The capacity building workshop on events was delivered by Pan Idræt København, a partner of the Erasmus+ Sport project +PLUSS “LGBTQI+ Policy and Leadership in Sport and Society” and delivered the capacity building on events in Ljubljana (Slovenia) on February 16th-18h, 2024
Every event holds the potential to be transformative.
Think back to the first time you walked through the doors of your club. The feeling of belonging, of being understood, can be overwhelming. It's this sense of community that strengthens us. This is why events are crucial for your club. They foster the unique community that sets your club apart and makes it special.
Every Little Step Counts
It's essential to remember that in LGBTQ+ sports clubs, members join for more than just the sport. They sign up because of the community we offer—a place to meet other members of the rainbow outside of apps or the party scene. Therefore, it’s important to provide members with more than just athletic activities.
In this article, we’ll explore three different levels of events offered by Pan Idræt: Department Events, Club Events, and Tournaments.
Pan Idræt is a sports club with 26 different departments, each hosting smaller social events. These can range from social dinners and department parties to casual outings like a group movie night. These smaller events are easy to organize, often require little planning, and may not need a budget. However, they are crucial for fostering unity within each department.
Take the boxing department of Pan Idræt, for example. It's a very active group with numerous social events. Some gatherings are small, while others involve nearly half the club. Recurring events, those that members can anticipate, tend to be the most popular. One such event is a monthly social dinner, where the boxers go to a restaurant together after practice on the first Thursday of each month. Another beloved event is the pre-party before the annual Gala Party for all of Pan Idræt. During this pre-party, boxers gather to have a drink and dress up in themed costumes, such as cleaners, cowboys, or Christmas attire. This tradition not only creates a sense of unity among the boxers but also makes everyone in Pan aware of who the boxers are.
Despite Pan Idræt's large membership of over 2,000, the majority are still white, cisgender gay men. To challenge this demographic imbalance, several departments are actively focusing on recruiting transgender individuals, non-binary people, women, and people of color.
On the events front, Pan Idræt’s Women’s Football team has organized a party for women and non-binary individuals as part of our anniversary celebrations. This event is open to all women and non-binary people, both within and outside the club.
Creating Unity Across All Members
Unity is not confined to individual departments. Throughout the year, Pan Idræt strives to create opportunities for connection across the entire organization, offering a glimpse into our vibrant, rainbow-colored sports community for those outside the club.
Some annual events are relatively small and easy to arrange, such as the New Year’s Reception. During this event, we invite stakeholders and members to our office for a glass of champagne. Despite its modest scale, this event plays a crucial role in maintaining strong relationships with our stakeholders over time.
One of our newer, larger events is the Rainbow Sports Square—a three-day sports festival held during Pride Week in Copenhagen. For three days, we set up a dedicated square in the city with a multi-sports field for activities like football and basketball. This event not only unites Pan Idræt members and showcases our sports, but also serves as an introduction for non-members to experience the welcoming community of our club.
Additionally, the Sports Festival includes three main events: Pride Run, Pride Dance, and Pride Cup. The Pride Cup, in particular, has a political dimension, as we use it to actively combat homophobia in sports. Our teams compete against those of politicians, actors, and clubs that participate in our anti-discrimination campaign, #gamechanger.
Tournaments Can Make Your Club Bigger, Better, and Stronger
We all know how incredible it feels to be part of something as grand as EuroGames. But it’s important to remember that every journey starts small, and so did Pan Idræt.
In its early years, Pan Idræt hosted much smaller tournaments within individual departments. As we gained experience, we began inviting clubs from neighboring countries, gradually expanding our reach.
Here are some key insights we've gained about what it takes to make a tournament successful:
- Participants: How many participants are needed for success? It's not always about having 1,000+ participants; sometimes, 30 people having a great time can be just as successful.
- Ambitions: Do you want your tournament to follow official standards and set records? While this can be appealing, many participants simply want to have fun. Be mindful of the strain on volunteers. For example, during the World Outgames in 2009, Pan Idræt lost many volunteers due to burnout from the demanding work.
- Economy: Are you aiming to profit from the event, or are you content if it breaks even?
- Political Goodwill: Can you build a positive relationship with the local government and use public facilities? These relationships take time to develop and require maintenance. Public facilities may be booked years in advance, so plan well ahead.
- Relations with Other Clubs: Hosting tournaments strengthens relationships with other clubs and helps develop your own club.
- Merchandise: Merchandise can increase visibility and brand your club or tournament, but it can also be costly. Consider the purpose of the merchandise and whether it will be used after the tournament.
- IT: Other clubs likely have established systems for sign-ups and other logistics. Leverage their systems and learn from their experiences. Reach out to other clubs; they are often willing to help.
- Volunteers: Every tournament needs volunteers. Since they work for free, ensure they have a good time and feel appreciated. Planning a volunteer party as a thank you is always a good idea.
As Pan Idræt gained experience with smaller tournaments, the club grew confident enough to bid for its first EuroGames in 2003. Hosting such a large event significantly increased the club's visibility, leading to a surge in membership as more people became aware of Pan Idræt.
Conclusion
Events are vital to a club on many levels:
- They deepen members' attachment to the club by offering more than just sports.
- They make volunteering more appealing by providing a variety of event opportunities.
- They enhance the club's visibility and support for its cause.
- They aid in fundraising efforts.
- They amplify the club's voice in advocacy.
- They help recruit more members.
Even small events can be incredibly valuable, providing experience and building the courage to take on bigger challenges. In time, your club might even be ready to host the next EuroGames.
The workshop on events was delivered with the following facilitators:
Christian Bigom (he/him)
Christian has been a member of Pan Idræt’s swimming team since 2007 and have participated in every EuroGames, GayGames and OutGames since then. Today he is the chairperson of Pan Idræts 1650 members. Christian is also a member of the regional sports organisation in Greater
Copenhagen representing 250.000 members of sports club, while also sitting on the board of the national sports organisation (DGI) representing more than 1,77 million sports club members across Denmark. Christian has been an integral part of organizing Copenhagen 2021 - EuroGames
and WorldPride.
Outside of Pan Idræt Christian works in the IT/Payment industry running a small family business selling creditcard machines and POS systems primarily to restaurants, night clubs, cafes and bars.
Bo Madsen (he/him)
Bo has been a member of Pan Idræt since 1998 as a part of the swimming team. Since 2018 he has been a part of the board and currently holds the position of vice chair. Bo joined his first EuroGames in 2000 in Zurich and has participated in several EuroGames and GayGames since. Bo was part of the planning of the EuroGames in Copenhagen in 2003, the OutGames in 2009 and the office manager for the WorldPride and EuroGames 2021.
Bo now works full-times with MICE – Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Events in all of the Nordic countries.
Lars Klitgaard (he/him)
Lars has been a part of Pan Idræt’s boxing team since 2018 fulfilling the role as volunteer event coordinator for the boxing teams social events. Lars was elected to the board of Pan Idræt in 2023, so everything is still new and exciting. Lars is a tv producer and is used to managing shows,
budgets and tight schedules. He was a part of planning the opening ceremony for EuroGames 2021.
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The capacity building workshop on advocacy was co-delivered by Out for the Win and Atlasz Sports Club, partners of the Erasmus+ Sport project +PLUSS “LGBTQI+ Policy and Leadership in Sport and Society” and delivered the capacity building on advocacy in Budapest (Hungary) on October 27th-29th, 2023
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