Buddy's within U-turn
Within U-turn we have been using a buddy system for several years. This means that every new member is paired with a buddy in order to have a contact point within the association. Every new member has been paired with both another new member and an older member since the year 2022-2023. This way you have two points of contact within the association. If possible, buddies are paired together based on interests or place of residence. Are you curious about the experiences of previous buddies? Read them below!
I signed up as a buddy at the beginning of year 22/23. I have been a member at U-turn for 5 years now, so I know quite a bit about how everything works at U-turn. Great idea to use my knowledge to involve new members in the club. I was assigned 2 buddies. It turned out that my two buddies already knew each other. So I thought it would be ideal to immediately set a date for the three of us to have dinner together before training. Unfortunately, our schedules could not agree with each other so I ended up meeting with both of them separately. After that, I kept an eye on whether my buddies came to training a lot and tried to keep them excited about both training and activities when needed.
Eating together was very nice! because then you could get to know each other better in a relaxed way :)
I found that having a buddy at U-turn had many advantages. For example, I had instant contact with older members by going to dinner together before practice, and also having someone who could easily answer my questions about the association. I also liked that at the first U-turn activities where I didn't know many people yet, I was accompanied by my buddy to get to know everyone.
The buddyhood is what you make of it; it was nice to meet up with my buddy once for dinner and learn a little more about each other. I do see it as a stepping stone to the association and like a stepping stone, you don't necessarily have to jump on it ten times if you can already get off with one or two jumps; in other words, if a connection with the association grows organically from the new member, it's fine to step a little more into the background as a buddy. However, it is good to do show initiative when necessary.