i got into this discussion yesterday with someone. seems there are the following sorts of clubs, tho with some crossover. first, social clubs, not designed to make money per se:
L.A. Tri club
St. Petes Mad Dogs
Mullica Hill Tri Club
Tri Scottsdale
Golden Gate Tri Club
Silicon Valley Tri Club
District Tri
Rochester Area Triathletes
then there are the clubs built around athletes and coaches. so…
QT2 Systems
D3 Multisport
Alien Endurance
Team Big Sexy
AP Racing
and then finally there are clubs built around brands.
Wattie Ink
Cobb Mobb
Base Performance
this excludes school based teams and of course i’m only listing US-based teams here. i’m sure there are other specialty teams not included in the above categories, and i’m also excluding the charity-based teams in the 3 categories above.
what are the obvious teams i’m missing from these lists above? and by obvious i mean big, important, well run teams. and, what categories am i missing? basically, what’s wrong or incomplete with my list?
Rocky Mountain Tri Club – not sure I would have been able to figure out how to get involved in the sport without them. I think they are among the largest in the country.
Because it was not stated, I am wondering if you are implying that smaller clubs are not successful?
Many of the more social clubs are successful because they are small.
Is the Tri industry missing out because there focus on big clubs?
thx. can you give me an actual number, tho? of active members?
As of 2013, they had over 500 members. They are definitely in “Division 1” in WTC’s TriClub program. In fact, that seems to be what you’re asking – what TriClubs are in Division 1?
Division 1: 400+ members
Division 2: 200-399 members
Division 3: 100-199
Division 4: 50-99
Division 5: <50
I think you’re missing a category, too, which is “Clubs built around Bike Shops/Retail Stores”. The two largest, most well known “clubs” in Philly are associated with bike shops
Not sure if they fit neatly into any of your categories, but California Triathlon has well over 4,000 members I believe.That one would come to mind, as well as Endurance Nation.
DC Tri Club is a non-profit club. It has about 1,000 members. It has an elite team, training programs for first time triathletes as well as for veterans triathletes who race oly, HIM, and IMs. It also has its own racing series.
thx. can you give me an actual number, tho? of active members?
As of 2013, they had over 500 members. They are definitely in “Division 1” in WTC’s TriClub program. In fact, that seems to be what you’re asking – what TriClubs are in Division 1?
Division 1: 400+ members
Division 2: 200-399 members
Division 3: 100-199
Division 4: 50-99
Division 5: <50
I think you’re missing a category, too, which is “Clubs built around Bike Shops/Retail Stores”. The two largest, most well known “clubs” in Philly are associated with bike shops
Team Red, White and Blue are consistently top three in Division 1.
What makes a club successful? I live in Tampa Bay and would consider the St Pete Mad Dogs to be a non-entity in the local triathlon scene which is dominated by Kennedy Law Racing (KLR) and Outspokin Multisport.
Also, I can’t believe you mention QT2 and BSR but not Endurance Nation - the 5 time, undefeated, WTC Division One Tri-Club champion
What makes a club successful? I live in Tampa Bay and would consider the St Pete Mad Dogs to be a non-entity in the local triathlon scene which is dominated by Kennedy Law Racing (KLR) and Outspokin Multisport.
Also, I can’t believe you mention QT2 and BSR but not Endurance Nation - the 5 time, undefeated, WTC Division One Tri-Club champion
i was just listing examples. they’re just what came to mind.
Why not just run a US query on the IM tri club rankings. I suspect that will give you a pretty accurate picture.
thanks. good idea. i just did that.
just, i don’t consider a club’s efficacy measured simply by how well its adherents to at ironman races. i can give you one example at least of a 1000+ member club not ironman ranked at all. so, while your suggestion was excellent, i’m also interested in the clubs that are large, growing, cohesive, return value, regardless of how well they fare on the ironman scale.
Gotcha. To be “successful”, the club at least has to be ACTIVE and have team cohesion and camaraderie. For awhile there, I thought St Pete Mad Dogs were defunct. You certainly wouldn’t consider them a major club if you went to a local race and looked for people wearing their kits. As an example of team cohesion, KLR - perhaps the area’s most prominent local team in recent years - put 34 athletes into IM Florida last year and already has 35 signed up for IM Ireland next year.