Author: Racquet Network

Racquet Network staff are certified experts. Many are also certified coaches. Racquet Network Experts undergo extensive training and product knowledge testing in order to ensure that we have the most knowledgeable staff in the racquet sports industry.
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How to Add New Members to Your Club

This article was created as a resource for club promoters who are trying to enlist the assistance of their members in the task of attracting new members. All of the articles in this series offer suggestions to club members regarding how they can help to attract new members. Club promoters are encouraged to link to it if they wish to provide suggestions to their members.

How to Add New Members to Your Club

Racquet Network has thousands of customers in Calgary and across Canada. In addition to that, we have thousands of daily readers of our blogs, newsletters, and social media channels. Compared to most racquet sports clubs, our reach is frankly enormous. We talk to people every day that your club might never be able to reach

The good news is that we use this power for good. We use our reach to help increase participation in racquet sports, especially here in Calgary, where our family owned business first got its start in 2004.

Our simple and highly effective strategy for helping clubs grow is this:

  1. We follow you <--> You follow us
  2. We like you <--> You like us
  3. We share your posts <--> You share our posts
  4. We talk about you <--> You talk about us
  5. We link to your website <--> You link to our website

It is astonishing to us how often customers come into our store who are completely unaware of racquet sports clubs and facilities that are practically in their backyards. We are equally astonished how often people who are aware of these clubs, are too afraid to find out what is going on there.

They often imagine the worst: expensive memberships, high-pressure sales tactics, high prices, surly members, nobody to play with and much, much worse.

By connecting with us and by networking with our staff, your club’s members help make us aware of what is happening in your club. We can tell people about all of the great things that are happening. This helps us encourage our customers to check your club out. It helps us guide potential new members your way.

Everybody understands how social searching works. You drive by a restaurant day after day and wonder if it is any good. But it is not until someone you know recommends it that you decide to check it out.

The same is true for clubs and facilities. Potential new members drive by every day, but until they hear from somebody who is enthusiastic about what happens there, they may not venture inside.

We can be that enthusiastic person. Our staff can help your club connect with new members by providing them with recommendations and referrals. If our staff know what is happening and who to talk to, we can help you grow your membership.

Once again, our very simple and highly effective strategy for helping clubs grow is this:

  1. We follow you <--> You follow us
  2. We like you <--> You like us
  3. We share your posts <--> You share our posts
  4. We talk about you <--> You talk about us
  5. We link to your website <--> You link to our website

In this way, we help each other and together we help grow and strengthen the sports we all love.

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How to Raise Funds for Your Club

If you are reading this, it is probably because your club is affiliated with Racquet Network under our Sponsorship Credits Program and somebody at your club wants you to understand how this program works.

How it Works

You are a member of an affiliated racquet sports club. Therefore part of your online purchases are rebated back to your home club every time you make an online purchase.

This super simple online system makes fundraising easy for affiliated clubs whose players shop at Racquet Network.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Players only need to remember two things.

1. Purchase online through this website.
2. Choose your club’s name from the list of affiliates when you place your order.

If you want to avoid shipping charges and just want to pick your order up in our store, choose LOCAL PICKUP from the list of shipping options. Or you can choose to have the order shipped to you.

We do the rest.

How Clubs Redeem Sponsorship Credits

At the end of the year, your club will have a number of accumulated sponsorship credits that they can spend on court equipment or prizes for tournaments or prizes for silent auctions or anything they choose.

The number of credits is entirely up to the members of your club who shop on racquetnetwork.com.

Help with Fundraising

Racquet Network gets fundraising requests from more than 200 clubs from across Canada every year. This program makes fundraising super simple for clubs of every size.

It is especially simple for clubs right here in Calgary because they already have members who shop here regularly anyway.

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Alberta Netball Shoes

Netball Alberta LogoRacquet Network’s southwest Calgary store is just a few minutes drive away from the Southland Leisure Centre, which is the birthplace of netball in Alberta. As a result, we see a lot of young ladies coming in for netball shoes.

What is netball, you ask? It’s a variation of basketball that was created accidentally in 1895 when a US sports teacher misinterpreted a letter outlining the rules of basketball sent to her by James Naismith — basketball’s inventor. Originally called “women’s basketball”, the sport’s name changed to netball as it crossed the North Atlantic and landed in Great Britain.

