports clubs, as it opens up a whole new world to their target groups which would be totally interesting to explore.
• Proving that the FFS club provides high quality services which distance themselves from the conventional interpretation of sports.
• Offering high reputation and acknowledgment in the general public, as these special services can be a matter to be discussed and thrive in the word-to-mouth process.
• Becoming a source for future club members of different age groups and therefore enlarge the activity range of the club, as well as the financial reflection such an openness could offer.
• Catching the attention of relevant stakeholders to cooperate and -why not- invest in a club which undoubtedly brings wide social impact to the community through its FFS initiatives.

• Building common memories – which sets the basis for emotional stability and inner development.
• Allowing intimacy and meeting one’s emotional needs – “fighting” for a common cause allows family members to come closer, support each other, share emotionally rich moments and express their feelings to one another.
• Creating family togetherness – sharing is caring and this does not only apply to materials and services, but also to shared moments – in FFS case, wins and losses and effort and hard group work.
• Building a sense of belonging – feeling a sense of community with one’s family members, feeling secure and safe in one’s “family team” reflects to real life, exactly as it does in the sports field.
• Opening up the communication lines – participating in FFS activities, encourages the family members to open communication and find new ways to express themselves.
• Facilitating the healing process for any relationship struggle – releasing stress, overcoming grudges, promoting cooperation towards a common goal is helping members to let go of any dark emotions and helps in conflict resolution.
• Supporting the children’s social and emotional development – growing with the out-of-the-box involvement of one’s family, experiencing different moments and having one’s guardian lead by example, supports the child’s well-being and multidimensional development.
• Learning new skills cooperatively – it is definitely special to learn something new along with your family and share this experience of improving one’s skills and capacities together with their most beloved ones.

And the list can keep on growing bigger and bigger – who could doubt this? But is it only the children and their families the beneficiaries of such an initiative? What about sports clubs? Why would they bother including FFS activities in their regular sports programs? Let’s share a few ideas…

We are pretty sure that this short overview of only a few of the numerous benefits you could get from applying FFS in your sports clubs are more than enough to power up your mood. However, if you are still having some reservations and you do not feel sure about why and how you should enter the FFS world, we would advise you to take a look at our guide “INTRODUCING FAMILY FRIENDLY SPORT ACTIVITIES AT YOUR SPORT CLUB” and find your answers!