End of winter - bringing them back

Statistically, one of the two times of the year when you are likely to incur the most significant drop off in students is during winter (the other time is the summer holiday break).

Students drop out over winter for several reasons:

• Engagement in Winter sports.

• Winter illnesses

• Cold and wet weather

Winter sports are very popular in Australia and New Zealand, and many students disengage from their martial arts training because of the training commitments and time required.

Winter illnesses also take their toll. Especially with COVID still going around, there are new flu variants that we haven't been exposed to, both of which create the environment for multiple bouts of illness this winter.

Cold and wet weather also puts people off. Why go out in the rain and cold to train, especially in a cold and damp venue?

Some Instructors in the past have seen this period as an opportunity to weed out the less committed students, but in most cases, the winter drop-off is not just the fault of the students concerned.

If you want these students back and want to help build their enthusiasm and resilience to train through next winter, here is a proactive approach to bringing them back.

Hopefully, you have kept in touch with your active and inactive students over the winter through a Facebook member page, other social media, email newsletters, etc. As winter draws to a close, now is the time to engage with each student personally. You may know the main reason why they haven't been training. You can start a personal message: "Now that the Rugby season is ending, it would be great to see you back at training. Do you remember why you started training with us? Is it still relevant? If not, what is relevant about martial arts training to you now?"

The next part of the personal engagement process is to revisit or re-set their next martial arts goal. For example, maybe they were just about to grade when they stopped training. You could then offer a training plan to bring them back up to speed to do the grading.

The last part is to reconnect them with your martial arts community. This can be done on your social media: "e.g.  Ben has been away for a few months, but he is coming back soon. It will be fantastic to see him back." Hopefully, other members will post replies to encourage Ben further and assuage any guilt that he may feel about abandoning his training partners and school members over the winter.