Fast forward a century and netball is played by 20 million people (mostly women) in 80 countries. In Canada, there are four provincial netball associations: in Quebec, Ontario, BC and Alberta. Calgary is home to Netball Alberta and most of the netball players in Alberta, but there are growing contingents of netball players in Edmonton and Drumheller as well.

As a court sport, netball is a perfect fit for Racquet Network. As with all of our other court sports, netball players are required to move athletically on hardwood floors. They run short distances — usually a few steps — and sometimes have to stop or change direction suddenly. Therefore traction is a primary consideration.

Racquet Network carries a large selection of court shoes for netball, badminton, dodgeball, squash, tennis and other court sports. Netball players can stop by anytime. We carry sizes and half sizes in ladies 5.0 to 10.5. We carry all three price points (competition, recreation and budget) and we are open 7 days a week. In fact, the only days we are ever closed are holidays.

Netball Shoes

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Discount Racquet Stringing in Calgary

With more than 150 kinds of string in stock at any given moment, Racquet Network is well-known in Calgary for offering custom racquet stringing.

Since the racquet sports player network was founded in 2004, the southwest Calgary racquet store has turned out thousands of customized tennis, squash, badminton and racquetball racquets to some of our city’s best players and coaches.

“We have built our reputation on customized racquet stringing,” says owner Brent Johner. “We have always offered our customers more options than anywhere else. We offer more kinds of string, more colours, and more brands. We also offer more turnaround options. Our customers have always had the option of getting their racquets back in an hour, a day or a week.”

Discount racquet stinging is new for Racquet Network. “Discount stringing is much cheaper,” Johner notes, “because it comes with fewer options.”

Home-based discount racquet stringers charge less than custom stringing stores like Racquet Network because they offer fewer options. Most stock only a few kinds of string and have very narrow windows for picking up and dropping off. A store like Racquet Network, by contrast, is open long hours which makes pick up and drop off very convenient.

“We don’t expect to get much in the way of discount racquet stringing,” says Johner. “We expect that most of our customers will still come to us because they want their racquets back fast and they want to customize their string beds to optimize performance, but we feel it is an important service to offer.”

Racquet Network is a family business that serves both players and their families, Johner notes. In a lot of cases, Mom or Dad are serious players and want everything customized. However, they may not want the same level of customization for their kids. Discount stringing gives players who are not ready for customized racquet stringing a low-cost option. At the same time, it gives Racquet Network the opportunity to serve their customers’ entire families.

“Discount stringing is a great option for players who aren’t in a hurry and aren’t looking for any performance enhancements,” says Johner. “It may be a backup racquet or an old racquet somebody found in a closet. We don’t judge. If that’s what people want, we are happy to serve them.”

Racquet Network now offers discount racquet stringing starting at $20.00, string and labour included.

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Squash Racquet Grip Size

Squash Racquet Grip Size
Squash Racquet Grip Size
Unlike tennis racquets for which grip size is critically important, squash racquets are not manufactured with different grip sizes. That is to say while there are differences between adult, junior and children’s squash racquets, one cannot purchase an adult racquet with a particular grip size.

Instead, squash players all start with the same grip size and then build their racquet handles up to the size they want by using a combination of grip and overgrip.

Many players are satisfied with a single grip. Some, with larger hands, will add an additional layer or two of overgrip while players with extremely large hands will often begin with two layers of grip followed by one or more layers of overgrip.

Only the highest quality squash racquets come outfitted with proper grip when you bring them home from the store. Most racquets, in fact, come with a very thin rubber wrapping that looks like grip. This is not a grip and should be replaced immediately. Even good quality racquets will usually require the installation of grip and string before you can play squash with them.

So how much grip and/or overgrip should you wrap around the handle of your new squash racquet?

To find out, hold the racquet in your hand as you would when you play. The squeeze the handle as tightly as you would if you were about to make contact with the ball.

The tips of your fingers should be barely touching your palm below your thumb. If they are pressing into your palm, the grip is too small. If they are unable to reach your palm, the grip is too large. Add or remove a combination of grip and/or over grip until it is the perfect size for your hand.