Trying to set up a Gym-Society

DL Saint

Hi,

I am trying to set up a gym society in the college and would like to know how to go about it?
Who would I have to send an application to? and by when?

The society would focus on getting guest speakers in to the college to give talks on health, motivation, training etc...
We would also offer students advice on nutrition and training and general well-being. I think that there would be alot of people interested in this type of society in the college and it would be a pull factor for incoming students in choosing UCD over Trinity etc...
For more information see
http://www.facebook.com/pages/UCD-Gym-Society/173016349413959

Would appreciate any information that anyone has on setting up a soc?

Regards, DL Saint

Tayto2000

Starting a society might not be the best way to go, it's hard work and the college doesn't like starting new ones that overlap with existing stuff. What you want to do sounds more like a sports club than a soc... you might find it easier to hook up with the Athletics club to get what you want to do organised.

Fad

It was mentioned at the hustings on Thursday that there's a moratorium on the formation of new socs because of funding issues.

dyl10

Fad wrote: »

It was mentioned at the hustings on Thursday that there's a moratorium on the formation of new socs because of funding issues.

The society system is a joke.
The creation of a society and the funding of a society should be two separate processes.

RayCarley

As has been said, as much as your society might be a great idea and might have a few or even a hundred students backing it, UCD will not allow you to set it up as a Club or a Society.

I know a group of guys who have been trying to set up a club/society for almost 2 years and UCD have just refused and almost punished them for it. So my advice is not to go down that road.

Like the only thing you can do is organise a group of students who just happen to go to UCD and have interest in the Gym, but you'll have no luck trying to set up anything official.

DL Saint

RayCarley wrote: »

As has been said, as much as your society might be a great idea and might have a few or even a hundred students backing it, UCD will not allow you to set it up as a Club or a Society.

I know a group of guys who have been trying to set up a club/society for almost 2 years and UCD have just refused and almost punished them for it. So my advice is not to go down that road.

Like the only thing you can do is organise a group of students who just happen to go to UCD and have interest in the Gym, but you'll have no luck trying to set up anything official.

Thanks for the input, I have a few questions though:

Why will they not allow it? have they reached quota on societies or something?

I am guessing you are reffering to the paintball-soc? If so that is because there was one in the past but it failed. There hasn't been anything like I am trying to do in the college before afaik.

That wouldn't really be what I would want to achieve. I certainly would not be able to get guest speakers in, rent out lecture theatres etc...

Fad

DL Saint wrote: »

Why will they not allow it? have they reached quota on societies or something?

Money, that's all.

DL Saint

Fad wrote: »

Money, that's all.

Oh ok, cheers for the info.

RayCarley

As Fad said, it is money reasons.

The other alternative would be to try and align with an already existing society. I'm not sure which one would be the closest to what you're trying to do. But most societies are always trying to organise more activities, so I'm sure you'll find one which would be happy to allow you to bring in guest speakers, rent out lecture theatre etc. under their name.

DL Saint

RayCarley wrote: »

As Fad said, it is money reasons.

The other alternative would be to try and align with an already existing society. I'm not sure which one would be the closest to what you're trying to do. But most societies are always trying to organise more activities, so I'm sure you'll find one which would be happy to allow you to bring in guest speakers, rent out lecture theatre etc. under their name.

Ok, thanks for the advice Ray.

ironclaw

Hi Saint, I'm part of the start up Ray is talking about.

Why will they not allow it? have they reached quota on societies or something?

We started off as a club as we saw ourselves (rightfully) as a sport and not a society. The is a ban on new clubs as per a AUC decision. I don't have a problem with that as clubs are generally more expensive to fund e.g. Insurance, equipment procurement. They turned us down in November 2009 and only told us around March 2010.

We then went down the Soc route and hit nothing but a brick wall. We put our Soc application in in July 2010 (Having notified the AUC and Soc Authorities in October 2009) We were lead on for months and only recently had our Soc recognition meeting. We've answered just about every questions under the sun and have been more than accommodating. We even clearly stated we don't want or need funding. We have yet to hear an answer.

I am guessing you are reffering to the paintball-soc? If so that is because there was one in the past but it failed. There hasn't been anything like I am trying to do in the college before afaik.

UCD is pretty much the only college in Ireland without a Paintball Soc. The past one had nothing to do with us. It was made up of casual players. The current one has one long term paintball industry employee (5+ years) and all of them are current players in national competitions. Excuse the pun, but its a whole different ball game :pac:

By the way, drop "UCD" from your FaceBook name. We have been threatened twice legally by UCD for the use of the name even though its a meaningless acronym (We maintain its short for Ultra Cool Dudes Paintball Club). They also undermined our personal integrity with internal emails stating we were "unofficial" and implying we have malicious / underhand intent. We never, not once, claimed to be official but they had a go at us anyway.

By the way, Like Us on FaceBook: http://www.facebook.com/ucdpb

DL Saint

ironclaw wrote: »

Hi Saint, I'm part of the start up Ray is talking about.



We started off as a club as we saw ourselves (rightfully) as a sport and not a society. The is a ban on new clubs as per a AUC decision. I don't have a problem with that as clubs are generally more expensive to fund e.g. Insurance, equipment procurement. They turned us down in November 2009 and only told us around March 2010.

We then went down the Soc route and hit nothing but a brick wall. We put our Soc application in in July 2010 (Having notified the AUC and Soc Authorities in October 2009) We were lead on for months and only recently had our Soc recognition meeting. We've answered just about every questions under the sun and have been more than accommodating. We even clearly stated we don't want or need funding. We have yet to hear an answer.



UCD is pretty much the only college in Ireland without a Paintball Soc. The past one had nothing to do with us. It was made up of casual players. The current one has one long term paintball industry employee (5+ years) and all of them are current players in national competitions. Excuse the pun, but its a whole different ball game :pac:

By the way, drop "UCD" from your FaceBook name. We have been threatened twice legally by UCD for the use of the name even though its a meaningless acronym (We maintain its short for Ultra Cool Dudes Paintball Club). They also undermined our personal integrity with internal emails stating we were "unofficial" and implying we have malicious / underhand intent. We never, not once, claimed to be official but they had a go at us anyway.

By the way, Like Us on FaceBook: http://www.facebook.com/ucdpb

Thanks for that Ironclaw, The Ultimate Conditioned Deadlifters Gym Society it is then

Zamboni

Hey DL Saint,

Have you tried speaking to the people that operate the Get in Gear program?

They might be interested and although the focus is more on fitness newbies, I don't see why they couldn't get involved in bringing in speakers.

As above I'd give trying to set up a club/soc a serious miss.
The hassle is not worth it.
Been there, jumped through the hoops and got shat on.