New Zealand Unicycle Federation

Promoting Unicycling in New Zealand

Thanks to Unicycle.com NZ and our other supporters

How to Start a Club

Firstly: check on the Clubs page that there isn't already one close to you...

I (Steve Pavarno) started Unicycling Manawatu in Palmerston North early in 2003. The process was fairly simple...

I found a suitable area for beginners: an outdoor skating rink inside a local park. There is plenty of car parking, concreted areas with a fence beside (for learners), it is well away from traffic, there are plenty of trials type challenges around (picnic tables, walls, gutters, stairs, ramps, steep banks) and there is plenty of room to move. A school hall would be fine. The one weakness of our spot is that it often gets rained out. We need a hall.

The next step was to start riding there regularly and to do some marketing. It is a popular park, so people come past. Everyone who showed an interest as I rode around town was told about "free lessons at Memorial Park on Saturdays".

I put notices in bike shops, got in contact with the local sports funding organisation (Sport Manawatu), got some free advertising in the 'things to do' section of the local papers, and generally got out there in the community. I also mentioned it on http://www.unicycle.co.nz and on this site (if you want to promote your club on unicycle.co.nz please email your details in: it is a free service to clubs in NZ, and lots of people go there to look).

So its fairly simple:

Decide to do it.
Find a place.
Do some advertising and promoting.
Keep doing it!

Things to consider:

Safety: does someone have a first aid certificate?
Safety: Are the unicycles available for loan / hire in good shape, with no broken bits or sharp edges that could potentially injure someone?
Safety: Is there someone "supervising" to make sure that learners don't do foolish things? (More advanced riders are specialists at doing foolish things. It takes a lot of skill to be a nutter.)
Keep it interesting: we sometimes have "The Chocolate Fish Challenge": learn a new skill by the end of the day.
Lots of variety: most weeks we play hockey, some weeks we go for a MUni ride in the afternoon, every now and then we try some new stuff from the Ten Skill Levels.
Be learner friendly: always have a few spare 20" unicycles lying around. Have a look at the How To Teach page for some tips on teaching new riders, or there is a book called Teach Unicycling available.
Be part of the community: if people know you are around, they will ask you to be part of parades and cultural events, especially in smaller centres like Palmy. The community feel and involvement is great here.
Duration: An hour and a half is about the right length: one hour is a bit short and 2 hours is a bit long.
Time: we meet on Saturday morning, but sometimes thats a hassle when we want to go to national events because not everyone can make it...
Have fun!

Unicycle.com NZ have got a free brochure on How to Start a Club, so give them a call if you need advice.